crippleinthewoods - Posted - 10/08/2023:  11:31:08

Hello, I have pretty much been using nylgut (reds) strings since I started playing a couple years ago.I love the tone and also haven’t had a lot of issues with breakage. Last week I decided to try a different kind of nylguts that are clear, I ordered medium but received light gauge. To me, they are unplayable and it got me thinking… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a heavy gauge Banjo string set, not in nylgut anyway. I usually order Aquila red series 11b, and while I don’t dislike them, If there was a heavier set… I’d love to try them out. Are the minstrel strings a heavier gauge? I doesn’t seem like the company provides a lot of info… I have a short scale banjo and a regular scale fretless. Thanks for taking your time to read this and for any info you can provide.

Bill H - Posted - 10/08/2023:  11:46:13

I really like the ones that Joel Hooks offers. Great volume and feel. banjothimble.com/classic-era-banjo-strings

blazo - Posted - 10/08/2023:  12:31:53

Minstrel strings are a heavier gauge as they are designed for a lower tuning, usually dADF#A. I like heavier nylon strings as well and make up my own sets on stringsbymail.com. The attachment that I got from here show the Aquila strings gauges. You can get La Bella Rectified Nylon singles (with a rectified, wound 4th) from stringsbymail -- stringsbymail.com/search/resul...d&x=0&y=0 -- and experiment with gauges that are one or two sizes larger than the Aquilas.

Aquila Strings

 

Bill Rogers - Posted - 10/08/2023:  15:00:11

I use individual high-tension nylon guitar strings. You might want to make up a set of those, see how ou like it and experiment from there. You would not be locked into a company’s conception of what gauges should be in a given string set. You could easily make a “heavy” set.

Edited by - Bill Rogers on 10/08/2023 15:01:20

Joel Hooks - Posted - 10/08/2023:  16:39:29

crippleinthewoods , based on your post you won't like the strings I sell. My goal is to provide synthetic string sets in historically informed sizes, based in documentation, for classic era banjos (regular 5 string, non Gibson, banjos made from roughly 1880 to the mid 1920s when plectrum playing took over).

This grew from my personal dissatisfaction of strings getting thicker and thicker. Aquila did not base their banjo string sizes on any historical precedence but rather the personal ideas if modern "old time" banjoists attempting to simulate the high tension of wire strings. These overly thick high tension nylon strings are just as bad for classic era banjos as wire with the exception of the fret wear that wire causes. They are destroyers of tailpieces.

The sets I sell are sensitive and take practice and dedication to achieve good tone. Due to the sensitivity they are capable of delivering a clear dynamic range from pp to ff.

But none of that matters for modern "old time" banjo.

RE: the so called "minstrel banjo"-- minstrelsy, that is, the popular racist musical and comedy entertainment that involved blacking one's face with burnt cork existed on the stage for over 100 years and covered many different versions of banjos including the tenor banjo. So there is no such thing as one "minstrel banjo".

As far as early rimmed banjos strings, the documentation we have claims that banjos were strung with double length violin strings for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and 5th a wound guitar 4th, or a combination of guitar and violin strings. One could put together some sets with research in guitar and violin and that would be a good project. "Classical guitars" have been subject to the same thickening of strings that old time banjo has seen so caution and use on only primary source material would be required.

Also consider that the 4th was always wound. Aquila stoped using wound forth due to complaints about them wearing out. I'm sure the cost savings was an advantage too.

Instead, they should have explained that things wear out. Wear the fourth out and replace it.

Bill H - Posted - 10/09/2023:  02:13:43

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Hooks

crippleinthewoods , based on your post you won't like the strings I sell. My goal is to provide synthetic string sets in historically informed sizes, based in documentation, for classic era banjos (regular 5 string, non Gibson, banjos made from roughly 1880 to the mid 1920s when plectrum playing took over).



I disagree. I purchased several sets of the Aquila strings from your web site and installed them on my 1924 Vega Senator. I mainly play claw hammer and I love the results. I find the tone, volume and feel of these strings to be perfect for old time styles. I play regularly with a group that includes up to three fiddles, and I have volume to spare and the tone is bright and well articulated. 

crippleinthewoods - Posted - 10/10/2023:  06:40:48

Thanks everyone! I didn’t know that minstrel string sets had anything to do with black face entertainers… I find that hard to believe, especially in todays political climate… I just figured they were supposed to mimic strings from medieval times. Anyways… I’m going to make a set and order them today, I appreciate the knowledge guys!

Joel Hooks - Posted - 10/10/2023:  07:43:11

quote:

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Originally posted by crippleinthewoods

Thanks everyone! I didn’t know that minstrel string sets had anything to do with black face entertainers… I find that hard to believe, especially in todays political climate… I just figured they were supposed to mimic strings from medieval times. Anyways… I’m going to make a set and order them today, I appreciate the knowledge guys!

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"Minstrel" in the context of the 5 string banjo= blackface.

I recommend that you spend some of your practice time exploring the history of the regular 5 string banjo as it is worthwhile to understanding the instrument.  Basically everything about it was racist, which is something that needs to be a regular topic of discussion. 

It is believed, based on the info we currently have, that Joel Sweeney was the one to transform the banjo into the mass market popular (and commercial) instrument.  This, of course, is subject to change as we continue to dig through the piles of dusty paper (now digitized), but it is what we have.

Sweeney was successful by developing a blackface act.  From that point on, despite the efforts of MANY banjoists, blackface minstrelsy became bonded to the banjo.  

Even throughout the "classic era" with all the puffery and highbrow "scientific" talk, a large percentage of the published (and played) music carried racist titles and imagery (in programmatic pieces).  "Banjo songs", or songs composed/arranged to be sung with banjo accompaniment were often of the "coon song" variety. 

This continued until the Jim Crow era when a shift in popular music towards a fantasy nostalgia of "the olden times" happened with the "barn dance" radio shows.  By WW2 the banjo had become associated with "hillbillies"-- or whites living in rural Appalachia, a narrative that the "folk revival" was happy to adopt to avoid the blackface connection.

crippleinthewoods - Posted - 10/10/2023:  10:37:30

Thanks Jim, I won’t be playing on any dang ol’ racist strings. I watched throw down your heart before I was a banjo player and haven’t really done any other research since, as I just enjoy playing. Appreciate the history lesson though! I went with clawhammer Banjo to give myself a rest from playing bass. I thought the hand motions were similar (they are not at all) and I wouldn’t have to learn a whole new skill (I did but it’s been worth it)