... for those of us who prefer the tuning and singing differences the LN provides. All questions & help welcome!

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long neck strings gauge

From herrcespedes on 5/10/2015 9:51:17 PM

Hello all. I'm back with another question, thanks in advance to all those who can be of help.

a little intro.. Im a relatively new player, Ive only had my banjo since January last year, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it...dangling in the world of seeger style and clawhammer... I own a gold tone OT800LN. Ive read both good and indifferent reviews about this banjo, but hey, its what i've got and Im happy with it.

when my banjo arrived, it came with a set of very heavy strings.. I went ahead and measured them with a badass mitutoyo caliper and the gauges were:

12.5 15.5 17.5 26W and 12.5.

I didn't know any better and I played it for the longest time, and got used to the feel of heavy strings... When time came to replace them, I got the heaviest set I could find, GHS PF 160.. I would get two sets and use 11 for the first and 5th string..  now I'm trying to play open E more often and my banjo sounds way too mellow as if asking for more tension. Specially when I strum and wham.. I don't have this problem when capoed.. so I went ahead and made up a heavy set.. 

12 14 16 24W and 12

now this banjo is ringing beautifully.. but I'm afraid to snap it in half with so much tension, so I took all tension off overnight.. It's got a double tension rod, but I'd welcome the advice of people with more experience, specially builders, if they think this is a dangerous set to have on a banjo, or they are known to withstand these heavy combinations.. thank you so much for your help.

on a side note, the gold tone website until a couple of days ago listed a heavier set than this for this banjo, but they recently changed the strings recommended to a light set.. I will email them for clarification as well... 

5 Comments
	John Gribble says: 5/11/2015 2:10:53 AM If you like the heavy set, I think you should continue to use it. But keep an eye on the neck and adjust the truss rod if a warp develops. Also make sure the heel of the neck stays firmly seated against the rim. The set you have on now isn't all that heavy.
	Lew H says: 5/11/2015 4:45:21 AM I use the GHS JD Crow strings on my longneck. I don't see a reason for the heavy strings on yours. Maybe you should check with the Gold Tone folks to see if that gauge was a mistake. But if you like the feel of the heavy strings, why not?
	john bange says: 5/11/2015 6:16:58 AM I had an early OT800ln. It was a great banjo...just came in a poor case. What I remember about the truss rod was: it took tiny adjustments to move the neck...you can say that about most all necks but I really mean tiny with the Gold Tone.
	finnslr says: 5/12/2015 11:44:16 AM I use ABM 10,12,14, 22w,10. With a Moon H bridge on my OT800. The strings last forever. Also check your head tension as that and the type of head can make a big difference in the sound.
	herrcespedes says: 5/23/2015 9:51:21 AM Thanks to all who answered. I am running with this gauge. Feels good, and feels strangely good to have your fingers hurt again!! It'll take a while till I grow stronger calluses
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