A friend has just bought a 20's US Concertone Slingerland 17 fret Banjo in very good condition. She doesn't like the contact and aggressiveness of metal strings, and is considering nylon or nylgut strings.
GDAE tuning for the Irish repertoire.
Scale lenght about 21”.
Do you have any strings recommendations?
A set of Ukulele strings perhaps?
Thanks a lot !
Not sure about different brands but I think I would use regular nylon guitar strings instead of baritone ukulele strings. The fifth, fourth, third, and first strings would be pretty close to the right gauge for that tuning. I tried stringing a banjo just like this one with baritone ukulele strings one time and the results were not that great. I don't know how it would sound with nylon strings in Irish tuning but I wouldn't expect miracles.
MY classical guitar has a 26" scale. At 21", the fifth fret capoed, EADGBE becomes ADGCEA so I am guessing that the 6th, 5th, 4th and 2d strings would be a place to start for Irish GDAE tuning. Nylon strings come in low, medium and high tension so some experimentation may be necessary to zero in. Some banjo players favor Yellow Card Savarez guitar strings. banjered
I'm curious why someone would buy a tenor banjo and not want the "aggressiveness" that is natural to that instrument?
With so many instrument types, why try to change what one is?
It is like getting a rattlesnake for a pet and cutting the fangs out.
She certainly wants to play the Irish repertoire on a tenor in a softer and warmer way than usual. And it sounds pretty good that way, I think.
Yep, different stokes for different folks. If I had a tenor I would probably try the same thing, especially starting out on a learning curve so as to not stomp on other's musical toes. banjered
quote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksI'm curious why someone would buy a tenor banjo and not want the "aggressiveness" that is natural to that instrument?
With so many instrument types, why try to change what one is?
It is like getting a rattlesnake for a pet and cutting the fangs out.
Good analogy. In both cases, maintaining a safe home environment should be the primary goal.
My recommendation would be to use lighter tension steel strings and stuff something into the pot to attenuate the volume. I would have a problem with using a pick on nylgut strings since they are subject to wear and tear.
Nylgut strings may be susceptible to wear from a pick, but regular nylon strings might be more forgiving. Also, she might try Wedgie rubber flat picks. They would not wear on strings as badly as regular plastic picks.
Plain nylon strings sound terrible on a banjo using a flat pick. The wound strings are fine. It has been a few years since I’ve done it so I can’t remember the gauges but pretty much any make of wound strings will do. I liked the savarez strings that have a copper and silver winding to get a nice sounding E I used a Thomastic John Pierce tape wound. It was the only way I could get a decent sound out nylon strings with a flat pick.
I used a combination of Aquila minstrel strings and an individual string low C string for a uke - this was to create cello tuning CGDA. Sounds better tuned up to DAEB though.
Sounds nice plucked, but works with a plectrum. I’ll post a video if interested.
Could be great to have video please :) Thanks a lot
Are tenor banjoists unable to control dynamics? Could woman not just practice playing in p or mf?
quote:
Originally posted by banjooudCould be great to have video please :) Thanks a lot
The lower octave is probably suited to slow tunes
quote:
Originally posted by banjeredMY classical guitar has a 26" scale. At 21", the fifth fret capoed, EADGBE becomes ADGCEA so I am guessing that the 6th, 5th, 4th and 2d strings would be a place to start for Irish GDAE tuning. Nylon strings come in low, medium and high tension so some experimentation may be necessary to zero in. Some banjo players favor Yellow Card Savarez guitar strings. banjered
A banjo should have a lot lower string tension than a guitar. I've used classical guitar strings on 5-string banjos, tuned at a fourth or fifth below their guitar pitches! A classical guitar 1st string ought to have plenty of tension at E on a short tenor scale.
I've enjoyed using nylon strings on my tenor banjos for many years. I buy D'Addario nylon single guitar strings from juststrings.com:
plain 1st and 2nd; silver-wound 3rd and 4th.
I find that nylon strings last for a long time on a tenor banjo. I haven't had a problem with breakage or pick wear. I've done extensive experimentation with gauges, but still arrive at slight changes from time to time. Your scale length is between mine. So you'll need to adjust gauges to what feels right to you. For single string melodic playing I love the rich, warm sound of nylon strings on my tenor banjos. I use the Banjo Bolster, which further enhances tonal sweetness.
20" scale
31p, 40p, 31w, 44w
22-3/4" scale
27p, 40p, 34w, 42w
PS: looking back at my gauges I see an asymmetrical relationship between the two scale lengths, however, this is what works for me. Anyway, I hope this at least gives you a jumping-off point Each instrument has it's own personality. Yours will tell you where it wants to go.
Edited by - Paul Roberts on 08/03/2024 07:21:21
The Aquila TU23 NylGut Baritone Tuned Tenor set will work but 21" just isn't long enough for octave tuning without sounding flabby. These are designed for 19" scale to sound good tuned a 4th higher i.e. Viola/Dixie tenor banjo tuning. If you were playing a 23" tenor, they'd sound much better tuned low.
I keep these in stock for banjo ukuleles, baritone ukes tuned tenor and tenor banjos tuned CGDA. They are the same gauges as Aquila's concert uke set but much longer.
Long time ago, I would teach children to play bari ukes on their way to guitar. When they hit college, the tenor uke craze had hit YouTube and I was getting calls from these former students to see if there was anything I could do or would I take these baris in on trade... About that time, I discovered these strings and everyone was happy.
Edited by - mikehalloran on 08/07/2024 18:13:20
How do you use the AQUILA 23U string set on the tenor banjo? The bass is in High G, so which string do you use for the banjo bass string? The third string of the ukulele set?
It doesn't matter what the tuning is, as long as it's relative to the traditional tuning of the tenor banjo for the Irish repertoire.
In fact, my friend has very sensitive fingertips and can't stand contact with wired strings.
Thanks a lot !
