Yes, but you also need to ensure that your neck relief is correct as well. If the action is too high the strings can fret sharp when you pull them down to the fret board using a capo. Though bridge placement is primary in correct intonation, there are other factors that can figure in as well. Also be sure that your capo is not too tight against the fret board. Use the least pressure you can to give you a clear note. Then take each string with your fingers and lift upward away from the head to remove any unneeded tension the capo might have caused.

Bobby

Thanks Bobby, useful info. The action is pretty low even though the bridge (Snuffy) is 11/16”

I’ll just mark the equal position for the bridge and keep nudging it backwards and see how things sound.

How stiff is the action at the lower end? Check the height of the nut. OME banjos are great instruments but even a company with their reputation could let one slip out the door with a small problem. If the nut is too high the strings will pull sharp.

By the way, I am glad to see someone from my part of the country on this site. I am from Buchanan, VA.

Hey Mark, thanks for the reply. Buchanan is a pretty little riverside town.

The nut seems ok to me, nothing abnormal when compared to my other banjos.

My attention is now moving to the tailpiece. It’s an Ome tailpiece but it’s not anchored to the flange. Just a screw to hold it against the rim. Seems like the weak point in this banjos setup. See pic….

The bridge should be slightly further from the 12th fret than the nut is. The easiest way to check the bridge position that I know of is to check the open note and compare it to the same string fretted at the 12th fret. Then move the bridge till they are the same.

quote:

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Originally posted by Zachary Hoyt

The bridge should be slightly further from the 12th fret than the nut is. The easiest way to check the bridge position that I know of is to check the open note and compare it to the same string fretted at the 12th fret. Then move the bridge till they are the same.

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The open string and the 12th fret note will be an octave apart. If you play the harmonic at the 12th fret then fret at the 12th fret, those notes should be the same.  For myself, at least, those are easier to match by ear than the octave.

Thanks Zachary and Rick. I definitely know how to tune using open strings and the 12th fret (fretted and harmonics). The problem is that not matter where bridge seems to be and no matter how tuned strings are using 12th fret technique, banjo plays sharp when capo’d. If I move bridge too far back, banjo may be more in tune when using capo, but when not capo’d, strings will not match open and at 12th fret.

Maybe you are tightening up that capo too much. It only needs to be tight enough to make the notes play clear.

Well that seems to help a little. But when I use the spring loaded type capo, problem persists. Guess I just need to use the screw type capo, lightly tightened.

Don't assume the nut is correctly notched. I've seen good banjos, from reputable makers, that had nuts that were incorrectly notched. If the notches in the nut are not deep enough, it will cause exactly the problem you are describing. Check the height of the strings off of the first fret when tuned open. Now push a string down at the first fret and check the height of it off of the second fret. If it is much closer to the fret, then your nut is not notched deeply enough. I like to use a feeler gauge to do this.

Also, when placing your bridge, it is often necessary to slant the bass side toward the tailpiece in order for all the strings to note properly. The higher the action, the more the slant. I like high action so my bridges are slanted quite a bit. Below is a picture of a Fairbanks Whyte Laydie No. 7, original 5-string with the bridge properly placed. The strings are nylon and the action is high.

The only sort of capo I'd recommend for a banjo is one that clamps with direct screw tension, like a Paige, or Daddario NS lite, and you need to pay some attention every time you put it on to find the sweet spot between buzz and going sharp. On a guitar, a spring capo can (sometimes) work (almost) tolerably, but string tension is much lower on a banjo, making it much more sensitive to string deflection. A non-adjustable spring-tension capo will make even the most perfectly-set-up banjo go irritatingly out of tune.

There is another chime at either 17th or 19th fret. I am much happier setting intonation there than at 12th. Give it a try.

After I set the bridge so the string matches at 0 and 12, there is something else I do that helps me. I hit the first string in the following order: 0-5; 0-7; 0-12. For some reason, I can really hear those intervals. Realizing that a banjo is never really in tune, I try to get those notes to sound as close as possible. I repeat it on the 4th string. Hopefully, this is clear.

Plus, as Stringbean once said "Hell, there ain't no money past the 5th fret!"

I agree with Harry. You will drive yourself crazy trying to get it perfect. Exactly how high are your strings at the last fret?

No worries there, definitely know there’s no such thing as perfect banjo intonation. But when tuner shows every string well into the sharps when capo’d, I figured there’s got to be some adjustments I can make to improve it. So far, loosening the capo has helped a bit.

Strings are low, 1/8” off last fret.

In our band when we capo, we don’t try to retune up or down. If I do and the guitar doesn’t we are off. We are close if we don’t adjust after capo except for fifth string.

I agree Mike. With my other banjos, no additional tuning needed except for 5th string tweak. But my original post mentioned recently acquiring this Ome which I’m trying to set up better after hearing off tune capo issue-every string is out and does not mesh with the other instruments.

Dan: "A non-adjustable spring-tension capo will make even the most perfectly-set-up banjo go irritatingly out of tune."

My ear doesn't detect the fine (?) distinctions being discussed ^^, but I've found that setting the spring-tension capo so the leading edge of the hard(ish) rubber pad just sits on the fret, rather than behind the fret works "okay."  Having said that, I try to get by without a capo as much as I can.

John are you sure the capo is not pulling the strings slightly right or left when using the capo? Also is the tailpiece “canted slightly “ to either side?

I’ll double check the tailpiece. I mentioned in earlier post that the tailpiece is not anchored to the flange. Wonder if that could affect intonation?

I’ve been very careful with capo placement in this situation since its use has focused my attention.

I’m think they are a floating tail piece. If those are individual screws that the strings attach to you probably need to adjust those in or out. Very similar to a Stelling or Nechville. Alan Munde and others like those adjusted away from the bridge.

John to be clear, you want to try to move the whole tailpiece back or forward via those screws.

Gotcha. I’ll dig into floating tailpiece adjustments tomorrow.

I have never place a capo on a banjo without it going sharp and b=needing to adjust the tuning. I have eight banjos. It is the same for all of them.

The 12th fret is a general starting point. I set my bridges on all of my banjos the same way. i tune the open strings, then tune to the same note octave at the 12th, Check the chord at the highest position Adjust the bridge position where it need to be, even it involves slanting the bridge slightly. Rinse and repeat until it's as close as it gets.

I don't like "compensated bridges" . I have tried stair-steps, Moon Bridges, notched 3rd string set-backs. Tuning is a compromise mathematically...median, mean, not norm. Close,and the cigar is provided by the tuners.

I use finger-style Tensionator tailpieces on my Fender Artists and Lane. Prestos on my Gibson-type banjos. I've even tried violin-style mini- over-string fine-tuners to compensate. Not especially effective. My main rule: simple is better, set-and-leave-it-be. Do the best you can and learn to deal with it it on the fly for minor tweaking