Got a brand new Prucha with SS frets and the 3rd string is significantly sharper when fretted at the 2nd fret (that is, sharper than just 2 half steps up the scale). This is occurring when the banjo is in E tuning ; not sure if that is part of the reason, but it is not as sharp at the 2nd fret when back in G tuning. I'm in E tuning in order to learn/play Fleck's 'Big Country'. All the other strings are not as 'sharp' sounding at the 2nd fret as the 3rd string for some reason. Interestingly, all strings including the 3rd are noting properly at the 12th fret (so I'm assuming my bridge is properly placed.) What should I do about this 3rd string being 'sharper' at the 2nd fret according to my tuner? thanks
Sounds like you might not have adequate tension. Whats your scale length and what gauge of strings are you using?
There are sets of strings designed for low tunings like E, heres one deering makes as an example
deeringbanjos.com/products/dee...lia-belle
Although if you're happy with the other 4 strings you can try ordering an individual 3rd string and going thicker.
Edited by - cow_tools on 06/05/2025 12:06:20
Google Search "banjo is in E tuning"
jcland - Posted - 11/22/2011: 06:17:58 Open E for me is simply turning down all 5 strings 3 half steps. I would advise getting away from light strings as they are harder to keep in tune if you use this tuning.
Edited by - pinenut on 06/05/2025 12:39:11
Two words:
Compensated bridge ...
quote:
Originally posted by J.AlbertTwo words:
Compensated bridge ...
Amen. I believe, sing it again brother! But, don't the resonator (3finger) people view compensated bridges as blasphemy? 
(heavier strings are a likely fix for the lower tuning)
Edited by - pinenut on 06/05/2025 13:57:51
If the string is in tune when fretted at the 12th fret but sharp when fretted close to the nut, I wonder if the nut slot is not cut deep enough on the third string. You can fret each string at the third fret and look at the space between the bottom of the string and the first fret. I slot nuts so that there is the tiniest bit of light between the string and the first fret. I also do like a compensated bridge which helps third string intonation, and as a three finger picker I never thought of compensated bridges as blasphemy.
Edited by - jbernst5 on 06/06/2025 10:13:35
quote:
Originally posted by jbernst5If the string is in tune when fretted at the 12th fret but sharp when fretted close to the nut, I wonder if the nut slot is not cut deep enough on the third string. You can fret each string at the third fret and look at the space between the bottom of the string and the first fret. I slot nuts so that there is the tiniest bit of light between the string and the first fret. I also do like a compensated bridge which helps third string intonation, and as a three finger picker I never thought of compensated bridges as blasphemy.
I have a hard time believing a Prucha banjo would be delivered anything short of perfect. Nobody is building banjos better these days.
E tuning is REALLY slack, and my first suspicion is that the OP is either putting too much pressure on the string when fretting or choking it slightly without realizing it. Maybe a combination of both, and that's more common than a lot of people think. I note that he said this isn't anywhere near as much of issue when the banjo is in standard G tuning. If it's an issue at all there, the overpressure and/or choke could still be in play.
My advice to the OP is to learn the piece in standard G tuning. The right and left-hand fingering are the same. Once you get it down, you can start playing it with the banjo de-tuned to E. And it's not a bad idea to practice it in front of a mirror, watching the left hand carefully - that could tell you whether my suspicion of a technique problem is correct or just a dumb guess.
That is a WONDERFUL piece of music and well-worth learning, IMO.
I remember when the Ode D was the king of the melodic/chromatic banjos. One reason was because they tended to have excellent intonation (unlike Gibsons).
Later I had a Vega Scruggs and it too had excellent intonation. I know the scale length was a bit longer than Gibson.
I got to hang out a bit with Alan Munde at Monroe Mandolin Camp and asked him how he got such excellent intonation from his banjo. His answer? "Well, it IS a Stelling."
Every Gibson I've played suffers in intonation on the 3rd string especially. A bit less on the 4th. I've finally settled on tilting the bridge back on the 5th string end to be able to live with it. However, I remain a committed "Gibson man".
Interesting about stellings. I believe they're all made with a compensated nut. There's a cool article by geoff stelling from years ago in the banjo newsletter that you can still find if you Google it about compensation.
The lower the tension on a string, the more a given amount of deflection will raise its pitch.
What strings are you using? A lot of bluegrass pickers seem to prefer sets which at standard tuning have much lower tension on the 3rd and 4th strings than on the 1st and 5th. Those require very accurate setup and also very well-controlled playing technique to produce tolerable intonation at standard pitch, and IMO would be pretty well useless when tuned 3 frets lower-- the 3rd string in particular will go wildly sharp with any extra bit of fingering pressure.
