I have them on my main banjo and backup. I use them for Ruben, Whiskey Before Breakfast, and Earls Breakdown.

Rick

quote:

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Originally posted by Doug Knecht

I'm just curious how many people here use d tuners on their main banjo. A long time ago I had Keith tuners, but by the time I got a better banjo, I chose to not include them. I guess my left arm is too lazy to want to mess with them. 

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I have them on two of my recently acquired banjos and have never used them before. I would like to know if anyone uses them in their clawhammer or ot finger picking stuff.  Is there anyone using them on the 2nd and 4th strings to go from say G to Standard C or Double C or Modal tunings? Is anyone doing something new and different with them?

I had a set of Keith 'D Tuners' on my main banjo (a custom built Masterclone) for about 20 years. When I bought my Stelling, I didn't transfer the tuners and found I didn't miss them. Another 20 years passed and I bought my Osborne Chief. Never occurred to me to fit Keith tuners. I think in our early banjo years, the novelty value of the tuners is high, but as we mature as players their importance seems to wane. Come to think of it, I can't remember when I last saw someone use them.

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Originally posted by HSmith

 "the novelty value of the tuners is high,"

That's the truth!  

always thought about getting a set but never have... got by 45 years without them ,,guess i can do without.

I wouldn't leave home without 'em.

Very rarely now, they are on my other banjo. I should play it more

I have them on my Stelling, but seldom use them.

D tuners add to your repertoire. I have D tuners on my STELLING and Gibson. I play Rueben, Randy Lynn Rag, Home Sweet Home, Flint Hill Special, Nashville Blues, John Henry, Earls Breakdown.

I have put them on every banjo I played for 50+ years. I don't use them as much as I used to, but still do Earl's Breakdown, Reuben , and Home Sweet Home on occasion. I think at one time, I had 10 sets. My first set went on a bottlecap banjo as a teenager. Tuners were worth more than the banjo.

I use them often. I was listening to Earl play Here Comes The Sun the other day. I like how he used the D-tuners on that tune.

I have Keith tuners on my 3 bluegrass banjos and use them on multiple tunes and breaks.

I have a full set of Keith tuners on my Ome, but seldom use them.

(The low D in the linked video started slipping toward the end of the tune.  )

https://youtu.be/2wfhmS8PMFM?t=165

Have had a set on my Stelling since new (1985). Before that I had a Washburn B16 with Schallers...

I have cam tuners on my main banjo. Nowadays I mainly use them to quickly tune the banjo to a G minor tuning, to play songs like „in hell I‘ll be in good company“ from the Dead South.

Banjobob36: "D tuners add to your repertoire."

Come again.... I didn't even know I had a repertoire.    

[So, to answer the OP, I don't have/use them ............. but, but, but, I do know what they are.]

I have never owned a banjo for more than a few months that I didn't put D tuners on. I use them for the old classics like Flint Hill Special, but I also use them for Home Sweet Home and Down on the Swanee River (Old Folks at Home) in D tuning. I also play a version of When Johnny Comes Marching Home that I use them on.
Right now, I have a Vega with Hoppers tuners, two Bow Tie Gibsons with Kluson tuners and a Stony Mountain with Cheat-a-Keys. I am building a banjo now that I plan to put Keith tuners on. I also have two pairs of Schaller's that I am planning to use on future builds.

Here's a picture of one of my Bow Ties with Kluson tuners.

Had them but wasnt into using them.
.

Since I don’t use capos, I have used a pair of Schaller D-Tuners on the first and fourth strings to facilitate key changes between;
Double-D and A
and
Double-C and G
But currently I don’t own any.

I have them on my Stelling and ‘81 Gold Star JD (they were already installed when I acquired the banjos), but I’ve never attempted to use them at a jam or gig…

I’ve messed around with them practicing at home, maybe during a break at rehearsal — but I’m always scared of it not returning to perfect tuning etc… I guess i just never got to that level of comfort with it.

I love the old standards that make use of it though… At some point I want to learn one, maybe that will be the motivator which pushes it into regular usage (or at least gets me past being afraid to use em’).

I have them on each of my three ‘stage’ banjos, largely just in case someone requests “that fancy tune you played last time” and I find I’ve brought the wrong banjo with me. To be honest though, as others have said, they don’t get used very much these days, plus it’s annoying when they don’t quite return to pitch and you starting sounding a bit flat. We have enough jokes to endure about banjos being impossible to tune…

I have them on three banjos (one pair of Keiths, two Schaller) and hardly use them. I played Earl's Breakdown while noodling last month. Before that, can't remember when I used them.

Can't bring myself to take them off.

Somebody had posted an original tune (I think) in the videos/media section over the past month or so that made use of Keith tuners… I forget who, but it was very well executed and watching it firmly planted that “oh yeah, I should try those things again” seed.

Granted. I still have yet to do so lol.

I have them on my ODE Style C but I’ve only used them on Earl’s Breakdown a few times. Even Earl recorded Randy L R without them later on. Here’s Earl , sans tuners, sans Louise’s floor polisher part ;-)

youtu.be/T7UdgD9Aci8?si=FgHIkkVPIN0RjOh3

Had them on a couple of banjos through the years. Was a novelty at first but got tired of them after a while. Too much work and can be kinda overdone real quick.  Don't use them anymore, don't miss them. Learned to play some of the traditional tuner songs without them.