Is the nut black here? It's hard to see from these pictures. I think you just loosen the string and put it in the slot in the fifth string pip (I believe it's called that for the 5th string, not a nut).

It ain't rocket surgery....,put the string in the slot of the pip (nut), retune and keep pickin' !  

If it doesn't want to stay in the slot: Loosen the string, pull the peg out of the the neck, rotate it a few degrees CCW, and re-insert it.

I’m interested this particular pip. What is it made of ?

Has this problem just occurred? Anything changed on the banjo?

Normally you lay the 5th string in the slot in the pip and tighten the string up to pitch and the string stays there due to tension.

Now for instance if you just installed the geared 5th peg, the barrel of the shaft may be sitting much higher than the bottom of the 5th string pip. Nothing in the world can make the string stay in the slot. As Dan Gellert suggested, you have to pull the geared 5th tuner out of the neck, by judicious wiggling of it with your thumb and forefinger. When you have it out, rotate COUNTERCLOCKWISE a few degrees and push it back into the hole with hand pressure only. Now with the shaft of the tuner oriented a bit lower, try tensioning the 5th string up and see if it stays in place in the pip. If it still won't behave and lay down in the slot, pull the tuner out again and rotate it few more degrees counterclockwise. Do this by trial and error til the string remains in the slot. If you're nervous about the 5th string tuner falling out of the hole, pull it out and put one drop of glue on the part that goes back into the hole, and hold it good and tight without tightening the string to pitch, until it is held there (many use CrazyGlue because it sets so fast). You only need a drop, don't bathe the tuner in glue.

Good luck!

You don't want to rotate the tuner body CCW any more than necessary or you'll find the string rests on the fingerboard binding. Interferes a bit with smooth tuning, and also can cut into the binding over a period of time.

The only other problem I can imagine is that one side of the 5th string pip has cracked through to the slot, and fallen off, leaving nothing to restrain the string in the slot. This calls for a new pip.

Earl Scruggs in his instruction book recommended doing away with the little bone 5th string pip and replacing it with a little nail like a 5th string capo nail, and using that to hold the 5th string in proper position on the fingerboard. But if the 5th string tuner shaft is sitting too high, you'll still have the same problem.

Is that a Gibson RB 800 banjo or one of its Asian clones?

In the photo, the tuner looks like it's standing straight up. It should be angled so the top tilts slightly toward the other tuners. Just enough so the string tension will keep it in the pip slot.

If the string tension is pulling the tuner forward, it's too loose. If that's the case, you can use a bit of toothpick to get it to fit snugly.

We need a closer closeup pic

I removed my 5th string from the pip and placed it directly on the fret,instead.

quote:

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Originally posted by The Old Timer

Has this problem just occurred? Anything changed on the banjo?

Normally you lay the 5th string in the slot in the pip and tighten the string up to pitch and the string stays there due to tension.

Now for instance if you just installed the geared 5th peg, the barrel of the shaft may be sitting much higher than the bottom of the 5th string pip. Nothing in the world can make the string stay in the slot. As Dan Gellert suggested, you have to pull the geared 5th tuner out of the neck, by judicious wiggling of it with your thumb and forefinger. When you have it out, rotate COUNTERCLOCKWISE a few degrees and push it back into the hole with hand pressure only. Now with the shaft of the tuner oriented a bit lower, try tensioning the 5th string up and see if it stays in place in the pip. If it still won't behave and lay down in the slot, pull the tuner out again and rotate it few more degrees counterclockwise. Do this by trial and error til the string remains in the slot. If you're nervous about the 5th string tuner falling out of the hole, pull it out and put one drop of glue on the part that goes back into the hole, and hold it good and tight without tightening the string to pitch, until it is held there (many use CrazyGlue because it sets so fast). You only need a drop, don't bathe the tuner in glue.

Good luck!

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Also, the  string post' of the 5th peg should be angled away from the nut so it pressures the string down into the nut slot.