Official Luthiers Forum!

I recently took in a friend's banjo to refurbish.  A tenor banjo, I just cleaned it up, put on a new head, new bridge, and new tuners.  I have no experience with banjos, just guitars, and I am having a difficult time tuning the thing.  What obvious banjo rules are guitarist likely to break, whilst tuning?

Hi, Danny, Welcome to the forum. I play 5 string banjo, never played a tenor so I'm not sure of the tuning. Make sure the bridge is in the right place. 5 string banjos are most often tuned to open "G". If the four strings on a tenor are tuned like the "long" four strings on a 5 string banjo, the tuning, from bass to treble is: D G B D

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

The "correct" tuning for a tenor banjo is in fifths like a viola. From what I've read from various sources, the tenor banjo was developed as a way to let mandolin players get in on the banjo craze (and play louder to be heard among the horns that were becoming popular in the Jazz Age.)

The Irish Banjo page has a great run-down on various tunings for this critter.

Mine is the short-scale number with 17 frets. These are sometimes called a tango banjo. I won't tell you what kind of banjo my wife calls it. (Can't use that language on the OLF.)

Being fifths-challenged in my fretting, I put nylon strings on it and tuned to DGBE like the bottom four strings of the guitar. I like to think of it as a baritone banjo uke.

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D..

Danny,

The traditional tenor banjo is tuned CGDA (low to high), like a viola. Some Irish players prefer to put heavier strings on their short scale (17 fret) banjos and tune them GDAE an octave lower than a mandolin.
Let us know if you are having technical problems actually getting it to tune or if you just needed the tuning.

Good luck,

Louis

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- Louis Freilicher

Oh No! Not another learning experience!

Thanks Everyone!  Sorry I didn't get back to the forum sooner than today.  Actually, I have the notes but I'm having trouble getting and keeping it in tune.  Some of the things I've thought about are: Do I need more windings on the tuning pegs (not just the once around and through I use on guitar)?  Have I got the tail piece/string routing correct (I have the strings routed through -under?- then over the tail piece to the string post)?  Note that the banjo had no head or strings attached when I got it so I haven't a reference.

I hate to bother anyone, but thought my ordeal might be obvious to someone.

 

Thanks,  I am enjoying the forum!

Depends on the tailpiece, Danny, can you post photos??
Are the tuners geared or just pegs?


Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Placement of the bridge is critical also on a banjo. Does it sound like it is out of tune when it is fretted and back in tune when strings are open?

One other problem that comes to mind is slippage of the tuners, especially if this is a vintage banjo with old tuners on it. I fought this problem on one of my first guitars for a while. It is not the string slipping, but the tuner is actually loosening up as it is played (or even just sitting there for that matter)...

As far as routing, some tailpieces used hooks that a hoop on the string would snag while most modern banjos use strings with balls on the end of the string like guitar strings. I had a banjo that would accept either type of string. The routing went through the back of the tailpiece and emerged from under  it, then over the top of the bridge. The front part of the tailpiece actually held downward pressure on the strings. On my bridge, the angle of the string could be adjusted with a screw to raise or lower the front part of the tailpiece that is holding down the strings. From my experience, a sharper angle between the bridge and tailpiece helped the "ring" of the banjo.

From what you are discribing as the inability to keep in tune, I would first suspect the tuners are slipping and not the string unwinding on the post.

Hope my ramblings make sense?

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Reguards,

Ken H

Thanks everyone.  Ron, I have limited access to the internet at this time, so I won't post pictures yet.  As time flys, I've decided to take it to a repair shop.  Hopefully, I'll be able to watch and learn.

Danny

Am I the only one here taught to tune the open chord 4 string instruments with " My dog has fleas?" Or, as I always suspected, was my Dad just a funny man?mt

Mike, I've heard that for a uke, but not a banjo. Though I've never played a 4 string banjo.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......