Tenor banjo Chicago tuning

[telephonic]

I have a tenor banjo and used to play Irish music many years ago but it's been stored away for quite a while now. I was recently listening to Kenny Burrell and came across his recording of Salty Papa where he plays (I believe) a 6-string banjo. This got me thinking about whether I could use the tenor for a similar sound and I discovered there is indeed something called Chicago tuning, where the strings are tuned to the top four notes of a guitar.

Has anyone tried this and, if so, what strings gauges did you use? I remember I had to juggle string sizes for Irish so I assume that the standard jazz strings wouldn't work so well for this either.

For reference:
Standard C G D A
Irish G D A E
Chicago D G B E

[sgcim]

That's the only way I can play the damn thing when I get called for musicals. I'd suggest going to a music store, and asking them what gauges to use. That's how I did it, or maybe I asked a friend. All I know is I hope I never break a string, because I wouldn't remember what gauge to get.

[telephonic]

I found an online article that suggested using the bottom 2 strings from a standard tenor set, and the top 2 from an Irish tenor set. I had no idea they even made Irish tenor sets - must be new as there was nothing like this available when I was playing. They also make a 6-string banjo set so it might be worth getting that as well for experimenting.

[bluenote61]

You can also buy a set for Chicago tuning, e.g. here for reference

Pyramid Chicago Tuning Banjo Set – Thomann United States

[telephonic]

Great, thanks for that. I'll see what the shipping costs are like for Australia.

At least it gives me some string gauges to work with: 013 - 017 - 026w - 034w

[telephonic]

Well, shipping costs from Thomann were prohibitive, but I found a shop in the UK that sells their own brand and could simply post them out for a very reasonable price. A couple of sets on the way!

Eagle Puretone Tenor Banjo String Set for Chicago Tuning D G B E

[Woody Sound]

I struggled with this for a several years, finally bought a plectrum. Perfect.