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I joined the Banjo Hangout for the express purpose of asking this question but have gotten no responses so far:
A while back I bought a '67 Vega Wonder Plectrum Banjo, and being a guitarist, tuned it Chicago style (DGBE). But then I got a Mandola (CGDA) and subsequently a Tenor Banjo (Goldtone IT250R set up for CGDA). I'm enjoying 5ths tuning! So now I'm thinking I want to set up my Plectrum as an Irish Tenor Banjo tuned GDAE (a fourth lower than a traditional tenor) when capoed at the 3rd fret.
The Plectrum has 22 frets and a 27" scale. So if I tune it open at E B F# C#, It would be G D A E capoed @ the 3rd fret. If I capo it at the 3rd fret, that leaves 19 frets and a 22.75" scale.
So, could anyone recommend a proper set of string gauges to accomplish this? I'm thinking maybe .012p .016p .024w .036w might do it.
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12-06-2021 05:24 PM
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A 27" scale? Are you sure that's right? You're measuring nut to bridge right?
Either way this link will help you
Stringjoy Guitar String Tension Calculator
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Thanks, Allen,
Yup - a Plectrum is like a 5-string without the 5th string: 27" nut-to-bridge!
But I just noticed that .012p .016p .024w .036w are exactly the gauges of the D'Addario EJ63i Irish Tenor set!
Assuming they're long enough, if I tune them down a minor 3rd in open position the tension should be OK!
They're not expensive; I'll include them in my next string order.
And I'll post my results in this thread.
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I think my banjo was 25.5" I wonder if that's why the strings always felt so floppy.
Never should have sold it
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Originally Posted by Tom Karol
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Originally Posted by alltunes
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Good News/Bad News:
They're plenty long enough, and the action, intonation, and tension is good. They sound good and are very playable.
But ...
I had to tune them to G D A E in OPEN position or else they were too loose/floppy. So, now I guess I have a "Long Neck Irish Tenor."
If I want to follow my original plan and have it tuned G D A E when capoed at the 3rd fret, I'll need to go up to AT LEAST .014p .018p .026w & .038w. I'd probably use phosphor bronze for the wound strings in that case.
I'm still happy with the results, but it appears that I'm not yet done experimenting.
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I went with .014p .022w .032w .042w (the wound strings are phosphor bronze), and it worked. GHS makes a set called Custom Stainless Steel Celtic Tenor (.014 .024w .032w .042w) available for $6.99 @ Elderly Instruments – so I could go with those – but it sounded better with the D'Addario EJ63i Irish Tenor set tuned normally, so I’m sticking with the "Long Neck Irish Tenor/Octave Bandolin” iteration!
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I have a 1977 Ibanez plectrum banjo. I used it a couple of years ago in DGCF tuning.
I played in a big band and I used it in the same way that I play 4 to a bar shell chords on my archtops.
I cant recall what strings I used. What I recall is that I struggled with the gauge as well and ended up in a combination of Elixir strings from a set and single GHS strings...May be that one of these days I get it out of its case and do some dusting
Crimson/Hutchins Gibson l5
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