Hi Eric

It's not really the harm but the sound that I'm talking about. Changing the gauge of only 4 strings on a tenor or plectrum banjo don't seem to have the same impact on a banjo as changing 6 on a guit banjo - especially when 2 of the 6 are - if standard guitar gauges are used - far heavier than anything you'd really want to put on a banjo.

The total tension from 6 strings is greater than 4, and this too seems to limit the scale of the acceptable performance envelope (forgive me for using that term but I can't think of a less pretentious one that would say what I mean).

I dare say you can get some sort of sound with any guitar strings, but I've found that for the banjos I've set up, the gauges I described make the crispest and brightest sound whilst delivering a reasonable response in the bass register.

Sorry to seem to preach, but I think it's worth a bit of experimentation to transform a passable instrument into a better one.

Best regards

Bobby