Favorite Banjo Strings

Subject: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Greg B
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 03:54 PM

My dad's going back to the folk-style five-string after a long
hiatus. He has a mighty fine open-back Gibson, but has found
that his old favorite strings aren't really around locally.

He got something that turned is fingers black.

What're folks here's current favorite brands (and web
sources for same)?

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: 12-stringer
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 05:32 PM

GHS PF-160 (medium gauge, phosphor bronze 4th string). My cheap banjo sounds much better with heavier strings than it does with the lighter gauge, and I like the feel of these under my fingers (which they haven't turned black yet). FQMS.com has them at competitive prices -- $2.80/set last time I bought several sets -- and is always a pleasure to deal with. (They sell every brand of banjo and guitar string you've ever heard of, plus a few you may not have. Shipping is about $5.95 per order, so it pays to buy several sets.)

GHS also makes a lighter gauge version of the set, PF-150. Main difference is that the PF160 has a .26 4th string while the PF150 has a .22 4th.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Mooh
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 05:38 PM

I've always used D'Addario strings because they're consistent and reliable, but once he finds something adequate, it pays to test several kinds. www.elderly.com?

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: TIA
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 05:45 PM

D'Addario all the way for me. I also think that whatever instrument you've got (cheap or not), the heavier the better sound-wise. I have found that many different strings blacken depending on the climate of the room the instrument is living in. Don't know if this is kosher or not, but I have taken to wiping the strings down with a rag holding a tiny bit of brasso or noxon to keep the black corrosion off (being careful not to get these rather nasty polishes on the fretboard of course -- slipping some wax paper under the strings does this).

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 07:05 PM

http://www.johnalveyturner.co.uk/ - Thats where I get MY banjo strings ! They seem to last a RIDULOUS time without losing tone !
Of course , if you're not in UK it may not be as convenient for Mail Order but Doug parry is a trustworthy guy - He plays himself , both banjo and Guitar .

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: DonMeixner
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 11:37 PM

My favorites were Vega Long 5s medium. But the are no longer available.
Now I use GHS medium loop ends. All GHS looped banjo strings will fit a long neck.

A word about Deering strings. I bought a box of them and 1/3 broke on installation. The remaining 2/3 broke the second string with little effort. They also were light weight, no mediums to my liking. I hope their banjos aren't at the same quality as their strings.

Don

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Mooh
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 06:55 AM

Don...Deering doesn't manufacture strings so it's a safe bet there's no corelation between their strings and their banjos. Besides, the manufacture of strings and instruments are pretty remote from each other in any event. Fwiw, imho, their banjos are great.

I do wish that it was obvious who manufactures strings for the many companies that sell them. Godin strings appear to be D'Addario, and Long&McQuade strings are Dean Markley I think, but other than that I don't know.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 07:52 AM

Over the years I have been happy with srings from D'Addario, Vega and Dean Markley.
Recently I have been using Redwing banjo strings, partly because the Music Room at Cleckheaton sells them cheaper than other brands, and they are a perfectly good string. They also stock light gauge, which will tune up on my Piccolo Banjo without snapping.
The nicest strings I have ever found were Earthwood Frailing 5-String Banjo strings, made by Ernie Ball.

Sometimes your choice of string sets will come down to whether you prefer a lighter or heavier gauge. You also can find that one brand will have a heavier 2nd or third string compared with what you are used to playing. Some will give you a wound third string and others plain unwound. It all affects the feel of playing, if not the sound produced.

Quack!
Geoff the Duck.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 08:45 AM

Yeah, I know that Mooh. And I have a friend with a John Hartford Deering model. A superior club in all respects.

I just would hope that before they put their name to something they don't make they would better assess the quality of the item.

Don

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: GUEST,Patrick_Costello
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 09:00 AM

GHS JD Crowe. Light stings with a stainless steel wound fourth.


howandtao.com

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Mooh
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 03:56 PM

Don...Agreed! That goes for many companies in the instrument (and amp) business...some of the low end stuff especially.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 04:44 PM

Worst strings I ever bought were Rotosound. I put them on, tried to play and the next day took them off, fished the old strings out of the bin and put them back on until I could buy something decent.
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Phot
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 04:52 PM

Banjo string...............Royal Navy slang for the Frenum!!!

Frenar band. Elastic tissue at the tip of the foreskin (between the inner and outer foreskin) that helps contract the tip of the foreskin to allow it to remain positioned over the glans.

Sorry, I almost wet myself when I saw the title of this thread!!

Wassail!! Chris

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Songster Bob
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 08:39 PM

Most well-known strings are pretty good. Black Diamond is out of business, and so, I think, is Mapes, so the rest tend to be good. That said, there are cheap strings that are as bad as the old companies listed in my second sentence; go with a brand that sells in more than two stores. Store brands (and some instrument brands) are job-lot strings, made by a company that charges more when their own name is on the package, but they take more care when it's their OWN name on the package.

I've used Darco, D'Addario, Earthwood, GHS, and others with no ill effect. John Pearse makes very nice strings, just to name another good brand. If you break strings when you are stringing the banjo, check to see that you're leaving enough string slack to give you at least three windings around the peg (someone mentioned breaking strings, so I thought I'd mention that thin strings like banjo ones need more windings around the pegs).

As for the black fingers, new strings can have that effect. Wipe 'em down with a soft cloth as you put them on, and after playing. I used to regularly get a black fingernail from playing clawhammer (frailing, knocking, down-picking) on new strings.

Songbob

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Bill t' bodger
Date: 22 Jan 07 - 12:43 PM

my favorite banjo string is G

LOL Bt B

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 10:57 AM

I've happily used Ernie Ball, GHS and Newtone strings

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Forsh
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 11:43 AM

Ones that don't make too much noise? :)

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Scrump
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 11:50 AM

If I had to choose one, it would be the 2nd or 3rd string, as I would miss those the most if they broke. For the life of me, I can't decide between them, though.

Subject: RE: Favorite Banjo Strings
From: Songster Bob
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 02:55 PM

My choice is a fifth, particularly a good single-malt.


Bob

(Of course, nowadays they don't sell fifths, do they? It's all metric, with milliliters and grams and ergs and joules and suchlike).