Gut strings used to be the norm, and they were tuned low. When the classical-banjo-playing "American Banjo Fraternity" got around to setting standards, they settled on A for "C" as their standard. However, minstrel players (the generation earlier than the "classical" players) tuned to anything from maybe G up to C (all in terms of the modern "C" tuning -- it'd be from D up to G for "G" tuning).

I have three nylon-strung banjos, two tuned to modern pitch and one tuned three frets low (A for C). Modern gut or nylon strings will tune to modern pitch, despite what is written above. I like the lower tuning, but you need a full-length scale for that. The older banjos sometimes had 28" scales, unlike the modern 25" scales, so the lowering of strings to A on a 25" banjo creates flabby strings. I wish I had a "real" minstrel banjo, but can't afford one, if the reproduction ones are any example.

Bob Clayton