Hi,
I recently bought a Slingerland banjo ukulele with an 8 inch head. I've been trying to tune it to GDAE like a tenor banjo of fiddle using mandolin strings but it wont tune in this configuration.
I think it may be due to the gauge of the strings.
Has anyone any suggestions or can recommend strings that will work?
A number of the older banjoleles has a different kind of tuning peg than on those designed for steel strings. A likely solution would be to get new tuning pegs (see stewmac.com for suggestions) or use nylon strings.
The strings are in tune GDAE. I have the bridge set up the way I would do it on the tenor banjo using the 12th fret harmonic. However when I play the notes in between they are not the notes I would expect to hear.
My suggestion is that the bridge is too high, so when you fret the string you are imposing too much tension on it, and producing a higher note than you expect.
It might be worthwhile measuring the fretboard to see if you have a duff one;
nut to 5th fret == half nut to 12th fret.
nut to 7th fret == 2/3rds nut to 12th fret.
Also measure again ;
1st fret to 6th against 1st fret to13th
2nd fret to 7th against 2nd fret to 14th;
etc.
There is no reason I can think of why you couldn't tune it GDAE, provided the nut slots are big enough to accommodate the strings. If the notes are consistently sharp and getting sharper as you go up the fretboard, I would agree with GP that the action is too high. Either the bridge is too high or the neck angle is wrong. If the notes vary by wildly different amounts, the frets are probably inaccurately placed. The only other thing I can think of is that what you are expecting to hear is not what you should be expecting to hear, in which case test the notes against a good quality tuner, or one of the many software programs available that can generate notes, eg ABC Navigator, or an electronic keyboard. If it looks like a cheap shoddy instrument, it probably is one. If it looks well made, with nice smooth fret ends, polished fingerboard, nice finish, etc, it might be worth investigating further, otherwise hang it on the wall.
Banjoleles are designed to be tuned re-entrant G C E A (that is with the G an octave higher than you'd expect). Strings go thin, thickest, thick, thin. This is the same as Treble, Concert and Tenor ukuleles. It means the fingering is the same as a six string devil top four with a capo on the 4th (but with the bottom string up an octave).
It's very unlikely that the fret spacing is wrong - or at least not so badly wrong that it doesn't play the note you expect.
Two possible causes I can think of:
When you positioned the bridge you counted wrong, and tuned the harmonic against a fret that wasn't the 12th.
The other (more likely) explanation is that the frets aren't level, and when you finger one fret the string is actually stopped at a higher fret. This might be happening when you do the twelfth fret test, which would then put the bridge in the wrong place and throw everything else out. Play each fret up the fingerboard on each string. If you find two or more frets that make the same note you can be sure that the fretboard needs a doctor.
Additional to what I said above;
There were a lot of nasty cheap banjoleles (manjoes- mandolins with small banjo body) made in the 30's primarily for decorative purposes- sticking them on the wall.
There is one on the wall in my local session pub as it happens.And that's about all they are good for. They were never made with the intention of being played. If it's one of them- stick it on the wall!
This looks dangerously like one: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/MandolinBanjo.jpg
I don't know how you work out that those were made as wall-hangers. Certainly there is no demand for them now, and most have landed up hanging on walls and have virtually no intrinsic value. But back in the '30s/'40s they were quite popular, and the instruments you've linked to are both of quite reasonable quality - certainly made to be played, not as ornaments. Take a look at the fret wear on the mandolin-banjo - that doesn't happen from hanging on a wall.
Banjo ukulele
Banjo ukulele
Hi,
I recently bought a Slingerland banjo ukulele with an 8 inch head. I've been trying to tune it to GDAE like a tenor banjo of fiddle using mandolin strings but it wont tune in this configuration.
I think it may be due to the gauge of the strings.
Has anyone any suggestions or can recommend strings that will work?
Thanks in advance.
Darragh
# Posted on March 31st 2010 by Darragh Ó C
Re: Banjo ukulele
A number of the older banjoleles has a different kind of tuning peg than on those designed for steel strings. A likely solution would be to get new tuning pegs (see stewmac.com for suggestions) or use nylon strings.
# Posted on March 31st 2010 by Larshansen
Re: Banjo ukulele
What do you mean by 'it won't tune'? Do you mean it sounds bad, or it won't stay in tune, or the intonation is off, or what?
# Posted on March 31st 2010 by gam
Re: Banjo ukulele
The strings are in tune GDAE. I have the bridge set up the way I would do it on the tenor banjo using the 12th fret harmonic. However when I play the notes in between they are not the notes I would expect to hear.
# Posted on March 31st 2010 by Darragh Ó C
Re: Banjo ukulele
My suggestion is that the bridge is too high, so when you fret the string you are imposing too much tension on it, and producing a higher note than you expect.
It might be worthwhile measuring the fretboard to see if you have a duff one;
nut to 5th fret == half nut to 12th fret.
nut to 7th fret == 2/3rds nut to 12th fret.
Also measure again ;
1st fret to 6th against 1st fret to13th
2nd fret to 7th against 2nd fret to 14th;
etc.
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Banjo ukulele
There is no reason I can think of why you couldn't tune it GDAE, provided the nut slots are big enough to accommodate the strings. If the notes are consistently sharp and getting sharper as you go up the fretboard, I would agree with GP that the action is too high. Either the bridge is too high or the neck angle is wrong. If the notes vary by wildly different amounts, the frets are probably inaccurately placed. The only other thing I can think of is that what you are expecting to hear is not what you should be expecting to hear, in which case test the notes against a good quality tuner, or one of the many software programs available that can generate notes, eg ABC Navigator, or an electronic keyboard. If it looks like a cheap shoddy instrument, it probably is one. If it looks well made, with nice smooth fret ends, polished fingerboard, nice finish, etc, it might be worth investigating further, otherwise hang it on the wall.
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by gam
Re: Banjo ukulele
Banjoleles are designed to be tuned re-entrant G C E A (that is with the G an octave higher than you'd expect). Strings go thin, thickest, thick, thin. This is the same as Treble, Concert and Tenor ukuleles. It means the fingering is the same as a six string devil top four with a capo on the 4th (but with the bottom string up an octave).
Plunka plunka indeed.
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: Banjo ukulele
It's very unlikely that the fret spacing is wrong - or at least not so badly wrong that it doesn't play the note you expect.
Two possible causes I can think of:
When you positioned the bridge you counted wrong, and tuned the harmonic against a fret that wasn't the 12th.
The other (more likely) explanation is that the frets aren't level, and when you finger one fret the string is actually stopped at a higher fret. This might be happening when you do the twelfth fret test, which would then put the bridge in the wrong place and throw everything else out. Play each fret up the fingerboard on each string. If you find two or more frets that make the same note you can be sure that the fretboard needs a doctor.
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by skreech
Re: Banjo ukulele
Additional to what I said above;
There were a lot of nasty cheap banjoleles (manjoes- mandolins with small banjo body) made in the 30's primarily for decorative purposes- sticking them on the wall.
There is one on the wall in my local session pub as it happens.And that's about all they are good for. They were never made with the intention of being played. If it's one of them- stick it on the wall!
This looks dangerously like one:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/MandolinBanjo.jpg
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: Banjo ukulele
I meant to say...cheap banjoleles and manjoes...
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: Banjo ukulele
So does this (but a banjo uke this time not a manjo):
http://www.frettedstrings.com/shop/images/banjo%20uke%20horiz.png
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: Banjo ukulele
I don't know how you work out that those were made as wall-hangers. Certainly there is no demand for them now, and most have landed up hanging on walls and have virtually no intrinsic value. But back in the '30s/'40s they were quite popular, and the instruments you've linked to are both of quite reasonable quality - certainly made to be played, not as ornaments. Take a look at the fret wear on the mandolin-banjo - that doesn't happen from hanging on a wall.
# Posted on April 1st 2010 by skreech