"Ian, I woudl love to get a set of gut strings again! Where do you recommend getting them these days sir? Thank you!"

"I've played the fiddle for thirty years and only ever used gut strings and all of my ordinary banjos have gut and wound silk. For a couple of years, I've only been playing a zither banjo and have become used to wire strings.  My…"

"Ian, no sir I actually do t care for steel strings and never have. I have played for some years with guy strings only for my minstrel banjos but have caved lately and started using nylgut. "

"Wow that is very helpful thank you. I have a set of Nylgut for the SS Stewart, it may have never had steel strings ever on it. I would never use steel strings on it. What is your website brother? Thx"

"By the mid 1880s in the US the banjo pitch had raised generally to C, despite the continued use of A notation. Your SSS was built to be pitched to C using appropriate sized strings.  The packaged sets on the market being sold by most are much…"

"David, I appreciate that you I haven't mentioned using steel strings, but thought that you might find this discussion interesting. There are contributions from players on this site. https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/120056"

"I use gut strings on my banjos, so I can't advise you about using nylon strings on your instrument, but again, there is plenty of information on the subject in the archives. I think concert pitch would only be necessary if you were playing…"

"Thanks Joel that is very helpful indeed. I am used to playing the “Low Bass” in Minstrel banjo. Same as your “concert pitch” but 2.5 steps below standard pitch if I am understanding it correctly."

"Yes sir this is the stuff I am more comfortable playing!With minstrel banjo I am used to playing in “Low Bass” which is the same as your “concert pitch” but just 2.5 steps below standard pitch. Is it safe to tune my SS…"

"No, I'm not thereallyniceman."

"What Joel said. I just had a look at your really impressive website. It occurs to me, that your interest in historical reenactment could very well influence your venture with the banjo. With that in mind, I suggest that you have a look…"

"Understood. Thanks for the Caveat. Will stick to Grimahaw for now. Thank you! Is this the same Ian as the really nice man? Thanks so much!"

"*tuning is the same, pitch is different.  “Tuning” is a confusing word for old time Banjoists due to the use of scordatura.  With classic banjo, string intervals  remain the same and only the pitch changes."

"David, the SS Stewart tutor is written for a banjo tuned differently to that used for the majority of the music played by banjoists today. There are lots of threads in the archives, discussing the history of these tuning differences."

"Ian, thank you! Your videos on YouTube are quite inspiring! I am Pumpkintown Primitives on YouTube and have subscribed and make many comments on your great content! I noticed the SS Stewart instructor on the banjo instructors page also. Since my…"