Life of Nylon Strings

[David Trainer]

One of my favourite banjos is a 5-string Goldtone cello banjo tuned down to E. I'm getting ready to change the nylon strings on this banjo, but have to admit these strings have been on the instrument for over 2 years. 

Could I ask how regularly other banjo players change their strings if like me they only find to play 3 or 4 times a week to accommodate work and other family commitments ? 

I can't wait to retire and spend more quality time on learning to play this beautiful instrument !!

Thanks.

Dave 

[Trapdoor2]

My Stewart banjo has had its nylon strings for over 5 yrs. I bought a new set...but these still sound good!

[Jody Stecher]

When the winding on the bass string starts coming apart I change that one and I might change the others while I'm at it, but usually I find that the plain nylon strings have a longer life so I might wait until the new bass string becomes an old one. 

So long as the strings sound good I keep them on. It depends also on how hard the strings have been played and in which circumstances. I have changed strings after 2 months, after 2 years, after 2 weeks and even after 2 hours!  (unusual for me to do that though).  I have had one set of old formulation Nylgut (significantly different ... better.. than what is now available) on my Windsor Grand solo for over 10 years and they still sound good to me.

I use nylon strings more often than nylgut and these won't last 10 years. 

[Joel Hooks]

I've played a FVE "flush fret" a few times that still has the strings Fred Van Eps put on it.

In my experience the strings will eventually get flat spots at the frets which can be a slight annoyance or not.  I have had some occasions where the strings have become false over time.  

Nylgut polyester seems to be more susceptible to the flat spots as it is a softer material.

That said, banjoists are funny about strings.  They cheap out.  They try to use fishing line.  Strings are cheap.  Change them when you feel like it and use the opportunity wipe the crud off of either side of the frets.  As a general rule I usually change a set after I wear through two or three 4th strings (but not always).

If you want to read everything there is to ever talk about regarding nylon strings, check out Spanish guitar forums.  Those guys can flog the smallest detail to death (and I love that).  And they seem to always be changing strings.  I'm not sure why guitarists are okay with that but banjoists want them to last forever. 

[Jody Stecher]

The players I know who use fishing line (or leader) do it because they like the sound and feel of the gauges they use. It's not to save money.  

Many bluegrass banjo players and other players of steel strings on banjo do change strings fairly often because new steel strings have more body and volume as well as being more in tune. But I'm thinking that one  possible reason players of nylon strings will keep strings on the banjo a long time is that much of the repertoire, especially ragtime, benefits from short sustain. New nylon strings will have longer sustain than ones that have been played a lot.  Much of the repertoire played on nylon-strung guitars benefits from longer sustain so new strings are better.

Joel Hooks said:

I've played a FVE "flush fret" a few times that still has the strings Fred Van Eps put on it.

In my experience the strings will eventually get flat spots at the frets which can be a slight annoyance or not.  I have had some occasions where the strings have become false over time.  

Nylgut polyester seems to be more susceptible to the flat spots as it is a softer material.

That said, banjoists are funny about strings.  They cheap out.  They try to use fishing line.  Strings are cheap.  Change them when you feel like it and use the opportunity wipe the crud off of either side of the frets.  As a general rule I usually change a set after I wear through two or three 4th strings (but not always).

If you want to read everything there is to ever talk about regarding nylon strings, check out Spanish guitar forums.  Those guys can flog the smallest detail to death (and I love that).  And they seem to always be changing strings.  I'm not sure why guitarists are okay with that but banjoists want them to last forever. 

[David Trainer]

Dear All. Thank you again for your replies and sharing your own experiences - very interesting and reassuring.  

I've been a euphonium player for the past 48 years spending a lot of my youth playing in brass bands and ensembles.  Thankfully I discovered the classic banjo when I turned 40, but still consider myself a real novice when it comes to any sort of stringed instrument.  Last month was my 60th birthday with my Wife and I celebrating in style on a cruise which had a fantastic classical guitar/flamenco player named Samuel Moore giving concerts. We managed to talk to him several times during the trip about his career and choice of instrument. I guess the alarm bells concerning my relaxed approach to changing of strings started when he told us he changes his strings after every performance and, as a professional player, incurs a huge bill every year running into thousands of pounds.  

I'm really glad I prefer the banjo !! 

Regards. 

Dave 

[Joel Hooks]

Now that I think about it, the strings should be changed on the banjo every two weeks with the 4th changed every week.

And that is the bare minimum.  One could change them once a week to be on the safe side.

And be sure to buy them from me ;-)

Just kidding...

[David Trainer]

Thanks Joel. 

My "gut" instinct is we shouldn't try to fix something that isn't already broken. It always causes more trouble than it's worth. 

My banjo still sounds very nice [at least to my ear], so I might wait a little before changing the strings. 

Cheers.

Dave 

[Jody Stecher]

  Flamenco guitar music requires an aggressive touch that can wear out strings (and fingers) quickly. That said, I am dubious that in the history of Flamenco guitar any but a few Flamenco stars amongst the Andalusian  Gitano could afford to buy new strings often. Also Flamenco guitars and Classic(al) guitars are two different instruments that are built and braced differently from each other. Sometimes the gauges and string materials differ as well. I'm dubious that Samuel Moore played both kinds of music, at least  on the same guitar in the same concert set.  Neither setup would be optimal for playing the other kind of music.  Did he really do that? Or did he have 2 guitars?

David Trainer said:

  Last month was my 60th birthday with my Wife and I celebrating in style on a cruise which had a fantastic classical guitar/flamenco player named Samuel Moore giving concerts. We managed to talk to him several times during the trip about his career and choice of instrument. I guess the alarm bells concerning my relaxed approach to changing of strings started when he told us he changes his strings after every performance and, as a professional player, incurs a huge bill every year running into thousands of pounds.  

I'm really glad I prefer the banjo !! 

Regards. 

Dave 

[David Trainer]

Hi Jody. 

Yes, Samuel Moore did play both Flamenco and classical guitar music on the same instrument during the two concerts on the cruise ship. All of his pieces sounded excellent to me, but I'm a brass player at heart and perhaps wouldn't appreciate the subtleties ? 

Regards.

Dave 

[Jody Stecher]

And I've heard it said that the Gitano flamenco players also have used fishing line for the treble strings. In this case, the reason was to save money. 

[Jody Stecher]

In that case perhaps the frequent string changing was to always have the required sustain and "body"  for some of the classical repertoire. Did he mix up the program? Or first play the classical pieces and then wear out the strings with Flamenco?

David Trainer said:

Hi Jody. 

Yes, Samuel Moore did play both Flamenco and classical guitar music on the same instrument during the two concerts on the cruise ship. All of his pieces sounded excellent to me, but I'm a brass player at heart and perhaps wouldn't appreciate the subtleties ? 

Regards.

Dave 

[David Trainer]

Hi Jody. 

Samuel mixed up the program with the classical piece [only one] in the middle. His set was only 45 minutes with quite a bit of talking between each piece.