Nylon 5 srring banjo strings (different guages)

[Daniel PEARCE]

Hello. Apologies for the maybe obvious question, but can anyone tell me where I can order nylon strings (and a 4th wound) in different guages? It seems quite the task to track anything down online. Even the guages in a set are usually not labelled! I recently tried Strings and Things but haven't had a response yet so if anyone has an idea that would be great! I tend to use nylons 20, 24, 28, 28 wound and 24 5th.

[Daniel PEARCE]

Strings not srrings!

[Joel Hooks]

Labella early instrument singles, available in any gauge on their website.

[Joel Hooks]

Also I’ll go ahead and answer your other questions.  With the extremely rare exception where scordatura is used, every single piece of music you will find on this website or published before the folk revival will use “standard tuning”= the equivalent of intervals gCGBD.  Pitch might change (noted always by the 4th string, but intervals remain the same.

The auxiliary form of raising the 4th string one step is used where this will afford easier fingering in certain keys and pieces. This is nearly always provided on the published score when the composer uses it.  

 

[Daniel PEARCE]

Many thanks! Much appreciated.

Joel Hooks said:

Labella early instrument singles, available in any gauge on their website.

[Daniel PEARCE]

Yes that makes sense. Many thanks again! The low C helps the range of melodic possibilities and was a revelation when I first tried it.. 

Joel Hooks said:

Also I’ll go ahead and answer your other questions.  With the extremely rare exception where scordatura is used, every single piece of music you will find on this website or published before the folk revival will use “standard tuning”= the equivalent of intervals gCGBD.  Pitch might change (noted always by the 4th string, but intervals remain the same.

The auxiliary form of raising the 4th string one step is used where this will afford easier fingering in certain keys and pieces. This is nearly always provided on the published score when the composer uses it.  

 

[Jody Stecher]

You can get any gauge of nylon you want from Stringsbymail.com.  They have a wide range and splendid service. The ideal gauge will depend on several factors but in my opinion the most important one is scale. If the vibrating length of the string (from bridge to nut) is 28 inches a good sounding set for that may well sound insipid if the scale is 25.5 inches.