Whilst Traditional Banjos originally used gut strings and Zither Banjos originally used a combination of steel, gut and wire wound silk strings, from what I gather Mandolin Banjos had always used wire strings. This may be why Mandolins Banjos all seem to use geared tuning machines whilst many Banjos still used friction pegs.
Mandolins come in 4, 8 or 12 strings varieties, with the latter two have 4 or 6 paired courses. Mandolin Banjos seem to all be 8 string whilst another hybrid instrument the Banjolin is 4 stringed. Mandolins, Tenor Banjos and Violins all use the same GDAE tuning although looking at different online sources there's alternative tunings, and different octaves however the most common and the one my tuner uses is G3 D4 A4 E5. Some people tune their instruments using a tuning fork and a supernatural hearing sense. I've tried tuning a Ukulele with tuning fork previously but didn't get close to being in tune. There's also tuning pipes which is basically a whistle you tune your string to match, I'm not even going to try that.
Electronic tuners have been around for many years and as Smart Phones improved there's also various tuning apps some of which just play the note whilst the better ones include a chromatic tuner which will use your phone mic to tell you what frequency your string is vibrating at. A clip on electric tuner is only a couple of quid on eBay. I got one for £3.99 delivered from Hong Kong, it was the cheapest on eBay at the time. It's actually a Violin tuner but you tune the Mandolin the same. Most of these tuners cover a few instruments, for example this one also covers Viola and Cello.
Electronic tuners have been around for many years and as Smart Phones improved there's also various tuning apps some of which just play the note whilst the better ones include a chromatic tuner which will use your phone mic to tell you what frequency your string is vibrating at. A clip on electric tuner is only a couple of quid on eBay. I got one for £3.99 delivered from Hong Kong, it was the cheapest on eBay at the time. It's actually a Violin tuner but you tune the Mandolin the same. Most of these tuners cover a few instruments, for example this one also covers Viola and Cello.
Having previously snapped a Ukulele string by blindly trusting a clip on tuner I decided to use the chromatic tuner function of Easy Ukulele Tuner Android app on my phone to keep things on track. I found the individual frequencies on the Seventh String website.
Course 1 E5 659.25 Hz
Course 2 A4 440 Hz
Course 3 D4 293.66 Hz
Course 4 G3 196 Hz
Course 2 A4 440 Hz
Course 3 D4 293.66 Hz
Course 4 G3 196 Hz
These old instruments pre-date the pitch standardisation of A4 being 440Hz. However I asked a friend who plays a 1901 Mandolin about this and he said he tunes his to 440Hz so I'll go with that. I actually tried it using 432Hz just to see how it sounded but didn't really notice an appreciable difference.
Before adding the strings the tuning machines need lubricating. The obvious thing to do is apply a little oil but it's not the best thing for your instrument. Instead a PTFE based lubricant should lubricate and protect the moving parts without attracting dust and gunk.
As I'm new to wire strings and Mandolin Banjos I figure there's a good chance I'll accidentally snap a string or too along the way, so I opted for the cheapest Mandolin Strings eBay could offer.
So far the instrument has been lacking a bridge. Guitars, Violins, Ukuleles, Cellos etc have wooden surfaces which the bridge is attached to but Banjo type instruments have a flexible skin top so that's not an option. Instead the bridge is unattached and held in place on the vellum by the pressing of the strings. Quite a few old Banjos offered up for sale have long lost their bridges. Luckily replacement bridges are readily available. However most of these were 4, 5 or 6 string instruments or supplied as blanks where you had to cut notches for the strings yourself. Without an original bridge to use a reference I ruled out using a blank. In the end I ordered a Standard Mandolin Banjo Bridge from Andy Banjo for the princely sum of £2.50. It's maple with a metal saddle.
To get the string length between the nut and the bridge right the bridge needs to go in exactly the right place. Initially measure the distance from the bottom edge of the nut to the middle of the twelfth fret. Then position the bridge that distance again from the middle of the twelfth fret.
Once the bridge is in place you can add a few more strings. some articles suggest adding just a top and bottom string whilst positioning the bridge so it's easier to move, I just went ahead and added all 8. The strings have a loop that fits over a hook in the tailpiece. With 8 strings it looks a little crowded down there.
Using the tuner tune the bottom G string and the top E string. Then, this is the clever bit, place a finger onto the G at the twelfth fret not had enough to press it to the fretboard but just touching it to stop it vibrating. Then give the string a twang. If the bridge is in the right place the tuner will tell you it's still a G. If the pitch is too high you need to move the bridge down towards the tail a bit, if it's too low you need to move it up towards the neck a bit. Then do the same thing with the E string. You'll probably end up with the bridge at a slight angle when it's in the exact right place.
That done you can add the rest of the strings if they're not already on and tighten and tune them. I cut down a guitar string winder to turn the buttons when the strings got tight, I'd suggest not doing this when there's a cat in the room -mine really enjoyed trying to catch the string ends as I turned the pegs which wasn't particularly helpful. Once the strings were in place and tuned I tidied it up by trimming back the ends.
Before adding the strings the tuning machines need lubricating. The obvious thing to do is apply a little oil but it's not the best thing for your instrument. Instead a PTFE based lubricant should lubricate and protect the moving parts without attracting dust and gunk.
As I'm new to wire strings and Mandolin Banjos I figure there's a good chance I'll accidentally snap a string or too along the way, so I opted for the cheapest Mandolin Strings eBay could offer.
So far the instrument has been lacking a bridge. Guitars, Violins, Ukuleles, Cellos etc have wooden surfaces which the bridge is attached to but Banjo type instruments have a flexible skin top so that's not an option. Instead the bridge is unattached and held in place on the vellum by the pressing of the strings. Quite a few old Banjos offered up for sale have long lost their bridges. Luckily replacement bridges are readily available. However most of these were 4, 5 or 6 string instruments or supplied as blanks where you had to cut notches for the strings yourself. Without an original bridge to use a reference I ruled out using a blank. In the end I ordered a Standard Mandolin Banjo Bridge from Andy Banjo for the princely sum of £2.50. It's maple with a metal saddle.
To get the string length between the nut and the bridge right the bridge needs to go in exactly the right place. Initially measure the distance from the bottom edge of the nut to the middle of the twelfth fret. Then position the bridge that distance again from the middle of the twelfth fret.
Once the bridge is in place you can add a few more strings. some articles suggest adding just a top and bottom string whilst positioning the bridge so it's easier to move, I just went ahead and added all 8. The strings have a loop that fits over a hook in the tailpiece. With 8 strings it looks a little crowded down there.
Using the tuner tune the bottom G string and the top E string. Then, this is the clever bit, place a finger onto the G at the twelfth fret not had enough to press it to the fretboard but just touching it to stop it vibrating. Then give the string a twang. If the bridge is in the right place the tuner will tell you it's still a G. If the pitch is too high you need to move the bridge down towards the tail a bit, if it's too low you need to move it up towards the neck a bit. Then do the same thing with the E string. You'll probably end up with the bridge at a slight angle when it's in the exact right place.
That done you can add the rest of the strings if they're not already on and tighten and tune them. I cut down a guitar string winder to turn the buttons when the strings got tight, I'd suggest not doing this when there's a cat in the room -mine really enjoyed trying to catch the string ends as I turned the pegs which wasn't particularly helpful. Once the strings were in place and tuned I tidied it up by trimming back the ends.
Nice! I've been working on one too, but never managed to tune it properly. Will have to try your advice. Thanks!
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