Extra Extra Light Steel Strings on Old Banjos

Abstract

Musical taste and authenticity aside, owners of 100+ year-old banjos are admonished not to use steel strings because of the threat of irreversible damage to those fine antiques resulting from tensions higher than the original design. The purpose here is to offer sound samples of extra extra light steel strings whose tensions at standard pitches are no greater than those of commonly used nylon. There is also a sketch of how to understand and estimate tensions for various choices of material, scale length, and pitch. While these are things that many people know, there are many more who don’t but might enjoy trying. A related bit explains why different strings sound different. But the discussion of the actual damage peril is inconclusive.