Friday, August 23, 2024

For More Resonance, Try A Set Of GHS PF135 (J.D. Crowe Strings)

Lately I've been criticizing my Elite 85 Recording King (maple neck) banjo for lacking tone. But tonight I replaced the phosphorus bronze GHS PF160 set of strings (10, 26, 16, 13, 11), with a set of GHS PF135 stainless steel strings (10, 20, 12, 11, 10). Wow, it really brought my Recording King alive in tone. I am learning about the banjo just like everybody else, so I don't claim to know what I am doing...lol. I just take life one day at a time. But I was pleased with the sound coming from my Recording King tonight. My Elite 85 Recording King doesn't sound anywhere near as resonant as my Deering Calico, but it sounds MUCH better than it did before. So, if you think that your banjo lacks resonance and tone, you might want to try some light gauge strings. That is very interesting.

I had replaced the original light gauge strings which came on the Deering Calico banjo. I put the GHS PF160 strings on there instead. My brain has been stuck on using GHS PF160 strings for a couple years now. I have concluded this week that I made a bad choice. It wasn't until I replaced the original GHS light gauge strings on the Calico, with my GHS PF160 strings, that I realized it killed my banjo's tone considerably.

So, the first thing I thought of was replacing the PF160 phosphorus bronze strings on my Elite 85 Recording King; and sure enough, the PF135 set of stainless steel strings brought it alive. For the time being, I'm going to use a lighter gauge of strings on my banjos.

I also ordered some medium gauge GHS PF175 (Sonny Osbourne) stainless steel sets of strings today (11, 22, 13, 12, 11). I still have the PF160 strings on my Deering Goodtime Special, but I'll put the PF175 set on I think, to try them. I'm leaning toward the J.D. Crowe PF135 set for the best tone, so far. I should have ordered the Almost-Medium GHS PF185 set of strings (.0105, 20, 13, .0115, .0105). I think mediums will be too heavy. I had no idea that using a heavier gauge string could deaden the resonance. It could also be the phosphorous bronze versus stainless steel that deadens the tone. I am not sure. The fourth string is the most important string, as it leads off nearly every song.

There's also a J.D. Crowe PF140 "studio" set of strings, which uses .0095" strings on strings 1 and 5, instead of .010" on the PF135 "stage" set for strings 1 and 5. GHS has all kinds of strings. I also noticed the PF130 set, which is nickel plated steel. I am quite amazed how different a tone is produced by merely changing the string sets. I didn't think it really matters, but it sure does! So far, I recommend going with the GHS PF135 J.D. Crowe set.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

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5 String Banjo Instruction [1967] - Earl Scruggs

5 String Banjo Instruction Album [1967] - Earl Scruggs