I am relatively new to Clawhammer, about 7 months, I play a WL 250 with D'Adarrio J-61 strings. The steel string are tearing up my picking finger nail and I am thinking of changing to Nylguts.
Has anyone tried them on their WL 250? If so, any problems with breaking especially at the tailpiece.
25 Comments |
 | vrteach says:
3/2/2012 10:47:57 AM
My WL 250 came with a no-knot tailpiece, so if that is the case with yours you likely won't have breakage problems. If yours is one of the bigger tailpieces where the strings run through holes, you will want to check for any sharp edges that the strings run across.
I remember reading a posting by one guy who tried nylguts on a wl-250, and didn't like so changed back to steel. On the other hand, one time I had an email exchange with Wayne Rogers, and he said that his usual player is a nylgut-strung wl-250.
I handle the "tearing up my picking finger nail" problem by carrying transparent tape (the classic shiny version, not the translucent "magic" version) in my case, and applying that to my main finger nail before playing.
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 | JimHand says:
3/2/2012 11:31:08 AM
Thanks Eric! Yes mine has the no knot tail piece. I will try the tape.
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 | AlpacaLips says:
3/2/2012 5:00:22 PM
Be sure to post the results if you do try the nylguts. Sound files, if possible.
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| JimHand says:
3/2/2012 8:03:15 PM
I can post comments but not sure about sound files.
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| JimHand says:
3/9/2012 9:14:30 AM
I got the new fiberskyn head and the Nylgut string installed yesterday. So far so good. Of course, both are stretching out. I'll try posting a couple of pictures.
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| vrteach says:
3/9/2012 9:29:54 AM
If you come to Shelbyville on the 18th bring it. I'm interested in the combination, and If I make it over there I'd like to try it out.
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| JimHand says:
3/9/2012 9:33:16 AM
I have posted the pics on my homepage but I can't figure out how to get them linked here. Eric: I have it on the calendar and hope to be there.
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| AlpacaLips says:
3/9/2012 5:35:48 PM
Hmmm... After looking at the pictures I'm not sure sound files would do me much good anyway since I'm don't have a fiberskyn head or modified bridge. Still curious though.
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| JimHand says:
3/10/2012 2:46:42 PM
WELL...that experiment did not last long. Came home from shopping today to find the 5th string broken. O well, back to steel strings.
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 | Scott Barnbilly56 says:
3/19/2012 1:44:27 PM
I would like to know about this fiber skin head . I just bought a new white ladye and wondering if this type of skin will make it noticable more plunky ole timey sound . It's not bad right now but would like to get more out of it . It's already got heavy string on it from factory . Do you know good places to get this diffrent head skins at ??? Let me know if the change is worth it .
Scott barn'billy
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| Scott Barnbilly56 says:
3/19/2012 1:50:03 PM
Ps. When i play alot clawhammer i use a lady's fingernail on my middle finger even though i pick with my index finger the middle finger wears a grove in the middle do to unknown reasons . I just keep the finger nail on and it will crack off and with in a week the whole thing is gone . Other wise they have glue remover . I trim the fake finger nail once it's on good and looks like regular nail except shinner . Trimming makes it blend in so ya don't have to worry about "girlie man jokes or something like that . One option for ya .
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| JimHand says:
3/19/2012 3:04:53 PM
I boughtb the fiberskyn head through Zepps, but Elderly and maybe Janet Davis has them also. I also just got got some Nails for Males and it seems to be working well, but time will tell.
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| Scott Barnbilly56 says:
3/20/2012 5:28:15 AM
Did the fiberskyn change the sound much ? Wondering if it's worth doing ?
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| JimHand says:
3/20/2012 8:57:46 AM
Enough that I can tell a difference. It is a deeper tone.
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 | cb56 says:
4/27/2012 6:41:51 PM
I have a fiber skin head on my CC-OT and love the tone. Jim have you tried the Fred Kelly freedom pick?
I really like them for frailing.
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| JimHand says:
4/27/2012 6:56:38 PM
Hey Chris: Yes I have and did not realy care for it, BUT....the Nails for Males did not work either, chipped off. So, I am going to have to chose something and just live with it I guess. How are things with you?
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| cb56 says:
4/28/2012 1:27:28 PM
Doin' fine. Been playing my 5 string and banjo uke alot. Seeing slight improvement in my playing which is all i can ask.
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 | tomestesjr says:
6/7/2012 6:47:41 AM
I just strung my GT WL 250+ with Black Diamond coated strings. I think I got the best of both worlds. I will post a clip of Sandy River Belle and link it to this discussion so you can hear the strings. It is clear up and down the neck. No fingernail wear.
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| tomestesjr says:
6/7/2012 6:56:44 AM
Here is the link to the MP3 -- GT WL 250+ using Black Diamond coated strings -- banjohangout.org/myhangout/mus...id=12324#
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| JimHand says:
6/7/2012 7:47:00 AM
I finally got another set of Nylguts and had a local luthier check my bridge, and nut and I also put on a different no knot tailpiece from Bernunzios. I am two weeks into the new set up and so far so good.
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 | cotton picker says:
9/30/2012 8:24:40 AM
I have a WL 250+ changed the head to fibre skin and fitted a snuffy smiths 5/8" bridge. Friends (yes I have a few) say the tone is great, not to mellow and not to bright. Just fitted a set of nylon strings. tailpiece is standard for loop end strings, so had to tie a loop in the nylon ones. Found it very tight between the tailpiece pegs but a gentle struggle sorted things. Not sure if i will stay with them, need a longer period of time, to make up my mind. Do the make nylon strings with loop ends?
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 | writerrad says:
1/23/2013 12:26:28 PM
DONT OUT NYLGUT STRINGS ON YOUR WL-250. The j61s are pretty heavy for such a banjo, but the real problem is doing something that is going to strengthen your nails to enable you to play clawhammer. It wont sound good at all with nylguts.
Nylgut strings are good for banjoes designed for that like Classic banjo and minstrel or gourd banjoes. You cannot play real clawhammer with them on a WL 250 whih is NOT designed for this and you wouldnt want to sound the way it sound with nylgut strings.
I am curious about the J61s. I have them on a big tubaphone like banjo I have and once I started frailing on it a lot, it did nub out my nails. The solution is not to change strings which would eliminate the banjo being able to sound as it was designed or like an old time banjo. The solution is a variety of the different solutions to protect or strengthen your nails which are inevitably the course fo someone who is going to become a real clawhammer banjoist
I have tried a lot of things. I have tried the plastic freedom pics which are nice and the original SS Stewart designed banjo thimbles that Joel Hooks makes and sells. That can work but produce rather different sounds and manipulating the picks is a pain for me though I sometimes use them and find a number of players I admire use them.
What I do now and works best is I have acryllic nails that get put on and filled in at a nail salon every two weeks. Once i started asking about this--Mark Johnson the Clawgrass guy brought it up at a workshop he gave I went to--and once I started asking about this I found that many people I admire in the old time banjo world and many of my friends use them. There is a whole forum here on banjo hangout about that and I found out what to do there. There is even some pictured posted. Since most nail salon folk are Vietnamese and some dont understand much English, I just take the picture.
If you are worried about being a guy in a nail salon dont worry. For about 40 or 50 years I have heard of other musicians mostly guitar players who do this so when you go into a nail salon, and you dont look like Super Fly, they know you are a musician and ask what instrument you play usually guessing you are a guitarisst.
I think a WL-250 sounds best with lighter strings than J61s but that depends on your taste in playing.
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| writerrad says:
1/23/2013 4:05:06 PM
I looked at an email that Dave Schenkman who runts Turtle Hill banjos near washington sent me about strings round 2004 shortly after I bought my WL-250. He recommended that is I dont use the lighter strings that I use J 61s. I was thinking of making my own combination of banjo strings from different sets to restring the WL 250--the reasoin for so much banjo hangout activity today--but following your lead, and not my idea above, I found that J-61s matched my ideas about what to try on them as opposed to the lighter strings. So thanks in a way
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| writerrad says:
1/23/2013 4:09:40 PM
Also from using Nylgut strings nt he fretless I use for minstrel and other early banjo (it is a banjo made by a luthier for me out of an old tenor pot not a "name banjo") fr years, NYlgut strings take a long time to stretch out and be really playable on banjoes that do use them. It takes about 3 weeks for that to happen on mine, as opposed to a day or so or less on steel strung banjos and guitars. But once they get on there, they stay pretty close. They are nothing like the horrible problems of using gut strings or even Nylon strings but they just are not for a banjo like a WL 250. PS this is actually a picture of My WL 250 on this blog under the entry title Wayne Rodgers playing my 250
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| writerrad says:
1/23/2013 4:12:16 PM
I love having the Gold tone skin head I had put on my WL 250 when I bought it in 2004. Major luthiers have told me to avoid the current GT skin heads in discussing putting a skin head on another banjo I own, but the tone I get on that banjo is deeper and at the same time strong and sharper. It is the best banjo I have for playing Dock Boggs' music.
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