
Now, clearly, that note will be exactly an octave higher than The node where they pivot back and forth is where your finger is, so you do not interfere with the vibration).
ADJUST STRING HEIGHT OME BANJO FULL
If you touch the string directly over the 12th fret wire (or nearly so-the more the bridge needs to be moved, the further off from the 12th fret the node will be!) without pushing it down at all, pick the string, and then quickly remove your finger, your finger will have stopped the string from vibrating its full length (the "fundamental"), but it does allow the half-length, alternating wave to oscillate on either side of your finger (i.e., when one half goes up, the other half goes down, and vice versa.
The best way is to use the harmonics ("chimes").
Second: OK, OK, get on with it.How, then, do you set a banjo bridge in the right place?. "Compensated" bridges, such as Randy Stockwell's Moon brand Bridge, curve or are staggered, so that the shortest string is the 1st string, and the strings get progressively longer until you get to the (wound) 4th string, which comes forward again. If you put the bridge nearly straight across, the 4th string may sound right, but the 2nd will usually be sharp, and the 3rd becomes dismally sharp. With a straight banjo bridge, there is little one can do other than to slant the bridge to progressively increase string length-but then the 4th string is out of tune. On an electric guitar, each string's length can be individually adjusted to set The 3rd-6th strings are usually wound, so the saddle brings the 3rd string back to its front edge, and gradually moves each of the lower strings progressively towards its rear edge. Look carefully at the saddle of most modern guitars, and you'll see that the first string is the shortest, touching the front edge of the saddle, while the saddle is usually shaped so the second string contacts its back edge, to increase its length the most. In the case of an acoustic guitar, you'll note that the saddle on the bridge slants in such a way that the thicker strings are longer than the thinner ones. You can see how this works by looking at a guitar or a banjo sporting a Stockwell Moon brand bridge. Typically its tension is similar to that of the first or second string, meaning its compensation should be lessened. The 4th string is a different matter, as it is usually a wound string, which effectively increases its mass but not its tension pulling on the end increases tension on its core, but not on the windings. This effect is repeated with the 3rd string, too. This means that it will sound even sharper when fretted than the first string, requiring the bridge to be even further away. Next complication: Despite its increased mass, the 2nd string is typically at greater tension than the first (though with some lighter gauges and tunings, the reverse is true!). To compensate for this, the bridge needs to be slightly further away than arithmetic would tell you (i.e., by slightly increasing the string length, you lower the fretted string's pitch slightly to compensate for the raising of the pitch through increased tension. Unfortunately, though, when you press a string down to the fret, you have to bend the string slightly to get it there, increasing its tension, which causes the note to sound sharper than it should. Similarly, halving the remaining distance to the bridge would produce another octave (if there were 24 frets), literally ad infinitum.
This halfway point doubles a note's frequency, producing a note an octave above the open string.
In theory, the 12th fret of a stringed instrument is exactly half the distance from the inner edge of the nut to the inner (facing) edge of the bridge. When you tune it to a predetermined pitch, its tension will be a function of its length. When you put a string on your banjo, its mass has already been determined by its gauge. The pitch of a string is not only determined by its length, but by its mass and its tension. The correct placement of your banjo bridge:ĭespite the logic that says a banjo's bridge should be exactly the same distance from the 12th fret as is the nut, you cannot accurately set its position by measurement-it must be done so as to make the instrument play in tune.