r/banjo • u/Away-Intention-8723 • 1d ago

Help 5th String Peg Keeps Slipping

Hey all,

I recently got a banjo, but there seems to be an issue with my 5th string peg. The peg does not have enough holding power to hold the 5th string as a G (I can only get it to about an E). By this I mean that I can turn the peg to get a higher note, but as soon as I let go of it, the force from the string spins the peg and pulls it down to a lower note again.

If anyone has experienced this problem with their banjo and knows how to fix it, it would be greatly appreciated!

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2

u/Atillion Clawhammer 1d ago

I would gently tighten the screw going into the end of the peg. Enough to help it hold, but not enough to crack the pearl.

2

u/Turbulent-Flan-2656 1d ago

Tighten the screw on the button

1

u/vonhoother 1d ago

I had a banjo with a similar problem that turned out to be a parlor banjo built for gut/nylon strings. You might want to take yours to a knowledgeable person to make sure about that.

If tightening it up as u/Atillion suggests doesn't work, that's why people get geared pegs.

1

u/anybodyiwant2be 1d ago

I am just getting a 5 string but have 2 four-string banjos and putting on geared tuners was a game-changer. Sound like your 5th string might just be a peg and the instructor for a workshop I’m starting told me to be sure to get a 5-string with a geared 5th string because they are hard to keep in tune otherwise…so you may want to look into that.

1

u/54Finn 1d ago

If it’s not a geared tuner, you need to replace it with one. It’s a design flaw

1

u/TheFishBanjo Scruggs Style 1d ago

If you can't tighten it, just replace it with the geared tuner. It's pretty easy and not very expensive. Life is short, don't suffer unnecessarily.