Deering has introduced a new item for banjo players, a custom-gauged set of Terry Baucom strings.
This set is what might best be called medium-light, or heavy top, light bottom in guitar parlance. The first and 5th strings are heavier than a standard light gauge, surely to withstand the mighty Baucom pinch.
The complete set gauges are .011, .011, .013, .020, .011.
They are produced by Deering in cooperation with Dunlop Manufacturing, the company famous for picks, capos and accessories.
Terry’s wife, Cindy – who in addition to being a celebrated bluegrass broadcaster, serves as Terry’s de facto business manager – tells us how he discovered these new strings.
“A couple of years ago, we went to California to get stainless steel frets installed on Terry’s banjo at Deering. When we returned to North Carolina, he immediately noticed how great the strings sounded that were put on his banjo after the new frets were put in. In addition, they lasted and lasted and lasted…no string breaks….they stayed in tune….so Terry had me call Janet Deering to see what these incredible strings were.
We learned that Dunlop had developed a new line of banjo strings (…we knew Dunlop for picks and accessories, but not banjo strings). Terry became an artist endorser for Dunlop and for the next several months used their strings and continued to be impressed with their performance.”
Terry’s satisfaction with these strings led to their branding as a Deering product, now offered from their web site or from Deering dealers.
