I have a new Deering Goodtime I am learning on and making good progress. I'm very pleased with the banjo.
I decided to try Steve Martin's Clawhammer Medley which is performed in D tuning. The tuning went fine and I really like the sound of the D tune.
But there is a problem in this tuning where the second string hardly makes sound when I try to play it on the middle/higher frets (eg. 7-12). It doesn't buzz, it just plays a quiet pluck as if a finger is over the string or something. I am more guaranteed of a sound if I hit close to the bridge.
D tuning lowers the 2nd string from a B to an A so I thought a looser string might have lowered the action (???) and the string might be hitting some of the frets forward of where I am playing thus preventing it from vibrating. The Deering site says for best action make sure there is a 1/8th" clearance at the top fret. My action does not appear to be low, if anything it appears higher than 1/8", maybe about 3/16" in the D tuning.
One other change I made in case it is relevant, I recently put on a thinline armrest that required temporarily removing two of the head clamps. That went flawlessly, I noticed no playability issues for the past several days and there does not appear to be any sagging or other change in the drum head surface and no change in sound (at least in G tuning). So I am guessing this has nothing to do with the problem I am having.
Anyone have any pointers on this issue?