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Replace it with a Nylgut unwound 4th string instead of a wound? I know there are a few out there, though not easy to get. Call Aquila maybe?
It used to be available in the Aquila Nylgut "Minstrel" set, which means it would work on most banjos in the low minstrel tunings. You wouldn't need a 30" scale or anything like that... just your usual minstrel low tunings. Any bass string that is intended for minstrel tunings would be floppy on an A/short-scale banjo though, if tuned down to Briggs/Rice tunings.
Speaking of pasta...
I remember about 15 yrs ago I had real gut strings on all my banjos, including for oldtime playing. I was camping at an oldtime festival in the Spring, and it was raining and very, very warm and humid. I woke up in the morning to find my gut banjo strings had absorbed so much humidity from the air that they were opaque white, slightly rubbery and swollen up... like spaghetti. Unplayable of course. It hit home that they were actually made from dried GUT- and if soaked would behave as expected. :)
I use varnished strings, they are much more weather resistant. If they are not varnished, dip your fingers in some shellac and run them down the string. You can try using a string that is not quite so fat. You won't get the volume out of it, but it should be tunable. Something like a 1.2 mm string might work for you. If they were using wound strings 150 years ago I don't see a problem with using them. If you really are desperate you could consider twisting two strings of smaller diameter together. To do this you need to twist each string in a clockwise direction and then twist the pair in a counter clockwise direction. This is time consuming to do, but it could work. I think you would be better with a single string.
I use varnished strings, they are much more weather resistant. If they are not varnished, dip your fingers in some shellac and run them down the string. You can try using a string that is not quite so fat. You won't get the volume out of it, but it should be tunable. Something like a 1.2 mm string might work for you. If they were using wound strings 150 years ago I don't see a problem with using them. If you really are desperate you could consider twisting two strings of smaller diameter together. To do this you need to twist each string in a clockwise direction and then twist the pair in a counter clockwise direction. This is time consuming to do, but it could work. I think you would be better with a single string.
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