Last week I received a question through the Hangout regarding the banjo solos in "Teardrops In My Eyes" by The Grascals, a song on their first album on Rounder. I accidently deleted the hangout member's question from my e-mail, so I'm hoping this gets to him!
The low notes heard on the solo are made possible by the use of a 6-string banjo, tuned as G-G(low)-D-G-B-D. So, the extra string, a G note that is an octave lower than the third string G note, is located between what would normally be the 5th and 4th strings of a 5-string banjo.
Therefore, the entire banjo is still tuned to an open G. The extra low G string makes possible for the banjo to carry the singer's melody line in "Teardrops In My Eyes". The inquirer had asked if I had tuned a regular 5-string banjo to something other than standard G tuning to get these low notes. On this recording, they're made possible by the 6-string banjo. Thanks for the question, and I hope you get to see this response.
David Talbot