Newbie Tuning By Ear Confusion

[kooseman]

When I use a tuner, all strings are in tune.
If I attempt to tune by ear, i.e. 4th String, 5th fret = 3rd String open, etc.,
every fretted string is Sharp (according to the tuner)
My assumption from the lesson was that both should be the same (in tune).
Is this normal or do I need to address some issues ???

[Bhive]

Which instrument?

[Michael_Mark]

Discuss the Banjo lesson: How to Tune Your Banjo

FYI, I’ve never played a banjo where every string intonated perfectly. However, If all of your strings are consistently sharp, the most likely cause is that your bridge is too far forward like @epjacobs said. Check out this vid: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-setup-with-steve-huber-bridge-placement-banjo

[epjacobs]

Bridge placement problem, too close to the nut? That results in the fret positions being wrong intervals, too big of a fraction of the octave length for the string, making the fretted note sharp. Test this by tuning a string to the proper note and seeing if the twelvth fret note is the actave. I suspect that it will be sharp. All this assumes that the fret geometry is correct for intonation.

[Mike_R]

Also, just about any string instrument if properly set up will intonate correctly, but can always go sharp if you over-press or bend the string. In other words, I can make a fretted note sharp on a well intonated instrument (but I can’t make a note flat).