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uncle.fogey - Posted - 04/15/2010: 10:28:02
I searched back to find info about the preferred tension on an archtop. The consensus was same as a flathead, G#-A.
I recently set one up and tuned the head to between G# and A, which seemed normal - I tuned the head without the banjo being strung.
Yesterday I was fooling with the action and discovered that the head was tapping at a C - this must be the result of the down-pressure of the strings pushing on the bridge. I got a little freaked, and backed it off 1/8 turn and it went down to a Bb. After I got it all set up I tweaked it back up again, this time only to a B. It sounds just fine, but I was wondering what the favored head pitch is for an archtop (G#?) and is that strung or unstrung?
I've heard that some people like the head a little looser on an archtop.
banjomartin88 - Posted - 04/15/2010: 10:48:02
Set an archtop up the way you would flat head. The only reason the head taps a higher note is because the surface area of the head is smaller. Normally the note will be a whole tone (two frets) higher than a flathead. So if you like flatheads at A then set an archtop's head to B. This is the way it has always gone for me and I have never had a problem.
To answer your other question, do this strung up and everything. You wouldn't be able to tell how the banjo sounds if it wasn't stung up.
***Edited because I used the wrong words***
Edited by - banjomartin88 on 04/15/2010 13:31:26
uncle.fogey - Posted - 04/15/2010: 11:33:06
Thanks banjomartin!
Sounds like B is right. It sounds right to me.
dickinnorwich - Posted - 04/15/2010: 11:38:42
I'm stuck at G# to A. That's what sounds right to me. I'm afraid to go any tighter because I might lose my bass.
uncle.fogey - Posted - 04/15/2010: 11:48:51
It doesn't seem to lose the bass, Dick, (as I've been fooling with this head) although, lately I've been thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to change 4th string more often than I do, which is every 5 years or so, because the 4th string gets thumpy after a while - you'd never get away with that on a guitar, where 4 of the strings are wound - the wound ones die young.
A slightly heavier gauge 4th string would also help the bass. Someone on another string said that bronze wound 4th strings are really good.
