John Yerxa - Posted - 03/23/2026:  04:31:59

Good evening (or morning, for most of you)



I have just noticed the the head on my Tubaphone has a small hole, maybe 2mm long, maybe 20mm from the tone ring at about 2.15 o'clock. I can clearly see light through the hole. This is a newish head that I've been gradually bringing up to tension, it's now at about 88 on the DD and sounding great.



I am leaving tomorrow for the Fiddlers Convention, and just wondering if there is anything I can do to prevent this from progressing catastrophically .Should I try glueing small bits of vellum to the back, or a dab of superglue?



Any ideas or experience welcome.



Cheers

John

Edited by - John Yerxa on 03/23/2026 04:33:50

dpgetman - Posted - 03/23/2026:  05:14:50

That is exactly what I would do. If you have some extra hide laying around cut a circular piece a bit bigger than the hole and glue it to the underside of the head. I would do this while the head is tight.

John Yerxa - Posted - 03/23/2026:  05:21:14

Thank you. Would you use titebond or superglue? Wet the patch first?

I have taken the tension oof - should I re tighten before the repair?

Richard Elmes - Posted - 03/23/2026:  05:34:24

I’ve used Titebond for a similar repair with good result as it’s water soluble.

trapdoor2 - Posted - 03/23/2026:  06:32:02

Titebond works fine, so does super glue. I have one around here that has an ancient repair, probably done with white glue (Elmer's). The whole head is fragile (like old paper) but it still holds tension. It is on the schedule for replacement.

Buy some "insurance" after you get it repaired. "Insurance" = replacement head. They can pop without warning. I had an otherwise undamaged one go out with a bang and the cat jumped straight up into the air. I still laugh about that.

Edited by - trapdoor2 on 03/23/2026 06:33:51

Old Hickory - Posted - 03/23/2026:  07:14:36

I would use some type of leather glue as used in shoe repair. These are designed to penetrate fibers.

tonygo - Posted - 03/23/2026:  07:38:35

What does your Brother in Law say?

staceyz - Posted - 03/23/2026:  08:34:36

Superglue was originally designed to glue skin!

EEB - Posted - 03/23/2026:  09:16:50

Patch it if it’ll make you feel more secure. I’ve worn a small circular hole through calf skin heads on banjos I use for OT where my thumb contacts the skin by the strings near the rim. They’ve all stayed intact and sounding fine until I got around to replacing them.



I’d replace a skin head straight away if it started a linear split around the rim. That will lengthen (probably quite quickly) and reach a point where the head simply pulls apart under tension, and is unplayable even before that happens.

Edited by - EEB on 03/23/2026 09:18:47

EEB - Posted - 03/23/2026:  09:25:13

quote:

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Originally posted by trapdoor2

They can pop without warning. I had an otherwise undamaged one go out with a bang and the cat jumped straight up into the air. I still laugh about that.

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On the theme of popping without warning, the biggest bang I've heard was when a tailpiece suddenly exploded off a friend's banjo. He'd used a piece of leather that wasn't up to the tension to tie it on. The leather snapped without warning.

How high did your cat jump? I was sitting 5 feet away and I bet my jump ran your cat close.

Edited by - EEB on 03/23/2026 09:27:46

O.D. - Posted - 03/23/2026:  09:49:24

I have a Renn head with a bigger hole than that on my beater banjo
It's been there for easily 40 yrs with no detectable change.
I'm not concerned about it.
Good luck
E

Bill Rogers - Posted - 03/23/2026:  10:08:35

I prefer thin super glue because if soaks into the hide and essentially plasticizes it, helping to prevent further spreading of the hole.

John Yerxa - Posted - 03/23/2026:  14:39:53

quote:

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Originally posted by tonygo

What does your Brother in Law say?

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Haven't asked him yet Tony - time difference makes asking BHO a lot easier!

See you soon.

John Yerxa - Posted - 03/23/2026:  14:42:34

Thanks all. I have plenty of scraps of vellum, will probably superglue a patch on.