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banjoelvis - Posted - 01/07/2007: 09:46:27
Has anyone done this? I thought it might be kind of cool to put some kind of design on the head instead of just blank white. If anyone has then could you tell me what kind of paint to use so I don't dampen the sound. And as always any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again
Edited by - Brian on 01/07/2007 10:34:29
vicpuch - Posted - 01/07/2007: 10:01:01
Years ago, when I was a kid my Dad's Uncle gave him a '27 Gibson Tenor. ON the head of the banjo the Uncle had drawn two pictures of cowboys. One on a buckin' horse the other on a bull. The family is from eastern Montana so "Cowboy art" is kinda the culture. Anyway he had drawn these on with ink. I have always wanted to do the same thing but lack the talent. If using some sort of paint I too would be concerned with dampening the sound. I think if it were me I'd stick to colored inks.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Vic
Vic
'27 Gibson Granada 4 string
Epiphone MB250
Flatiron "Montana Rose"
banjoelvis - Posted - 01/07/2007: 10:39:16
Does anyone know what kind of white frosting paint or whatever that white stuff is on the banjo head is? I'm wondering if you could get a clear head and some of that frosting stuff and color it or something. Do several colors and use it on a clear head. Thanks
dennis andrews - Posted - 01/07/2007: 10:49:07
I would think you could use colored felt tip pens. I know lots of players have their heads signed by big time players.
If you have access to a copy of "The Bluegrass Songbook" by Dennis Cyporyn there is a picture of a head that was painted on a banjo presented to Ralph Stanley. The head sayes "Little Birdie" I can't think of the name of the person that did the art work, but I can give you the E-mail address of Dennis Cyporyn if your interested.
fitch5string - Posted - 01/07/2007: 11:08:29
Elvis, how about painitng this on your head.
Cliff Fitch
Azle, Texas
1995 Gibson Earl Scruggs '49 Classic
Edited by - fitch5string on 01/07/2007 11:08:51
Joebanjo5 - Posted - 01/07/2007: 11:11:08
banjoelvis
Decorating your banjo with ,say autographs of banjo pickers you might meet at a fest. or show is kinda cool. But I can't help but site "Newtons Law". Objects in motion, tend to stay in motion..and objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Now if you add mass (paint) to your banjo head, it will take a little more energy ( supplied by the string mass and motion) to produce sound, due to the added weight of the paint. It also flies in the face of those that sand their bridges down to next to nothing in an attempt to shed as much weight as possible from the mix of bridge, string, and head. And even this does not address the effect of the paint on the surface of the head, and it's ability to vibrate.
Now, all this sounds kinda silly until you ask yourself "what is my goal...To sound as good I can..or...to be really attractive"...;-)
Mike
Emiel - Posted - 01/07/2007: 11:24:30
quote:
Originally posted by banjoelvis
Does anyone know what kind of white frosting paint or whatever that white stuff is on the banjo head is? I'm wondering if you could get a clear head and some of that frosting stuff and color it or something. Do several colors and use it on a clear head. Thanks
It's white paint sprayed on the head.
Emiel
http://www.nowhereradio.com/emiel
http://www.bluerounders.com
mainejohn - Posted - 01/07/2007: 12:17:24
Bill: Very cool! That art deco just adds class and character!
Cheers,
John
Scarborough, Maine
kjrman - Posted - 01/07/2007: 12:37:58
Timmo,
Great job on your banjo.
Very uniuqe!
Kelly
spiritwolf7 - Posted - 01/07/2007: 12:40:29
I'd have to join the camp that says "Make that banjo your own!" Play the way you want to play & if you want artwork on the head then by all means go for it. Though I too would opt for something that is going to dampen the sound as little as possible.
Kenneth Logsdon - Posted - 01/07/2007: 13:04:09
Check the past posts.... Paints and types of paint on the heads has been covered in depth.. I've been using the "Judy heads".. Old discarded five stars from the seventys, when we changed heads regularly (just one of the old beliefs we used to have..) My wife paints pictures on the old heads.. I ran out of new and stole one of the old heads she had preped with with white hobby acrylic... Great sound!!! The head will crackle and pop when flexed, kinda like parchment or the old skin heads... ( Of course the supply is very limited, let along the trouble of getting them back from her).. So I would say that the amount and type of paint applied would determine the impact on the sound... In the old adage, try it... If you don't like it, then do it again or change...
KL
Edited by - Kenneth Logsdon on 01/07/2007 13:07:01
Bigbike4 - Posted - 01/07/2007: 13:52:07
TIMMO-
Nice job on the Saga kit banjo! I still have that old banjo I need to get out to you to have you look it over.
Jan
It don't matter what ya play, just play that danged thing!
jdmatthew - Posted - 01/07/2007: 15:07:41
Roy Clark on some of the old Hee Haws has a decorated head--4 ivy leaves in a circular pattern around the area where your fingers pick the strings, then a wreath of some kind of plant around the perimeter of the head.
Jadie Matthew
Lampasas, Texas
dix_fix - Posted - 01/07/2007: 16:57:52
Banjoelvis I love the look of painted heads. GR8.
Hey the bottom line is, who does the banjo belong to
dont listen to the ney-sayers, if you want to paint it GO FOR IT
whats the worst case cenario , you are up for the cost of a new head ,BIG DEAL.
Yeah rakker , rakker 'oh the extra weight' oh the head tension vs wave propogation
oh the sacralidge of it all
Hey Have fun & who gives a rats arse , really what others think of the idea
Oh BTW i would use plastic paints, & dont worry about the paint thickness.
my reasoning is, the looks will far outweigh any muting or otherwise.
Richard
Veni Vidi Vici
thoham01 - Posted - 01/07/2007: 17:01:03
Brian I have to try this too. I would be willing to sacrifice a moderate amount of great banjo sound for something really unique and personalized. Like maybe a big old steam train rushing across the head in black ink. You could just print a good picture off the internet and trace it onto a white head. It would cost $14 and look cool as anything.
dix_fix - Posted - 01/07/2007: 17:04:47
Hey thoham01 you could have the neck & strings as the psuedo tracks CooOO0OOool
Veni Vidi Vici
thoham01 - Posted - 01/07/2007: 17:42:26
Oh, I have to do that!!
dix_fix - Posted - 01/07/2007: 17:55:22
Yeah sounds gr8
Hey remember me when you finish
I want to see the pics
Both thoham01 & banjoelvis
Veni Vidi Vici
mike gregory - Posted - 01/07/2007: 21:56:30
I agree with everybody who says go ahead and decorate it.
Do it yourself, or hire a starving artist.
Nobody's paying artists OR banjo pickers a whole lot, these days.
Mike Gregory, Banjo Maker
When I claim that MY instruments are as good as any that Martin or Gibson ever made, I mean DEAN Martin and MEL Gibson!
mgregorybanjo@core.com
see my banjos at
http://littlebanjos.lunare.net
SlowPockets - Posted - 01/07/2007: 22:05:21
Timmo, that looks awesome, I love it.
Has anyone tried painting a clear head from the inside like a cartoon cell would have been painted back when they used to do animaton by hand? That way you wouldn't have to worry about it smearing or rubbing of from your hands, or getting ink all over yourself. As far as the effect of the paint to the sound, please, there are far more critical things to worry about than a few ounces of paint. I mean if that makes a difference than you might as well start playing your banjo in a temperature controlled vacumn chamber to avoid any variation whatsoever.
nihilist37 - Posted - 01/07/2007: 22:47:47
If your into it i think the inspirational quotes on Petes banjo and Woodys guitar are pretty groovy.
The circumference of petes states. "THIS MACHINE SURROUNDS HATE AND FORCES IT TO SURRENDER"
Woods guitar had written on it. "THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS"
Some may say that the time of political activism is long past but surely there a whole bunch of quotes that you want others to read that you could scribble down on the head.
nancydrum - Posted - 01/08/2007: 08:28:26
Joebiker's first banjo (a Fender Leo he bought used) had a clear head, and on the inside of the resonator was a painting of a woman ( I can't remember if she had any clothes on or not) Anyway, with the clear head you could see this woman sitting inside the banjo. If the original owner didn't want the woman to show, a white head was put on.
When Joebiker bought the banjo, one of the first "adjustments" he made was to remove the painting from the resonator - but if it had been a little nicer picture, he might have left it there.
It was kind of an interesting way to decorate a banjo - and easy to "hide"
Nancy D
Edited by - nancydrum on 01/08/2007 08:30:33
nancydrum - Posted - 01/08/2007: 08:30:00
I HAVE A STAR!!
I'm rollin' forward finally!!
Nancy D
stanger - Posted - 01/08/2007: 10:08:50
I've painted a few banjo and drum heads over the years. The 'froting' is actually a white primer, so anything will work with it pretty well. Felt tipped markers usually have ink that fades, except for black, but the fading really depends on the color and brand used.
Acrylic paints work very well, but for the best permanence, I paint the underside of a clear head. This is tricky, because you have to work in reverse- the details have to go on first, and the background stuff last. I usually wipe the head down with a little rubbing alcohol first, to make sure there is no oil on it. It's also important to keep your hands clean of paint while you're working on one- I messed up a couple of jobs early on when a smudge of wet paint on a finger got on the job unnoticed.
I'll put a jpeg of a band logo I did on a drum head for a buddy a year or so ago on my homepage...
regards,
Stanger
Kenneth Logsdon - Posted - 01/08/2007: 13:17:43
????Donnaknow??? I tend to be leery of them people with designs and pictures painted on their heads,.....Kinda like the dieing the hair orange! Give me a picker with the grungy head with about half the white wore off...then you know who you can trust...
KL
stringbeaner - Posted - 01/08/2007: 14:00:54
I have seen some beautifully decorated banjo heads over the years, the best of which were done in ink. Use technical pens and indelable ink if you give it a shot. Use indelable ink so the picture won't run if you drool on it.
As a matter of fact, my banjo head is decorated with a vine running around it next to the tension hoop and a butterfly (smoking a cigar). It is still a work in progress.
banjobutte
jasonmke - Posted - 01/08/2007: 16:44:48
quote:
Originally posted by stanger
I've painted a few banjo and drum heads over the years. The 'froting' is actually a white primer, so anything will work with it pretty well. Felt tipped markers usually have ink that fades, except for black, but the fading really depends on the color and brand used.
Acrylic paints work very well, but for the best permanence, I paint the underside of a clear head. This is tricky, because you have to work in reverse- the details have to go on first, and the background stuff last. I usually wipe the head down with a little rubbing alcohol first, to make sure there is no oil on it. It's also important to keep your hands clean of paint while you're working on one- I messed up a couple of jobs early on when a smudge of wet paint on a finger got on the job unnoticed.
I'll put a jpeg of a band logo I did on a drum head for a buddy a year or so ago on my homepage...
regards,
Stanger
I have never done a banjo head, but I have done a lot of drum heads for a standard 5 piece drum set. I don't think that you have to worry about "newton's law" unless you are painting with oils, and you decide to give it an inch of texture or something. i think that if newton's law had that big of an effect on the drum head it would be heard in a drumset well before a banjo. aside from that, your talking about painting the head- if you don't like it you can get a new head. it's not like you want to carve a unicorn into your resinator or something.
here's what I did, I took a picture that I liked, its easiest if there's not too much detail- I scanned it onto mt computer, flipped it in photoshop so that its backwards (as if you were looking at it from behind or something) then, tape it to the outside of your clear head and trace it on the inside. when you are finished you should have a perfect picture that is identical to the original.
"It's a good thing my banjo doesn't have feelings, 'cause it gets picked on all the time."
vintagewells - Posted - 01/08/2007: 17:38:25
I want to try a decorated head and have opted to sacrafice the remo, frosted underside- smooth top. The underside doesn't have a coating but looks more like etched glass. I have mylar for quilting templates that is the same and you can pencil in a line, ink it and erase the pencil. Make sure that the ink is dry.
I think the colors would be a little muted as they would be behind the translucent head.
Lorna
Is tinkering with banjos addictive? I can't seem to resist
joebiker - Posted - 01/08/2007: 22:46:24
Nancy Drum, my wife, posted that my first banjo had a painting of a woman inside the resonator...sort of true...it was a centerfold from a Playboy glued into the resonator...the rest was very accurate, and no, she wasn't wearing anything..the picture, not Nancy..well...that may not be true either, but I digress. It was a Fender Leo though..
Somethings never change with time..there's nothing better than a lick...
Joebiker
Bruce Weeks - Posted - 01/10/2007: 13:18:51
quote:
Originally posted by banjoelvis
Does anyone know what kind of white frosting paint or whatever that white stuff is on the banjo head is? I'm wondering if you could get a clear head and some of that frosting stuff and color it or something. Do several colors and use it on a clear head. Thanks
White Kiltz spray paint. Bruce
www.bruceweeksfamilyband.com "How many people does it take to make good Cajun Music? Two, one to play the accordion and one to make the gumbo".
http://www.myspace.com/bruceweeksfamilyband
Edited by - Bruce Weeks on 01/10/2007 13:19:38
Brian G - Posted - 04/29/2007: 17:01:47
I've used ink and fine felt tips, for the white just leave the white on the head, or very weak acrylic, or tipex.
brian g
The Beast - Posted - 04/29/2007: 19:18:22
Give it a try if. If worse comes to worst, and it sounds awful, you just change the head.
- The Beast
Gibson ES Golden Deluxe
Gold Tone MM-150 Long neck
mcstubbins - Posted - 04/03/2008: 13:35:48
Ok, resuscitating an old thread...
I would like to make my banjo look like my photoshopped avatar here, with a yin yang symbol. I would only need to color in the black part (and have the black part on the top so the bottom pinky rest doesn't smudge/ wear off. I imagine the fattest black marker I can find would work, but wonder if the chemicals would dissolve the mylar? Anyone try wide swaths of a Sharpie or El Marko? Any fading? I also worry that I would not get a smooth plane of black color, but rather a criss-crossed/hash-marked scribbling effect.
Tyri - Posted - 04/03/2008: 18:30:45
This'n's still up for grabs.
Permanent (color-fast) markers on a Ren head.
Friend Mc: please email me outside of the BHO, and I'll be happy to relate how I did a y/y for a friend. It turned out about as sharp as your photo (shop). I will not offer advice on the BHO anymore.
Have fun!
-Brywn
Gran Tyhri's favorite Scot
Tyri - Posted - 04/03/2008: 23:57:32
Sorry about that last bit, above. Had a "common sense" liability issue come up. All better now! 
For a sharp yin-yang effect: I started with a clear head (working on the inside), taped off the Black areas, spraid about 5 light mist coats of white, then two light mist coats of Black. Very clean. Very sharp. Many moons ago- no pics.
The important point is the thin, light, mist coats of spraypaint.
This also works very well for two-color logos. If you've access to a machine to make self-adhesive vinyl stencils, the possibilities are endless!
Best of luck! Post pics! 
-Brywn
Gran Tyhri's favorite Scot
(imho, jic)
ps. For a matte top surface that won't obliterate your design, the flat acrylic clear spray=paint works very well. (light mist coats, light mist coats, and repeat).
Edited by - Tyri on 04/04/2008 00:03:36
mcstubbins - Posted - 04/04/2008: 08:51:47
Thanks Tyri! Did you do this with the head mounted or not? I would think that the paint might crack if it were done unmounted, and then stretched.
Tyri - Posted - 04/04/2008: 09:40:06
Good morning, Jim.
Unmounted, out on the driveway, lots of newspaper. Installation was no problem, but I did put a small scratch on it in '03, while doing some maintenance. I touched it up with a permanent marker, and the owner couldn't see it, so we were o.k.
That project is about 11 yers old and running. The top is a bit worn, but the ye-ye's still sharp. 
Have fun!
ps. I used acrylic spray paint, and sprayed thin coats from a distance of maybe 24" away.
-Brywn
Gran Tyhri's favorite Scot
