The Old Timer - Posted - 10/10/2011:  13:42:38

What's the BEST new hide head you can get, as close to an old Rogers 3 Star as possible?  And I mean a nice consistent ivory-white color, not all blotchy.  Pre-mounted would be great too!  I'm not going to get into horsing around with wet hide again!

Interested in a med/high crown for a Mastertone flat head, for a VEGA Scruggs, and a 12" for a Ramsey Chanterelle.

I see clean Rogers 3 Stars occasionally on EBay and they go for huge money.  I don't need a "vintage" vibe, as long as it looks, sounds and feels like one of those.

Thanks in advance.

pastorharry - Posted - 10/10/2011:  13:43:26

Bill Miller.

Mark Johnson - Posted - 10/10/2011:  13:50:32

yup, quite a few threads have nominated Bill Miller:

banjoseen.us/Store/index.html

Edited by - Mark Johnson on 10/10/2011 13:51:11

jbalch - Posted - 10/10/2011:  14:43:21

Bill Miller's heads are great.  I have them on several banjos and recommend them often. I like Bills vellum-processed hides (but they have some mottled areas). I always ask for medium thickness. Bill's white (bleached) goat skin heads are very nice ...white and smooth.  He also offers pre-mounteds. 

But if you want the "best" head ... most like the older hides ... Stern Tanning.  Jeff Stern bought the equipment and business from United Tanning in Chicago.  United Tanning was the calfskin head supplier to Slingerland and Ludwig and others back in the heyday of skin percussion and banjo heads.  Jeff's hides are hand-selected and machine sanded for a very even thickness and smooth surface. They are processed on some of the original United Tanning equipment. So in that regard, they are the most authentic.  Jeff's main music-related business is producing heads for high-end (orchestral) percussion. His hides are understandably more expensive. Jeff does not offer pre-mounts for banjo.  sterntanning.com/percussion.htm

FYI: No one (including: Jeff Stern) makes heads exactly like Rogers did.  Rogers heads were precision hand-scraped by extremely skilled workers.  They were sun bleached too.  There is a lot of information about the old Rogers company in this book: amazon.com/Rogers-Book-Rob-Coo...888408049

Edited by - jbalch on 10/10/2011 14:52:31

jbalch - Posted - 10/10/2011:  14:56:14

Miller Bleached Goat Hide:

Miller vellum processed

Stern Tanning

Edited by - jbalch on 10/10/2011 14:57:17

The Old Timer - Posted - 10/10/2011:  17:29:00

Thanks for the replies so far, I didn't realize Miller's goat hide was nicer looking. Never heard of Stern before, will check out.

jbalch - Posted - 10/10/2011:  19:09:32

Miller's white goat hides are the purest white I've found.  They are nice thickness too.  Nice heads. I have one on my fancy Bart Reiter grand concert...looks awesome.

Personally, I like the sound and mottled look of the vellum-processed skins a little better...on most banjos  But that is just me..

Here is nice looking Miller white goatskin I installed on a Gibson TB-jr:  More photos  of other hides here: banjohangout.org/myhangout/pho...umid=2775