budbennett - Posted - 11/01/2011:  04:04:11

I have a 1928 banjo that has the original skin head on it. The head is in fantastic shape but I heat my house with a wood stove and it kind of scares me to have a skin head in my climate and especially in the winter. (I have only had one other skin head ever and it split in the winter.)

I took the banjo apart to change the head but could not separate the Tension hoop, head, and from each other. I do not want to break the head or tension hoop. They are very firmly stuck together.

So do I just leave well enough alone and hope the head will not split or go slack in the spring and summer or is there a way to separate the pieces without breaking the three parts? How do you separate these when they are stuck?

jbalch - Posted - 11/01/2011:  05:12:01

I've seen some that were stubborn.  But I've not yet seen one that would not come apart at all. But ...as you know ...glue is made from proteins in animal hides.  As they set up, hide heads "glue" themselves in place. Usually the hide sticks to itself and creates a permanent shaped crown.  But I suppose it can stick to the banjo parts too.

Part of the problem might be that the banjo parts themselves fit very tightly together.  I've assembled some vintage banjos where there was so little clearance between the tension hoop and rim that it was nearly impossible to mount a head.  Just a guess ...but if these parts fit tightly together, it might be more likely that the hide would stick.  (it can also make mounting a new head difficult).

I would avoid using any metal tools to grip the hide or pry it apart ...I've punctured them that way.  Just pull it apart with your fingers ...eventually it should break free. 

However ...if you seriously risk destroying the hide while replacing it ...why not just leave it in place.  Very old hide heads can be stable and dependable.  This one has survived lots of winters and all kinds of conditions.  Just avoid placing too much tension on it ...you might be just fine.

I'm linking this to the Hide Heads group: banjohangout.org/group/hideheads...good luck with it!

budbennett - Posted - 11/01/2011:  05:31:04

I was thinking of asking you about this John since you are in Tennessee (I think?). Do you think the head will be stable in our climate and also with wood heat?

jbalch - Posted - 11/01/2011:  05:59:09

Bud:

I have gas heat.  My house gets very dry in the winter.  I run a humidifier in the room where my wood instruments are kept...but it is probably a losing battle. I put about a gallon of water in the air ever day only to have it pulled out the AC return.

I worry more about the guitars than my banjos.  The only thing I do with the hide heads is make sure the tension is not too tight as the season approaches.  On some banjos, I back off the summer tension just a little as a precaution. The head on my favorite Reiter Galax-plus tends to move with the seasons. For that banjo, I keep two bridges ...one for summer and another for winter. The summer bridge is 1/32"' taller to offset some of the sinking that occurs in high humidity.  That prevents me over tightening the hide.

I have some banjos (with old hide heads) that I never adjust regardless of conditions ...they seem fine.

I've only lost one hide head due to it being too tight during the winter.  That one was a brand new hide I installed on a tenor banjo.  I made a new flesh hoop from square brass.  I think the main problem was a sharp edge on the flesh hoop that cut the thin hide as it naturally tightened in dry weather. 

I don't fret about my hide heads.  If they break ...I replace them.  Hide heads are perishable items ...they have limited useful lives and were meant to be replaced as needed.  Good new replacement skins are readily available ...and often sound better than the old, aged, stretched-out hides.

Edited by - jbalch on 11/01/2011 06:01:31

RioStat - Posted - 11/01/2011:  07:24:12

You can always soak the whole assembly in warm water, that should loosen the skin where it is "glued" to itself and the tension hoop.

Or leave it all together, buy another tension hoop and a plastic head, then you could put the skin assembly back on your banjo whenever you want to, and switch back and forth between the two.

Personally, I'd leave it the skin on the banjo. I mean, banjo pickers in the 1920's thru the 50's didn't have the Remo or 5 Star plastic head option, the skin heads worked for them year round regardless of weather conditions.

marceldada - Posted - 11/01/2011:  08:06:08

I'd leave the hide on myself but then I don't much care for plastic on my instruments. I had a hoop that wouldn't budge and as it was an old Buckbee in pretty bad shape I'm turning into a fretless I just turned the pot upside down, laid a wood block up against the hoop and gave it a whack with a hammer. Gave the other side a knock and the hoop came right off with no damage to anything.

Pluckin Mutha - Posted - 11/01/2011:  08:11:18

If you're worried about it, just slack it off a bit.

I replaced the skin head on my S S Stewart in 1973 or '74. I've lived in all sorts of climates with varying humidity here in Canada. For the last 28 years I've been heating with wood, and never had a problem with the skin head.

Humidity varies from below 20% in the Winter to 90% in the Summer

Mutha

geezr - Posted - 11/01/2011:  08:12:31

Bud

My suggestion of pushing down in the middle of the head (with no hooks and nuts installed) will work better than trying to pull it apart with your fingers. This technique puts really even pressure all around the edge of the head. Give it another shot.. The only thing that might break is the head, and it will only break if it is really old and dried out. It will not damage the metal parts. One further thought- if the head is looser when the banjo is disassembled, then this should work because that would indicate that there was movement of the head on the tone ring.

Edited by - geezr on 11/01/2011 08:29:38

geezr - Posted - 11/01/2011:  08:54:37

Bud

I just had another idea. If you get a piece of plywood about 14" square and draw a circle on it a hair over 11" in diameter and then nail small pieces of 3/4" wood so that the edges are touching the circle, that will give you a support for the head / tension ring /  tone ring. Put the assembly in the support so that the flesh hoop of the head is resting on the wood blocks and the tone ring does not rest on the plywood. Then you can rest a wood block on the head just inside the tension ring and tap it with a mallet all the way around the head. Just do this a little bit at a time.

Jay

Edited by - geezr on 11/01/2011 08:55:42

pastorharry - Posted - 11/10/2011:  17:07:01

I say, buy a spare mylar head to have at the ready, but just keep your skin head on there. If,(and when), it does break, then I would remove the pot all the way and soak it a bit .If it's still stubborn, break out a mallet and go at it gently around in circles til it loosens.