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mworden - Posted - 07/12/2012: 11:45:41
I recently installed a goatskin head for the first time and thought I would share the experience for those who might be interested.
My 11" Romero had one of Jason Romero's stained goatskin heads on it when I bought it and I thought it looked pretty cool and sounded great. A few months ago, while it was sitting on the stand, the head tore and I was heartbroken. I knew I wanted to put another goatskin head on it but it took me until this week to work up the courage to do it. In the meantime, I had put an Elite amber head on and it sounded OK but it wasn't the sound I was after and I didn't like the look of the aluminum ring contrasting with the brass tension hoop.
I had originally ordered a 14" thin goatskin head from Elderly at the same time as I ordered the amber head but, once I saw it, I was not convinced I had enough extra material to work with as a first timer. Though, in retrospect, I think I could have made it work. So, a couple of weeks ago I ordered two 18" thin goatskin heads (also from Elderly; they are inexpensive and I wanted to have a backup in case I messed up on the first one), joined the Hide Heads group here on the hangout and started reading everything I could about installing them.
One thing that I knew I wanted to try was staining the head. The stained heads have become almost a signature for Romeros and I like the way they look. I bought a small can of Minwax oil-based stain in a cherry color to more or less match the finish on my instrument. I used a small paint brush to apply the stain to both sides of the head and then wiped off the excess stain with a dry paper towel. One thing I learned was that the two sides of the skin take up the stain very differently. I'm sure there is a proper name for the two sides but I'll call the bumpier side the "hair side" and the smoother side the "flesh side". The hair side took up almost no stain at all though there was some slight color change. The flesh side, on the other hand, took up the stain quite well especially in those locations where the skin had been worked by the knife during skinning thus yielding the cool striated look characteristic of dyed heads. Here is an image showing the original head plus the two newly stained ones.
I let the stain dry for 24 hours and then got to work on the install. First, I had to decide which skin to use. I thought they both came out well and I liked the darker color on the top one but I liked the more interesting striation patterns on the other one more. I soaked the head in warm water for about five minutes until it became pliable. I thought that with the oil based stain it might take longer but this seemed plenty. Next, I rolled the skin up in a towel to get rid of the excess moisture. Jason had told me that taking the neck off was not necessary on this instrument so I did not but your banjo might be different. After removing the old head, I repositioned the tone ring and then laid the skin over the top, trying out different positions and orientations to see which looked best. I suppose either side could be on top but I chose the slightly more textured "hair side" to face outward. Then I pressed the flesh hoop about 1/2" down over the skin and the tone ring.
Next, I put on the tension hoop, tucking the edges of the skin underneath. When that was on, I installed four bracket hooks to hold everything in place. I had read that it was useful to have some extra-long hooks for this step but I found that I did not need them (which was fortunate since I didn't have any). At this point, I was grateful for the larger skin because I was able to use my hands to pull the skin tight nad make sure there were no wrinkles. I think if I had used the 14" skin this would have been difficult and I probably would have had to use pliers or a similar tool. When I had the skin smooth, including where it wraps around the flesh hoop, I loosely installed the remaining hooks and finger tightened them making sure that the head was level all the way around by measuring from the bottom of the tone ring.
I put the banjo away for 24 hours to dry in my air conditioned and dehumidified basement. The next step was the one I was most worried about. I did not trim the head when it was wet because I learned from reading John Balch's excellent posts that the head can be removed at this stage and trimmed lower down. I like this approach for several reasons: first, I didn't risk scratching the inside of the tension hoop or nicking the head with a razor blade and second, it can be trimmed so that you didn't see the extra material from the top. This went well but, if I had read John's posts more carefully, I would have realized that he trims some of the extra off first while it is wet to make things easier and I wished I had done that. I left the assembly mounted on top of the tone ring at this point because I was worried I might have a hard time fitting it back on but I don't know if that was necessary. At any rate, it may have made it somewhat easier. At this point I also sprayed on some waterproofer (from Clarke's Shoes, that I happened to have on hand) on both sides. The waterproofer made the head a bit damp so I waited an hour before putting it back on.
Finally, I put everything back on, tightened it up and strung it up with some OME medium steel strings (I've mostly been playing Nylgut recently). I was pretty cautious about tightening at first and it sounded kind of muddy but finally I cranked it down where it should be and it sounds great! It's only been a day but I haven't noticed any slipping, sagging, stretching, etc., yet but I will pay attention to whether it needs some tightening after a few days.
In sum, the project was fun, not too difficult, and came out great. If you've been wanting to try it yourself, I say go for it! The hardest part was not having the banjo to play for a couple of days while things were drying but that gave me an excuse to pick up my neglected guitar. Cheers! --Mike
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