glsmi - Posted - 10/07/2012:  16:43:47

Just put  a skin head on a mastertone style banjo, I've gotten to the point where the rim of the head is touching the neck cutout. Can I wet the head to tighten a bit? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Barry

The Old Timer - Posted - 10/07/2012:  17:13:14

If you put the head on damp, slack it back off and let it dry, and it will tighten up.

If you put it on dry, you may be out of luck from having the wrong crown.

tomberghan - Posted - 10/07/2012:  17:24:00

I'm not clear. Have you aleady mounted the hide to the flesh-hoop, and the assembly (hide and flesh-hoop) are installed to the rim and you are tightening the j-bolts?

If yes, then all you need to do is to keep tightening the j-bolts. You should never put water on the head ever again (never again in the hide's life - not after it is mounted to the flesh hoop).

Getting the hide moist is only done during the process of mounting it to the flesh hoop. It is done to make the hide pliable so it can be formed over the hoop and rolled over the hoop. Then you place on the rim to form the crown. (Use plastic wrap to protect the wooded rim from moisture)

After it is completely dry, it is then mounted on the rim and tightened. Water is not used for tightening (although some believe this). From this point forward the head is tightened only with the bolts. And people new to hides are always afraid they will rip the hide. But ask anyone familiar with using hides - you can tighten the hell out of them! The bridge should not sink into the hide-head. If it does, it is too loose (should be flat). Your hide should last many decades. Lots of players have hides that are over 100 years old! I have one that is from 1929 on my 1929 Gibson, made by the Amrawco company from Chicago (long defunct). Amrawco was short for American Rawhide Company.

Edited by - tomberghan on 10/07/2012 17:29:14

glsmi - Posted - 10/07/2012:  17:56:57

It's a Gold Tone pre mounted, had it on another banjo a while back and it sounds nice but has to be tight. I'm sure you probably know that they have a rather thick metal piece they attach to and the neck is not cut down enough to put more tension on it. I had an old hide Rogers head for many years that was wonderful on any banjo I put it on but let it get away. Tried a head from Bill Miller and it burst shortly after putting it on. So if I can't figure a way to tighten it up a bit will have to go back to mylar : (

Thx

B

tomberghan - Posted - 10/07/2012:  18:09:46

Can you post some photos? I am pretty sure that if we can SEE the problem we can help you. It sounds from your description that the crown is too low (too short), but I'm not sure. However I am sure that no Mylar can duplicate the sound of a good hide head. Mylar has its own good characteristics, but can never sound like hide and vice versa. I LOVE the sound of Earl's banjo on the Mercury sessions (all hide head).

Edited by - tomberghan on 10/07/2012 18:22:42

Deaf Lester Crawdad - Posted - 10/07/2012:  23:44:34

quote:

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Originally posted by glsmi

Just put  a skin head on a mastertone style banjo, I've gotten to the point where the rim of the head is touching the neck cutout. Can I wet the head to tighten a bit? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

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 Not an uncommon problem.    It most often occurs when you move a skin head from one banjo  -that has a deeper cutout in the heel of the neck-  to another that has a shallower cutout.   (Makers frequently  provide different amounts of depth; depending.)

Since you can't shrink a skin head that's already been mounted wet and allowed to dry (it's about as shrunk as it's ever going to get) your only two options are to deepen the neck's cutout a bit  -not a job for the home workshop-  or simply take the head back off and use one that has a lower crown height so the head doesn't come as far down the sides of the pot and bottom out against the shelf of your neck cutout.

~Pete