Paul S - Posted - 01/26/2014:  16:52:52

Has anyone ever tried a beaver skin head on their banjo? How does it sound compared to calf of goat skin?

Paul

ravedog - Posted - 01/26/2014:  17:54:15

should work pretty good but where are you going to ind beaver rawhide...?

RioStat - Posted - 01/26/2014:  17:58:21

quote:

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Originally posted by ravedog

should work pretty good but where are you going to ind beaver rawhide...?

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Uhhh, he lives in Utah...probably trap a beaver and tan the hide himself??

Paul, how "heavy / thick" is a beaver hide? I imagine they're thinner than calf or goat, so, would probably work pretty well.

Sounds like a good idea to me, if you need a "guinea pig",  I'm willing to try a beaver hide head!!

Edited by - RioStat on 01/26/2014 18:01:32

George Flink - Posted - 01/26/2014:  18:08:49

So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde. That's it hanging on the shed.

RioStat - Posted - 01/26/2014:  18:15:37

quote:

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Originally posted by George Flink

So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde. That's it hanging on the shed.

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All together now!!!!

Just listened to that the other day, "Tie me kangaroo down" !! Rolf Harris, circa 1967 ?

jbalch - Posted - 01/26/2014:  18:48:20

In days gone by, lots of banjos around here were topped with Tennessee groundhog hide.  I reckon Utah beaver hide should work just fine. Please do let us know.

I'm linking this to the hide heads group ...

Kurt Kemp - Posted - 01/27/2014:  02:46:02

When I was in my late teens thru my twenties I trapped a lot here in michigan. Including beaver.their hide is heavy and thick and, in my opinion, not very durable. It's big enough to get a 11" hide out of but I bet it's real thumpy and would rip before full tension. At least high bluegrass banjo kinda tension. It's a shame you can't get a squirrel that big. Their hid is really thin and so tough you can hardly get a knife through it!

Hawgfiddle65 - Posted - 01/27/2014:  04:15:58

Hi.....We've now got beaver here in Scotland, reintroduced from Europe. They were supposed to be in a couple of controlled populations where they could be monitored . However they somehow have got out of one of these into the River Tay system were they are doing very well, numbers increasing rapidly and chomping through masses of waterside veg. Nothing in the way of natural predators since our ancestors killed off the wolves and bears. Lots of concern regarding the effect on fish populations due to their dams and lodges... good for some species (trout) bad for others (salmon).Tayside may soon become a source of banjo heads! Jim

mike gregory - Posted - 01/27/2014:  05:22:22

quote:

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Originally posted by RioStat

quote:

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Originally posted by ravedog

should work pretty good but where are you going to ind beaver rawhide...?

---

Uhhh, he lives in Utah...probably trap a beaver and tan the hide himself??

Paul, how "heavy / thick" is a beaver hide? I imagine they're thinner than calf or goat, so, would probably work pretty well.

Sounds like a good idea to me, if you need a "guinea pig",  I'm willing to try a beaver hide head!!

---

No, not to tan the hide.

Tanning makes the skin soft and pliable.

Rawhide, untanned, is the actual material.

RioStat - Posted - 01/27/2014:  07:37:39

quote:

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Originally posted by mike gregory

quote:

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Originally posted by RioStat

quote:

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Originally posted by ravedog 

should work pretty good but where are you going to ind beaver rawhide...?

---

Uhhh, he lives in Utah...probably trap a beaver and tan the hide himself??

Paul, how "heavy / thick" is a beaver hide? I imagine they're thinner than calf or goat, so, would probably work pretty well.

Sounds like a good idea to me, if you need a "guinea pig",  I'm willing to try a beaver hide head!!

---

No, not to tan the hide.

Tanning makes the skin soft and pliable.

Rawhide, untanned, is the actual material.

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Mr. Gregory...I stand corrected. Thanks,,, Scott

Jonnycake White - Posted - 01/27/2014:  08:18:43

One drawback I see with beaver hide is that it is a really good fur hide.  You don't want the fur on a banjo hide.  But I guess if you don't need the fur for anything, you could de-hair the hide by one of the usual methods.  I've helped skin a beaver or two and stretch the hide (back around 45-50 years ago) - and they are way bigger than what you need for a  banjo though probably not big enough for two.

Beavers are wonderful animals but their population definitely needs to be controlled because they can be very destructive.

If I were going to try de-hairing and drying hides for banjos, I'd probably ask my hunting buddies to save me a young deer hide in the fall.

Edited by - Jonnycake White on 01/27/2014 08:21:35