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dhinds4100 - Posted - 01/27/2015: 10:32:37
What is a good starting point for setting head tension using a drum dial. I play clawhammer on Reiter Regent. Right now my tension is 84 on the dial. I am using DrumDial brand tool.
thanks
SReynolds - Posted - 01/27/2015: 11:17:02
84? w/a Drum Dial ???
Can you even hear the banjo?
LOL man. That is like, way low, but ....
hey!..... some folks do that JACK! OK..?
I operate at a SOLID 92. NOT 91 .9
But I need bright. Like white on rice on a paper plate in a snow storm bright.
Bill - Posted - 01/27/2015: 11:42:00
Let the sound be your guide. If you like the sound you're getting, then leave it like it is. Otherwise, try increasing the tension (perhaps 1/4-turn at a time) to see if it gets any better to your ear.
When you're happy with the tone, then stop and measure with the Drum Dial. Remember the measurement so you can easily repeat the tension if, down the road, you ever find yourself having to remove and reinstall the head.
As John Balch, the best Reiter expert we have short of Bart (also a BHO member) himself has said -- Bart builds each banjo individually by hand. So each is different from all others in subtle ways. What's best for my banjo would not likely be best for yours.
It took me a long time to figure out this piece of advice: It's your banjo and you should set it up and play it in such a manner that sounds good to you. Others can listen to you if they want to.
But you did ask a specific question, so here's my answer with numbers: I play clawhammer like you do. I'd say an 84 is a decent starting point for the gradual adjustment advice above. When I had a Renaissance head on my Reiter WL (which has the same tone ring as your Regent), I had it at about 89 as an end point. I moved to a skin head and it's currently at about an 87.
Here's the sound I get:
Edited by - Bill on 01/27/2015 11:43:16
BDCA - Posted - 01/27/2015: 12:57:54
I use 91-92 on a Renaissance head for OT and 904 for Irish tenor.
Cya!
Bob
RV6 - Posted - 01/27/2015: 13:22:37
quote:
Originally posted by Bill
I moved to a skin head and it's currently at about an 87.
Bill, Your banjo sound great.
I have a Reiter Buckbee with a goatskin head and a Reiter "A" Flat with a Ren. head.
Have you used the "coin under the 10" rule" method and, if so, what fits on your hide head? I use between a quarter and nickel on my hide head ( and a quarter with the Ren head.)
JimInAlabama - Posted - 01/27/2015: 13:28:29
Ditto everything Bill said. You'll probably end up tighter than 84, but maybe not ..... let your ears guide you. I'm using a skin head now and don't use the drum dial on it but with the Ren and Fiberskyn heads the sweet spots were between 88 and 91. Also I learned that even tension all the way around is really important.
The Old Timer - Posted - 01/27/2015: 13:34:31
Bill, nice choice of Swannanoa Tunnel. Can you sing it like Bascom Lamar Lunsford?
Bill - Posted - 01/27/2015: 13:40:49
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Timer
Bill, nice choice of Swannanoa Tunnel. Can you sing it like Bascom Lamar Lunsford?
Sing? What is this "sing" of which you speak? ;-)
Ken LeVan - Posted - 01/27/2015: 13:42:28
84 is not out of line for old time and clawhammer. It would be very plunky, and tubby, which is what many OT players like. I'm guessing that a Reiter Regent is a Whyte Laydie design, which would be pretty bright, so a lower tension would make it plunkier.
I got a drum dial for Christmas and really like the convenience of it, plus I can tweak heads to a fair-thee well without annoying everyone with the tapping and piano notes.
I used to tune heads by ear, then see what they were tuned to with the piano, but really I would tighten them for the sound. My "normal" was G# to A, but a few higher. I had one tightened up to C one time.
I find that every banjo is not the same, so you can't say that they all ought to be 87 or 90 or anything else. I made a banjo with a 1920s Rogers skin head, and it needed to be tightened more on one side than the other, and really didn't want to go above 88 on the high side.
What works for me is (usually) around 88-89. I have a '27 archtop Granada with an amber head that works at a lower tension.
I am currently making a banjo with a clear head, and I have been tuning the pot. I find that it sounds best at 88. There is no heroism in tuning heads up too much. It's hard to break mylar heads, but it all depends on how much plunk or plink you want.
If I put a frosted head on it and tuned that Granada up to 91, it would be way too much unless you are really after the old 78 PRM Stanley sound in a big way. When I first got it c 1963, I thought it was supposed to sound like Ralph or a tenor banjo. Back then, I played bluegrass in bars in Brooklyn and wanted that banjo to sound really "plinky", and cut through the din. I tuned the head up as high as I had the courage to do, made a ridiculously minimal, minimal bridge, and cleaned the frosting off the head with lacquer thinner. It could break your eardrums. I have evolved beyond that now, and want a more expressive sound.
Bill - Posted - 01/27/2015: 14:20:28
quote:
Originally posted by RV6
quote:
Originally posted by Bill
I moved to a skin head and it's currently at about an 87.
Bill, Your banjo sound great.
I have a Reiter Buckbee with a goatskin head and a Reiter "A" Flat with a Ren. head.
Have you used the "coin under the 10" rule" method and, if so, what fits on your hide head? I use between a quarter and nickel on my hide head ( and a quarter with the Ren head.)
In response to your question, I just tried the quarter-and-a-ruler test. It's right on for my setup. Here's a photo:
dhinds4100 - Posted - 01/27/2015: 17:56:14
Thanks, your comments are most helpful. I'm learning something.
Tom Berghan - Posted - 01/27/2015: 18:15:46
Hi Dale, Here's the deal . . . since you have a drum dial, think of it as a way to always get back to the place you found where you best liked the sound of the head. Don't think of it as a way to find the sound . . . but rather how to get back. You will NOT hurt the banjo adding more tension . . . running it up to 93 or whatever. If you don't like . . . just back it down to 89 or whatever.
RV6 - Posted - 01/28/2015: 06:25:30
quote:
Originally posted by Bill
In response to your question, I just tried the quarter-and-a-ruler test. It's right on for my setup.
Thanks, Bill,.
dhinds4100 - Posted - 01/29/2015: 05:16:19
Tom, what you said makes a lot of sense. I have got the 5/16 socket out this morning and away I go. thanks
dhinds4100 - Posted - 01/29/2015: 14:01:12
Bill,
I just wanted to add that I ended up at 87 and am pleased with the results.
Ken LeVan - Posted - 01/29/2015: 14:14:56
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Berghan
Hi Dale, Here's the deal . . . since you have a drum dial, think of it as a way to always get back to the place you found where you best liked the sound of the head. Don't think of it as a way to find the sound . . . but rather how to get back. You will NOT hurt the banjo adding more tension . . . running it up to 93 or whatever. If you don't like . . . just back it down to 89 or whatever.
That's great advice.
Of course, the drum dial is targeted to drummers, who have a whole set of drums, each one wanting its own sound.With the instrument, you get a chart of the various drums in a set, and the idea is that you test your drums, find out what you like for each one,write that preferred setting on the chart, then you can reproduce it easily next time around, or maintain it each time you set up your drums at a gig.
Banjos are easier, but it's the same thing:
(1) Tension your head, listening to it until it gets to the sound you like best
(2) Use the drum dial to quantify that tension, and even it out if necessary.
(3) Write down what your preferred tension is
(4) Retune your head to that periodically or when you change heads.
It's a valuable tool, just like a digital tuner, but don't become a slave to it.
