rick3216 - Posted - 08/07/2025:  17:06:42

I’m new to banjo and have a 6 string Contessa that sounds bad. I set intonation and tightened the head hut the bridge still sits in the depression in the photo. Did I not tighten the head enough or do I need a new head on this 40-year-old banjo?

 

Owen - Posted - 08/07/2025:  17:42:14

Tongue-in-cheek Richard, does it sound bad when others play it or just when you play it?  

banjered - Posted - 08/07/2025:  17:44:01

Yeah the head looks pretty slack. . I'd say tighten it up to where it either sounds good or explodes in the process. It is not working now for you so nothing to lose and maybe something to gain. Go to the "Q" search engine to the left of the page and type in "head tightening" to give you some information on how to. banjered

Dan Gellert - Posted - 08/07/2025:  17:53:35

Don't crank that tension hoop down too far. You can really bleep up a cast hoop that way.

pinenut - Posted - 08/07/2025:  20:24:43

Tension it with a DrumDial or the Steve Davis method using coins and a 10" ruler.  The Davis method is probably fine even considering the extra tension from six strings.

Edited by - pinenut on 08/07/2025 20:27:08

wileypickett - Posted - 08/08/2025:  00:36:28

All good suggestions, but. . . !



Framus banjos don't sound great to begin with. They were sort of Europe's version of U.S.-made Harmony and Kay banjos. Whether 4-, 5-, or 6-stringers, the "tone rings" are round bands of metal, about 5/8" wide, welded end-to-end, and fitted into a channel routed into the inside of the pot. Set up properly they can be decent starter instruments, but they're never going to knock your socks off.



My first 5-string was a Framus (45 years ago?) and I tried everything to bring it to life -- adjusting the head tension, trying different heads, trying different bridges, etc. Nothing made much difference.



I never got rid of the Framus, but over the years I replaced it with much better instruments. A few years back I opened the case to take look at it again, and figuring I had nothing to lose, I decided to try installing a rolled brass tone ring (which I got from someone here on BHO).



Turns out that the flat circle of metal inside the pot matched exactly the inside circumference of the 11" rolled brass tone ring. It fit perfectly around the band, and the band locked the tone ring in place.



The only tricky part: the metal band stood slightly higher than the rolled brass tone ring!



I solved that problem by making a simple jig to hold the pot in place while I sanded the band shorter with my spindle sander. (Lots of sparks!) Once it was down to about a 1/4" proud of the pot, I I slipped the tone ring over it, and voila! It still secured the brass tone ring, but now the head was only in contact with the tone ring, and not the sharp edge of that metal band.



While it's never going to give my Rickard any competition, that funky old Framus sounds better than it did at any other point in its life. (I also put a Renaissance head on it.)



So experiment with the head tension and try different heads, different bridges, etc., but at some point you may have to accept that it sounds as good as it's ever likely to.



They do look cool!



Glenn

Edited by - wileypickett on 08/08/2025 00:39:25

RB-1 - Posted - 08/08/2025:  00:58:10

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dan Gellert

Don't crank that tension hoop down too far. You can really bleep up a cast hoop that way.

---

My Framus had a cast, archtop tone ring. 

The meager sound quality's cause is mainly in the flimsy wood ring...

A Framus tension hoop too is an unbelievably massive piece of metal. 

Bleeping  it up would be my last concern.

I'd expect the head to fail with a bleeping bang long before....

Edited by - RB-1 on 08/08/2025 01:01:13

rick3216 - Posted - 08/08/2025:  02:46:51

Thank you all for your replies and insight. My expectations for my Framus have been adjusted appropriately.

lucas73b - Posted - 08/08/2025:  04:29:18

That head with the Contessa logo is half a century old and could have stretched. If you tighten it further, check first that you have enough thread left on the tension bolts. If you replace it, chose a low crown.

Bart Veerman - Posted - 08/08/2025:  07:51:55

Treat yourself on a Drum Dial Richard, it'll remove all the guessing and mysteries about how much to tighten the head. Tighten it to about 88~90 and you'll be just fine.

Keep in mind though, that head is almost 60 years old and its glue may let go while tensioning.

Bruno: I made a hardwood rim for my Framus archtop and found it didn't sound a whole lot better than its own thin rim. Sure looks nice though. Yup, I also replaced the neck because the original one was too narrow to my liking. Many years later, after having played a whole lot of different banjos, that narrow neck feels just fine now on the identical one I bought as a spare. And even better once a got rid of that terrible fibreskin head.

For all the Framus nat-sayers: doing good setups take a while to learn but even the low model Framuses can sound awesome. To this day this Framus has, and still is, my go-to banjo and I've played a lot of gigs with it. Check this out Bruno:

haruteq.com/newrim.htm">web.archive.org/web/20210118112459/haruteq.com/newrim.htm

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 08/08/2025:  08:36:10

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bart Veerman

Treat yourself on a Drum Dial Richard, it'll remove all the guessing and mysteries about how much to tighten the head. Tighten it to about 88~90 and you'll be just fine.

Keep in mind though, that head is almost 60 years old and its glue may let go while tensioning.

Bruno: I made a hardwood rim for my Framus archtop and found it didn't sound a whole lot better than its own thin rim. Sure looks nice though. Yup, I also replaced the neck because the original one was too narrow to my liking. Many years later, after having played a whole lot of different banjos, that narrow neck feels just fine now on the identical one I bought as a spare. And even better once a got rid of that terrible fibreskin head.

For all the Framus nat-sayers: doing good setups take a while to learn but even the low model Framuses can sound awesome. To this day this Framus has, and still is, my go-to banjo and I've played a lot of gigs with it. Check this out Bruno:

haruteq.com/newrim.htm">web.archive.org/web/20210118112459/haruteq.com/newrim.htm

---

So you replaced the rim and replaced the neck but it's still a Framus? Confused. 

Dan Gellert - Posted - 08/08/2025:  09:03:42

Just noticed it's a 6- stringer... What sort of strings are you using on it?

A guitar-banjo works best at MUCH lower string tension than does any regular wood-topped guitar. An extra-light acoustic set is about as heavy as I'd put on a GB, and a lot of folks prefer an even lighter electric set.

The Old Timer - Posted - 08/08/2025:  09:15:49

It looks like your bridge is two-footed. If you can find guitar-banjo bride with three feet it might help distribute the tension a little better.



The only way to know if tightening the head makes a difference, is to tighten the head. See what happens. I suggest 1/4 of a turn on each bracket at a time. Tune the banjo and play it after each completion of 1/4 turns all the way around. See if it begins to make any improvement.



As mentioned above, watch out you don't run out of threads, also that your tension hoop doesn't "bottom out" on some other part of the banjo such that it simply can't get any tighter. Tightening bolts on a bottomed out head will break something somewhere.

Finally I must give my opinion that that head looks WAY too large in diameter for that banjo.  I've never seen a tension hoop pulled down that low, when using a properly sized head.

Good luck.

Edited by - The Old Timer on 08/08/2025 09:17:47

Old Hickory - Posted - 08/08/2025:  09:36:23

I have never seen an assembly like this with the vertical side of the head fully exposed. I'm used to banjos -- even top-tension design -- in which the tension hoop/stretcher band fully covers the side of the head and extends higher than the plane of the head.

So I don't understand what's happening here in terms of how this banjo works.

But what I do see and understand are pronounced depressions at the feet of the two-footed bridge and a glossy head that is either white plastic or frosted on the underside. Everything in the previous sentence is something I don't like and would change.

In getting a new head, the challenge becomes crown height. Is this head stretched out, suggesting a new high crown head would be OK?   When you're not certain whether a banjo takes high or low, medium crown tends to be a safe choice that works for both.

White or clear plastic are too bright for my liking. I personally prefer the sound of top-frosted heads. Stock USA Remo is fine. Or the AMB or Huber versions which have custom coating. Or the Taiwan Remo (available from Elderly) that has the crimp connection of the mylar to the hoop.

I also prefer three-footed bridges and I'd think for a six-string "banjo" the center foot would be preferable.

I could be wrong.