More on Fiberskyn head

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From rhnewsome on 1/14/2012 6:51:40 AM

AlpacaLips,

Thanks for the question. The head I replaced was the original head from Deering. Which, according to Greg Deering, is a standard Remo top frosted head.

When I installed the new fiberskyn head I set it up according to a method I learned here on BHO. I tensioned it by tightening it to where a quarter would just slide under a 10" straight edge set, set on edge, adjacent to the bridge. Essentially you are measuring the depth of the depression in the head made by the bridge. I had adjusted the old head the same way, so they are setup pretty close to the same tension.

The tone of the fiberskyn is much softer than the Remo, but with good note separation. To me, it just sounds more "old-timey" and very nice. I am sure you can tell that I am a clawhammer player by now. You can buy a Fibersyn head for less than $20 from Janet Davis, so it doesn't cost much to try one. I may end up putting one on my Sierra, too.

4 Comments
	AlpacaLips says: 1/14/2012 2:54:03 PM Thanks. I've got a Goodtime with frosted Mylar and a Gold Tone open back with a Renaissance. From what I've read it sounds like the fiberskyn might be an improvement (to MY ears, that is) over the frosted Mylar but not necessarily over the Renaissance. I'm curious to try it out on both though.
	AlpacaLips says: 1/14/2012 2:56:31 PM I should add that my preference is a somewhat plunky sound, but I don't like the hardcore old timey sounds, like a fretless gourd banjo with a goatskin head and gut strings. That's why I'm thinking that I might like the fiberskyn better than the frosted, but maybe not better than the Ren.
	RUSTYSTILL says: 1/15/2012 7:55:29 AM I've been playing with tone on my 1909 Whyte Laydie for years. Recently put a calf skin head on that mellowed out the tone from a Remo I had been using. This summer at the Centrailia WA music campout I met Doc Huff and tried one of his bridges docsbanjos.com/accessories/bridges/ and it made a big difference from other bridges I had been using. Lots of folk were changing to his bridges there and it made a difference on all banjos I head them on. Then at a jam a fellow turned me onto what he called a "plunkifier". A handkerchief (or small rag or foam block) inside the head between the tension rod and the skin did wonders for getting rid of unwanted overtones and mellowing out the tone.
	BDCA says: 2/6/2012 2:48:08 PM I currently have Renaissance heads on all my banjos including the GDL Tenor. I had a Fiberskyn on one of my tenors and switched it out recently and was really pleased with the sound. It lost the clunky, tubby sound. The Ren head has to be TIGHT...up to 94 on a drum dial.
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