Which thickness?

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For all things related to the use of SKIN BANJO HEADS. Calf, goat, possum, hairy, shaved, stained, pre-mounted. You name it.

380 Members, Created 3/28/2011 -

Administrators: jbalch (owner)

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From championofnorthhuron on 12/2/2011 8:40:52 AM

I've been looking at the goat skins on Mid-East Mfg's site http://www.mid-east.com/items.asp?Cc=Goat&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=. I posted a forum post some time back, but never really got much advise as to thickness. They offer the skins in thin, med, and thick; ~0.001", 0.0015", and 0.002" respectively. What I want to know is... which should I get? I'm looking for maximum plunk. I know... try nylgut strings. But I want to stick with steel. I plan upon trying on my Romero 11" all wood rim http://romerobanjos.com/07095/0795.html . Appreciate any advice. I also want to stain and will probably be back for more info when I go to mount. For now though... which thickness? How will thickness affect mounting? And most importantly... how will thickness affect tone?

4 Comments
	carlb says: 12/2/2011 12:39:21 PM For me, I always want a clear sound and always go for the thinner the better (0.01"= 0.25mm). I've used skins down to 0.15 mm) The numbers you give above are off by a factor of 10 (0.01", 0.015" and 0.02"; checked on the URL above). The thickest skin (0.5 mm = 0.02") because when it's doubled it'll be 1 mm thick and that could be a problem in sliding down the flesh hoop. My opinion for tonal effects: thinner to thicker = clearer to muddier.
	championofnorthhuron says: 12/2/2011 1:01:56 PM Ahh... right you are Carl! I see that I was off by a 10. I knew the difference. Just a mistake. Thank you. So besides the clear/muddy... I think one of the things I'm looking for is less sustain. So do you think a thicker head will reduce sustain? I know tailpiece can... I have that minimized with a noknot now. How about head tension? I've seen conflicting info both ways there... more tension+more sustain and more tension = less sustain. It seems to me that a softer head would absorb some string energy and reduce sustain, no?
	carlb says: 12/4/2011 10:10:43 AM My take on dealing with a very thin skin head (experiences since 1973). First, I adjust the head tightness on the dampest and coolest day so the it just doesn't buzz. I don't adjust the head after that. I used to use only an 11/16" bridge in my early days, however, a few years ago I decided to carry three bridges (takes about a minute to change the bridge), so that the action was about the same no matter what humidity condition was; 1/2", 5/8" (most of the time) and 11/16". Now the sound and sustain does change with the varying conditions but I enjoy the slightly different tone at different times. If there's too much sustain then I place a rolled up handkerchief at the end of the dowel stick, sometimes at the peghead end and sometimes at the tailpiece end; most of the time, of late, I don't use it at all. I think that some the sustain can be modfied by your touch or attack. My 2 cents, or maybe these days it's a nickel.
	J-Walk says: 12/6/2011 4:07:21 PM I'm finding that the thinner ones work better. Once I bought a thick one because I really wanted to tone down a particular banjo. The skin was so thick, I couldn't even install it. It was a great looking skin, though. I tried it on two banjos, and failed twice.
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