Goat Skin from Clifford Essex

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Hide Heads

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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 Lyndon Smith on 6/14/2013 10:09:20 AM

I just received a goat skin from Clifford Essex here in England. Previously I had a couple of browny yellowy calf skins from Bill Miller.

The calf skins are hard-ish in feel and very unlike the goat skin which is more bendy and more like leather. I'm just curious, are calf skin and goat skin that different? Do they sound different?

My Annatto seeds have not arrived yet (from Germany). When they do I'm going to boil up some dye and stain the goat skin to see how it comes out...

3 Comments
	C Nyal de Kaye says: 6/14/2013 3:16:08 PM I have very limited experience in this, but agree that the feel of the calf skin compared to goat is as you describe it. From my observations that have been limited to my own banjos only, but over about fifteen years, the goat skin seems to be more sensitive to humidity than the calf skin. This comment has to be considered against our local weather. I live in an outlying suburb of Sydney where summer means high humidity - 85% t0 100% - so that will be a huge factor in my experiences with hide heads and may be totally irrelevant in other places. To my ear all banjos have their own sound and, for old-timey stuff, they all sound better with natural skin heads. Anyway, that's what I think, and "no correspondence will be entered into" that seeks to prove the contrary! I am definitely prejudiced in favour of skin heads.
	jbalch says: 6/15/2013 4:12:20 AM Some calf skins AND some goat skins are stiff and have a harder feel (these often have some degree of translucense too). Some of both species are softer, more supple and more white. I can't say that one species is consistantly different than the other- in that way. It depends on your source for the hides and - significantly - how they have been processed. For what it is worth, stiff hides, though harder to mount, seem to make good sounding and reliable heads. Supple hides are much easier to mount - and often look white and even color. They make fine heads too. But those skins MAY prove more suceptible to humidity and tend to stretch more. Please post photos of the project and finished results.
	C Nyal de Kaye says: 6/15/2013 2:27:04 PM Thanks for that comment John. ... "But those skins MAY prove more suceptible to humidity and tend to stretch more." That seems to fit my case exactly.
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