Head tightness

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Long Neck Banjo

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... for those of us who prefer the tuning and singing differences the LN provides. All questions & help welcome!

273 Members, Created 1/30/2011 -

Administrators: TonyS (owner) , Gary Blanchard , pastorharry , vega long neck

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From rands on 8/21/2019 5:57:33 PM

If the head of a "g" banjo is tuned to G# or A, why isnt an "e" banjo's head tuned to E# or F? Any thoughts?

I would think my 11" rim would sound pretty dull tuned so low. Has anyone experimented with different sized rims? I never capo myself but it might be tough to retune the head every time someone did.

3 Comments
	John Gribble says: 8/21/2019 7:07:04 PM As most longneck players treat it as a "G/C" instrument which can be capoed down as well as up, there probably isn't much reason to experiment with varient head-tuning. By the way, E# and F are the same pitch. I think you eant F and F#. There is no black key between the E and F notes on the piano. The same is true of B and C.
	rands says: 8/21/2019 8:09:57 PM Thanks for reminding me of what I thought I already knew. I, personally do not have the ear to distinguish the tone of a head, nor have I had any success using a tuner. I do have a drum dial so I can get pretty even tension, whatever it is. The tighter the brighter. Seems to me. I guess whatever size head.... Tighter = brighter
	Banjo Lefty says: 8/21/2019 8:40:02 PM The head size doesn't usually change, just because the neck is longer, although bridge placement might. So the head tension should be roughly the same as between long necks and regular necked banjos.
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