If there is a head made to fit it, Bob Smakula can sell it to you.

Measure across the top of the body, outside to outside, at several points, JUST IN CASE the strings have pulled the body out of round.

https://www.banjohangout.org/luthier/Bob%20Smakula

Here are some pictures. There are more in the original post pasted above.

Thank you Mike for that info! Do you have a very rough estimate on how much you think that could, or should, cost? I'm definitely a beginner so I can't pour too much more into it (I'm hoping that if this can be done, I'd like to keep it under $150).

quote:

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Originally posted by mike gregory

If there is a head made to fit it, Bob Smakula can sell it to you.

Measure across the top of the body, outside to outside, at several points, JUST IN CASE the strings have pulled the body out of round.

 

https://www.banjohangout.org/luthier/Bob%20Smakula

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This banjo can definitely be converted to a conventional "drum" head banjo. The only question is how. And I don't think the photos tell us that.

So the first thing you need to do is undo all the hooks and nuts and remove the tension hoop and reso spider so you -- and we -- can see the top of the wood rim.

From there, you will most likely have one of three ways to convert to conventional drum head:

1. Simply put on a plastic head of correct diameter and crown height (happy solution if you're lucky)
2. Modify the wood rim somehow to accommodate a standard head and create the banjo you want. 
3. Have a new wood rim made to create the type of banjo you want.

As to what type of banjo you want, I assume you want to keep the flange and resonator (referring to the wooden back of the banjo) so the question is do you want a banjo with the head bearing on the wood rim, on a metal hoop or tube, or on a full-weight (3-pound or so) Mastertone-style tone ring?

 So take the thing apart, post pictures showing what's underneath the metal head surface, the top and outside edge of the wood rim, and the detail of the area where the neck meets the rim above the flange all the way up to the top of the fretboard -- so we can see its plane in relation to a possible head-bearing point.

If you want a tone hoop or tone ring, you'll almost certainly have to modify the rim or get a new rim. You'll need the ring, of course, as well.

Good luck.

My amateur question would be what is going on with the rim under the resonator head. Has it been specially shaped or cut, would it need to be recut perhaps for a tone ring or at least shaped somewhat so it's like a woody banjo rim. Perhaps nothing needs doing and it's almost like swapping one banjo head for another.

quote:

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Originally posted by josemite jam

Do you have a very rough estimate on how much you think that could, or should, cost? I'm definitely a beginner so I can't pour too much more into it (I'm hoping that if this can be done, I'd like to keep it under $150).

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You didn't ask me, but I'm going to chime in.

If you're lucky and a conventional Remo, AMB, Huber, or Stew-Mac plastic head of the correct diameter and crown height will simply fit over the wood rim after you remove the reso-spider, then your total cost will be the cost of a head. (Note: all those heads are Remos, some with different coating or the absence of a name - Stew-Mac).

If a head won't simply fit over the rim, or the top of the rim is too low relative to the plane of the fretboard for a head to do its job, then you might need to set one of these round rod tone rings on top of the wood rim. That will cost you $57 plus shipping. But if all you need is to gain 1/4-inch of height, this is an easy DIY modification.

But if the configuration of your rim is something else that doesn't directly accommodate either a head alone or a set-on rod-type ring and head, then you're looking at some type of lutherie to make the rim work. And no one knows what that is until they see the rim. And no one can know what that will cost.

For reference -- and realizing my recent experience may not relate to your situation at all --  this past year I sent a rim to Eric Sullivan to be reworked to fit a tone ring and flange -- neither of which were simple slide-on fits. Wood needed to be both added and removed because the height of the wood band between the flange and bottom of tone ring skirt had to be slightly increased, but wood had to be removed above that to get the ring onto the rim.  The flange also needed to be opened a little, but Eric took off just enough metal to get the flange to slip onto the rim so as not to remove any wood from the already finished skirt area of the rim. (It was a 1999 Gibson rim).

All of this work cost only $80 plus 2-way shipping and insurance for the very high declared value of three genuine Gibson parts from various decades.

You won't need the same changes to the wood rim as I did, but you could need the same level of skill and know-how applied to your wood rim.

And all of that is for making the rim accept a head only or a head with an inexpensive hoop ring.

If you want your banjo to sound like a Mastertone (or even a $1000 RK-35) then you're going to need a 3-lb bronze alloy tone ring, which costs more than your total budget, unless you can score a used RK ring for $150. Otherwise, you're looking at $239 plus shipping for a Sullivan ring (the lowest cost new ring on the market, and a great one). So then your costs are head, tone ring, lutherie service to modify the rim to accept the ring, and insured shipping.

All of this gets back to what I said in another message: What do you want your banjo to be? And take it apart so we can see it what it is now.

No one mentioned that the only way to make it work if replacing the cone with a regular banjo head would be to place the bridge in the middle, like it is with the cone.  That will give a really poor sound.  Sorry.  To get the bridge in a reasonable place would require a new fretboard or serious neck surgery.

Also, there's something so sad about this endeavor.  There is no missing spider, and the cone is not upside down.  Rather, it works the way the other Dopyera brother designed them to be, i.e.,with a biscuit bridge.  Bill Rickard makes a beautiful one and sells it for $3500 -- https://rickardbanjos.com/products/rickard-respohinc-banjo , sound samples included.  If yours sounds weak, it's because of the pickup.  There are examples of the Rickard on-line played unplugged, and they're pretty amazing, too.  My own DIY does sound weak --  https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/resonator/resonator.pdf -- but it's for acoustics research and not performance.  I'd bet that someone would love that thing as is.

Tim Mullins mentioned the bridge placement issue in the previous post regarding the instrument.

You'll need to shorten or replace the neck. $75-$1200.
You'll probably want a tone ring of some sort in there. $35- $500.
A head, $25
Labour $100-$500

It looks like a decent rim, flange, tailpiece and maybe resonator, tuners. The dobro parts may have some value.
I'd call it good for parts value around $200-300

Thanks for all the input everyone! I definitely learned a lot. My decision became clear with all this new knowledge, I’m going to return the resonator banjo and keep the Gold Tone, I’ll miss the neck (it was glorious), but someone else will probably love that resonator more than I can.

Thanks for all the knowledge and past experience!

Joe

Glad you made that choice Joe. Maybe a decade ago I remember someone making a resophonic banjo here on the hangout and I thought it was great and a terrific branch on the banjo tree. Building one is still on my banjo list. In my opinion it would be a shame to convert it with all the conversion issues you'd run into.

You can massage the Gold Tone into whatever more traditional tone or neck feel you want down the road. Take some measurements and contours from the "glorious" neck before you take it back for future reference.

quote:

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Originally posted by davidppp

No one mentioned that the only way to make it work if replacing the cone with a regular banjo head would be to place the bridge in the middle, like it is with the cone.  That will give a really poor sound.  Sorry.  To get the bridge in a reasonable place would require a new fretboard or serious neck surgery.

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Holy smokes! Right out in the open and I totally missed it!  Simply didn't notice that's a 24-fret (beyond the pot) neck.

Yep. Conversion not worth it.