I don't have a Stelling but, based on a pic, the Golden Cross looks pretty standard for a resonator banjo. There's no need whatsoever to remove or loosen the neck. Take the resonator off, loosen the nuts on all the hooks enough to turn each hook out so they don't hold onto the edge of the head anymore, take the head off, put on the new one, and retighten the nuts on the hooks. That's it. The retightening phase takes finesse to get the tightness you're going for. There is lots of advice on here about that.

Many thanks…tomorrow’s project.

91 on the drum scale, as i understand it.
Ill report back.

Once you have loosened all the tension hook nuts a lot (you don't have to remove them completely, pry each hook up with your thumb and finger and turn it 90 degrees or so, so that it doesn't interfere with lifting the tension hoop upwards. You WILL have to remove the armrest and the tailpiece though. You can't have anything in the way of a straight up lift of the tension hoop.

I find that it usually works to hold hands 180 degrees apart with fingers under the tension hoop bottom lip, and thumbs pressing down on the head. Using mostly fingers pressure pull up slow and steady on the tension hoop and head altogether. Don't try to twist the tension hoop, that doesn't work. If you seem to be using a lot of pressure, move your thumbs close to the interior circumference of the tension and push down as close to the tone ring as you can. The head will make the awfullest crinkling crackling sound when you pull up. Don't worry.

Now "sometimes" a head seems stuck, due to dust, crud, whatever between it and the tone ring, you might need to give it a "rap" with a good piece of hard wood from the bottom lip of the tension hoop. Yes you'll be striking against the bead of the head itself, but what the hey? you're taking it off anyway. Go around the head giving it raps upward every few inches. Almost always this breaks the grip and then you lift the tension hoop and head off with thumb/fingers grip.

Save the old head "just in case". You might even be able to sell it.

Clean the interior face of the tension hoop with an old soft rag to get out any crud. Do the same to outer surface of the tone ring.

By now all your tension hooks have dropped down in the flange holes and are being held from disappearing by the hooked tips.

Some people like to put the tension hoop on over the new head, then mount the whole rig onto the tone ring. Others like to work the head over the tone ring nice and evenly and then put the tension hoop on top of the head. Do what seems to work for you. Push the assembled tension hoop and head down onto the tone ring as much as you can CAREFULLY, so don't crease or fold the head anywhere and start a crack. Now select 4 tension hooks 90 degrees apart and loosen the nuts as far as possible so the hook reaches as high up as it can, and see if you can "catch" its notch in the tension hoop. Use hand pressure to push the tension hoop down to help the hook "catch" in the notch. Only when you have all 4 tension hooks in the notches do you start tightening -- slow and even. Eyeball how level the tension hoop is above the tone ring. Once you've used the first 4 hooks to pull the tension hoop down enough to "catch" all the remaining hooks in their notches, do you begin the "spare tire lug nut" tightening pattern, all the while judging the level of the top of the tension hoop.

Sometimes the tension hoop is riding so high you have to take the nuts completely off the 4 selected hooks in order to get the hook tip up high enough to catch the notch. Remember you'll need to see 2 or 3 threads of the hooking showing beneath the flange to get the nuts back on. Remember to push the hoop down, not the head.

You don't want the head fully tight if the hoop is lopsided, unlevel or has "dips" or "humps" in it. That can permanently warp your tension hoop.

This stuff is Banjo 101, so prepare yourself to observe and learn.

Oh yeah, do all this work on a clean flat surface covered with a bath towel or the like to catch any stray parts that try to make a break for it.

When the head is at a tension you like and the hoop is flat and level, put your armrest and tailpiece back on and string her up! Give it a few days to settle in. Check all the tension hook nuts again to be sure none have become really loose as everything settles together.

You can keep the clear head - just change the surface finish.
wha?

First a,. remove existing head.

First b., take say, 220 or 320 abrasive paper, say, silicon carbide wet-or-dry (because the abrasive grains are sharp and it cuts clean).

First c., lightly scuff the head surface all around and on sides, in a light random circular motion. Purpose: to create a 'tooth' for proper mechanical adhesion of a sprayed finish to follow.

Second a., clean the surface well with naptha or denatured alcohol and keep your mitts off of the clean surface.

Second b., mask off the entire bottom side of the head and slightly around the aluminum membrane retainer (but not too thick that would cause retainer tightness at the heel-rim notch).

Thirstly a., acquire a rattle can of Bullseye stain blocker or Kilz stain blocker or similar.

....b., reclean surface.

....c., after Thoroughly rattleing the contents apply (from an X distance) a very very light spray horizontally then repeat vertically. Then be mindful of drying time.

Fourthly a., likely you will be disappointed with the 'stippling' that may appear after drying. That is, there will likely be an entire surface that feels slightly rough and sandy. OK then...next step:

Fourthly b., using say 440 silicon carbide wet-or-dry abrasive paper, and with finger sprinklings of water, very lightly, in random circular motion, dress down the raw nibbley surface to the finish texture and/or smoothness that makes you happy. Fini'.

Tip a., best to practice spray strokes and application on sample pieces of clear, taught polyethylene, or other suitable dark-colored material just for the 'feel' of application and dried nubbey surface.

Tip b., obviously, to some small or large degree, your end result will affect the performance and tone of the retro-finished head. I've done this a number of times and always successful. Unless your spraying technique is slow or heavy-handed your final result would be no different, nor thicker, than any other pre-finished top side 'frosted' or 'suede' coated head.

It's not rocket science.

Many thanks.
Especially for the detailed explanation of install and pointers.

As the original head is 46 years old, yet seems perfectly fine, im inclined to replace it. For $20, this seems reasonable. As its shiny, the deflection from the bridge seems obvious. I have no idea if its anything more than normal, but its quite apparent (at least compared to the frosted heads.

No particular reason, other than , as noted, id like a bit more bass. And, clear is not my favorite look.

any particular cautions re the stelling tailpiece? I seem to have remembered reading these are a bit finnicky? Or not..

The Stelling pivot pin tailpiece is held in place by nothing more than string pressure. Loosen the strings and it just falls off.

You might try some masking tape around the strings close to the tailpiece BEFORE you loosen the string tension. Then loosen the strings and with a bit of luck, the strings and tailpiece could be lifted away and moved aside. You'd probably want to do this on a bed, with plety of room to lay the banjo down, etc.

Once the new head is on, it doesn't need to be fully adjusted yet, see if you can hold the tailpiece in the pin "divots" and tighten a couple of strings (4th and 1st?) enough to keep it from falling off.

And then, begin installing a NEW set of strings until you have the tailpiece solidly in place and string tension getting towards normal.

A thought about head tension...
You probably don't want an overly-tight head. It's probably not the best way to get the optimum sound out of a Stelling...

Easy peasy. Everything diassembled without hassle.
New head seated fairly easily and evenly.

Old 5 star head replaced with remo frosted.
Head tension 91. (Per geoff...ill see how it sounds as it relaxes)

Subtle but noticeable difference, less piercing. Less ‘hi-fi’, but not exactly warm.
Fwiw, Same strings and bridge.
I think i like it. (Glad i have the option to go back…but man, it took a good deal longer than i expected to get it all set up.)

Ill give it a few days to settle and then re-check the head tension.

I am absolutely certain that anyone who plays with me will be appreciative, if not grateful. This banjo has quite a punch, even played rather softly. The old head was very bright.

Many thanks to all.

Comments appreciated.

Next step, 11s!
Then, scorpion bridge.

Many pickers who are accustomed to Gibson Mastertones will agree with you about Stelling tone/sound.

Experiment carefully with head tension (lower, I would guess), strings and bridges.

Good luck.

Thank you again

quote:

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Originally posted by stevedenver

Easy peasy. Everything diassembled without hassle. Tp tip was helpful.
New head seated fairly easily and evenly.

Old 5 star head replaced with remo frosted.
Head tension 91. (Per geoff...ill see how it sounds as it relaxes)

Subtle but noticeable difference, less piercing. Less ‘hi-fi’, but not exactly warm.
Fwiw, Same strings and bridge.
I think i like it. (Glad i have the option to go back…but man, it took a good deal longer than i expected to get it all set up.)

Ill give it a few days to settle and then re-check the head tension.

I am absolutely certain that anyone who plays with me will be appreciative, if not grateful. This banjo has quite a punch, even played rather softly. The old head was very bright.

Many thanks to all.

Comments appreciated.

Next step, 11s!
Then, scorpion bridge.

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