I wonder how 91 on the Drum Dial became the G# head tone? I imagine a lot of users came to that by trial & error. My Williams is now at 92 but the head note is G, at least according to the tuner app I have on my iPhone, Pano Tuner Lite.
This banjo has a Burlile tone ring & when I was visiting him in Riverside, he told me that this ring will sound bassier with higher head tightness. Sounds wrong but it could be.
So my question is: should I crank the head up more to G# or is it tight enough - don't want to ruin the head. (I also played bass which may or may not explain why I'm curious about this.)
Any ideas? And thanks!
The Pope
I doubt going to 92 will ruin the head.
92 is where it is now - maybe I'm just being paranoid about taking it higher for G#... :-)
91 DrumDial reading sounds like A on my banjos.
Do you like the way it sounds now? If so, don't monkey around with it. If not, crank it on down.
If you crank it down to 92 and split the head, are you confident that you can get another head to the point where you like it? If so, crank away. If you think you might not get it set back where you want it, don't monkey around with it.
You know how the banjo sounds, and you know your own abilities. Let that be your guide.
Im not sure 91 = G# on every DD. The deflection you get is dependent on the spring and I think one may have a stronger spring giving maybe a 90 and another DD with a slightly weaker spring doesn’t deflect as much and reads a 92.
We’re talking about 2 thousandths between 90 and 92 and I don’t imagine it takes a big difference in spring strength to deflect a head that much.
Mine is a hair over G# and my dial shows 90.
It’s always a good idea to zero the drum dial on a perfectly flat surface with no flex. I use a piece of flat glass.
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