Q&A | Humidity & Tackhead Banjos
Added 2018-06-22 12:38:51 +0000 UTC
"I've recently finished building my first banjo (a tack-head, more specifically), partly inspired by you. My question is: how do you deal with changes in humidity when dealing with banjos without a mean of tightening the head? Do you treat the skin in any way, or do you leave it raw? Do you retune or change bridge with a taller one? Or maybe use shims? Anyway, take care." - 12D3
Comments
Kurosh, I no longer kill _anything_ but "back in the day" I shot and trapped my share of squirrels, armadillos, possums &c. I have never skinned a squirrel that was large enough for any sort of substantial banjo head. Their skin is actually quite thick and tough so if your squirrel is BIG you might could use it. Also you'll need to be very careful with how you end its life as any holes in the body will make the hide even less useful. I have read that the old timers mostly used squirrel hide for boot strings--they would skin the animal very carefully, keeping the tail intact (which is real tricky) and then cut a strip that ran from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail which makes a really strong string.
Clifton Hicks
2018-06-22 15:05:39 +0000 UTCHaving made one mountain banjo already, I'm looking to make another. On that one I made everything but the tuners and head, so if it sounded horrible, the process of elimination would seem easier. To my surprise it's a total blast to play. But on my next one I'm going to make everything. So here's my question. I have this pesky , rather large ground squirrel, digging craters in my yard and stealing my birdseed. I'm thinking he'd look better as a banjo head. Have you heard of ground squirrels being use for that purpose before. Or is it even worth my time ?
Kurosh Ghodshowghi
2018-06-22 14:55:35 +0000 UTC<a href="http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=75652&cat=1,190,42950" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=75652&cat=1,190,42950</a> Conservators wax. But I imagine it would need touching up each session to keep the topside of the head fully covered. Worth a try. Also Amazon has loads of it.
Ken Taylor
2018-06-22 14:32:22 +0000 UTCCorrect spelling is a must when Googling "wax banjo head". Trust me.
Ken Taylor
2018-06-22 14:19:16 +0000 UTC
