Ripped: How to Botch a Head Replacement

My head had a hole in it. I replaced it in July. Now, it has an even bigger hole in it. And it's nobody's fault but my own.

I had replaced the Fiberskyn head that came with my banjo in the summer of 2011. I installed a thin goat skin from Mid-East Mfg. (now EnSoul Music), which served me well for eight years. This time, I wanted to try calf skin to see if I noticed a difference.

Let me tell you how I screwed up a new banjo head.

There was a little spot on my old head where my thumb wore through to the tone ring. It still sounded good, so no big deal. The bigger problem was that the tension hoop had bottomed out, and I could tighten the head no further.

I ordered a calf skin head from Elderly Instruments and let it sit around for a couple weeks. Finally, my six-year-old son urged me to get on with it, promising to help with the replacement. That lasted all of five minutes, and so I was left to finish the job on my own.

I have to admit I wasn't in the mood to conduct banjo surgery that day, and I rushed it. My bad.

I got the new head on and set the pot outside overnight to let it dry and acclimate to the summer humidity. When I retrieved it the next day, the head was extremely tight (first sign of trouble). I got everything put back together and installed new strings, and then noticed that the bottom side of the head was over-tightened. The tension hoop was almost even with the head along that edge, whereas it was about 1/8-inch high everywhere else.

Hoping to remedy the situation, I re-wet the skin and tried to even things out. That led to a ripple forming in the head. I probably shouldn't have done that with the strings installed. I got some sage advice from John Balch at the Banjo Hangout, but the damage was done. There was a small hole — about the size of the one that was on my old head — but this time along the edge of the head between the tension hoop and the rim.

It seemed stable, so I made peace with my rippled banjo head. However, I could hear things getting worse as time went on. Every once in a while, when things were quiet in the house, I could hear little popping sounds coming from my banjo. This, I knew, was the sound of that hole getting bigger.

Today, the hole stretches across four hooks. My banjo still sounds OK, but I'm waiting for the inevitable ...

POP! 

I really don't want to replace this head again. I could just throw on the old Fiberskyn, but I love the sound of hide heads so much more. I'm planning to order my next head from John Balch. If I'm going to do it, I might as well do it right. And I really do mean: DO. IT. RIGHT. I won't rush it like last time. You can see where that got me.

Let this be a lesson to you, my dear banjo friends. I've been at this banjo thing for more than a decade, but it was still easy for me to screw up this ordinary task. Take your time, and be patient.