hman0217 - Posted - 05/20/2016:  10:52:55

So here's the scenario. I just installed my first skin head. Wow! I'm so glad I did. But I messed up big time. What I realized is that I had pulled it quite tight without the tension hoop low enough on the rim. StewMac references the tone ring as a measure of where to pull it down to, but my banjo has no tonering.

Anyway, I figured I'd live with the slightly high tension hoop....that is until I played around the twelfth position and I hit the lip of the hoop with the string. So clearly, I had to redo it.

Only one problem...I'd already trimmed off the excess! Please excuse me for my rookie errors here - I probably could have saved it pretty easily if, after rewetting it, I slackened it atop the rim very slowly. But I peeled it smack off the flesh hoop in one spot and couldn't get it to fold back over all the way around for the life of me.

So now see my photos: I tied up the head using twine and then placed a heavy block wood table ontop of it. And I'm currently typing and eating my lunch atop the table too, to add extra weight. The problem is it'll probably also dry out which will make it hard to finesse the skin afterwards.

Anyway, got the day off and just picking some brains out here. Anybody have experience rescuing a trimmed skin head that could offer me some sage advice?

Thanks

Hany

tying up trimmed skin

weighting trimmed skin

G Edward Porgie - Posted - 05/20/2016:  11:08:18

The only advice I could offer would be to never, ever, trim the head until you are absolutely certain it's fitted in the position you desire. My guess here as that you won't have enough skin left on this one to remount it, unless you have a banjo with a smaller rim to use it on.

I have heard of people who've put thread though the edges of a slightly small head to ease in pulling it around the flesh hoop, but the chances are good that you've trimmed off enough skin to render that as a useless alternative. You might try that anyway; you certainly have nothing to lose except time.

jbalch - Posted - 05/20/2016:  12:05:24

In my experience, you need at least 14" diameter hide to mount a head on a 11" rim. Even so, there is less than 1/2" of excess hide to trim after all is said-and-done.   If you don't have that much margin left (rim size plus 3"),  I think it will be very tough to properly fit.

When mounting a 14" hide on an 11" rim, I use a pair of duckbill pliers (with a wide, flat and thin nose)  to pull the hide up between the tension hoop and the rim.  These help grip the edge of the hide and pull it up above the hoop.

Good luck!

Edited by - jbalch on 05/20/2016 12:09:35

hman0217 - Posted - 05/20/2016:  12:37:40

Thanks gentlemen.

And George, I hereby dub thee my personal hero of the day. No, it's not the highest honor I suppose. But seriously, I think your advice might have saved the day.

I did what you suggested and sewed the skin over the flesh hoop so that I could place the tension hoop atop it. It appears there was enough extra skin that I was able to pull the tension hoop down to a satisfactory height.

I am concerned about one spot where the excess skin jutting up inside the tension hoop got so used up I can't even see it. It's still drying and I hope that when it shrinks a bit more that it won't stretch beyond the flesh hoop below.

But I think in the worst case scenario, the sew-it-together method should allow me to use this on an 11" rim. Now I gotta buy another banjo...darn.

Thanks John, for the plier suggestion. I was attempting to use skinny needle nose pliers and they weren't holding well enough. The wider configuration makes a lot of sense.

Cheers

gottasmilealot - Posted - 05/22/2016:  16:22:25

If all else fails, take up the banjo-uke.