Humidity Hell

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For all things related to the use of SKIN BANJO HEADS. Calf, goat, possum, hairy, shaved, stained, pre-mounted. You name it.

380 Members, Created 3/28/2011 -

Administrators: jbalch (owner)

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From vintagewells on 5/20/2012 2:47:01 PM

I just mounted a skin on a banjo I am making. It went well, and dried probably to a good tension for the first tightening. I like to tighten them down after a couple of days. I took it outside as I was working on the neck and need to check the fit. It was outside for about 20 minutes. In that time, the head had tightened so much that there was little vibration when tapped. I think it would have popped in about five more minutes. The humidity was probably about 5%.

When returned inside, where we use an evaporative cooler. the head softened up to way too soft in a couple of hours.

A 15 minute ride in the truck, the head was again very tight.

If I tighten it so it is playable inside. it runs the risk of breaking when taken outside in very little time. It is a 11 7/8" thin goat skin.

How do you minimize the effect of humidity, especially when the differences are so extreme in a very short time?

I was surprised at how little sound was produced when the head was super tight. I don;t think that there was enough movement for the skin to vibrate.

5 Comments
	C Nyal de Kaye says: 5/20/2012 2:53:13 PM I know the problem but not the answer.
	Tuneweaver says: 5/20/2012 3:37:03 PM I want to see the answer to this also. LEE
	John Gribble says: 5/20/2012 4:31:38 PM I've got two banjos with hide heads, one a goatskin, the other a velum finish calfskin. The goatskin head seems to be more sensitive to humidity changes, but I don't think it has had any treatment. The other one I sprayed with shoe waterproofing and it is more stable. Consider taking the head off and doing that.
	BruceB says: 5/21/2012 9:39:54 PM I installed a Bill Miller mounted calfskin head on one of my Reiter specials last year and sprayed it with something called Redwing silicon waterproofing before mounting it. The humidity in Yuma is typically around 15% but dips below 10% frequently and jumps to 50-60% every now and then. I never adjust the head and it seems nearly as stable as the plastic head on my other Reiter. I know other places see wider and more frequent changes, so this may not work for everyone but it can't hurt.
	carlb says: 5/22/2012 6:06:42 AM I use a slunk head on my 11 1/16" Bacon Profession #3. I adjust the head, in the most humid conditions, so the strings don't buzz with an 11/16" bridge. When it gets drier, I go to a 5/8" bridge (the one I use most of the time) and when I went to Colorado, a few years ago, my 1/2" bridge was on all the time. That's how I handle varying humidity. I never tighten and loosen the head with changing humidity as I believe that shortens the life of the skin. Another note, I also discovered that if the head gets too tight, the banjo loses sound; found this in a rather hot coffeehouse kitchen while warming up before a performance.
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