Tightening a hide head

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Tackhead and Gourd Garage Builders

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For us folk making and playing for fun. Low tech ,, elbow grease and mostly hand tools

34 Members, Created 2/28/2013 -

Administrators: Steve Jeter (owner)

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From ronwalker49 on 7/16/2013 3:28:39 AM

For the last 10 days or so, I have been trying to get a hide head tight enough to sound "right" and it has been a real pain...I have brought it up to tension many times and it just keeps stretching....The hide itself is goat skin and this experience has left me wondering if the same thing can be expected if (and when) I try to do a tack head..

Does cow hide work any better---This hide was pre mounted and stretched and even though I went very slow it has developed a split on the flesh hoop and I suspect that it won't last very long...

2 Comments
	ronwalker49 says: 8/13/2013 7:04:11 PM Well I gave up today and changed the head...It had stretched again and had developed two more splits...All & all it has left a bad taste in my mouth...I will admit that when it was tight, It really sounded good, but I need something more dependable and less trouble so it is back to plastic for me...
	C Nyal de Kaye says: 10/19/2013 7:23:15 PM I found this group one minute ago and i wonder how I missed it before. I was interested in your comments Ron. My experience seems somewhat similar to yours. On my first gourd banjo I used cow hide and it has been quite reliable, even on very humid days which abound in Sydney. On the second one I used goat skin and my experience is about as unhappy as yours as described yours above. I hope some others may comment on this. Can we draw any conclusions from our meagre experiences listed here?
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