Hi Randy . One of my brothers has been a professional drummer or percussionist for most of his life and Randy told me the drum set must be tuned for sound studio recording, arena and stadium and night club work. He has been such a great performer I'll have to take his word. You have taught me how to maintain my banjo. Now I just need to learn as much as you!
Great video Randy!!!!!!! Good looking & good sounding banjo!!!!!!! Every body who owns or play a banjo has their opinion on head tension & setup. Good or bad, I suppose I'm no exception. It all mostly comes down to player preference & picking techniques. A torque wrench is not accurate because it relies on the bracket threads being perfectly clean & free of burrs. My preferred method is to use a drum dial. A drum dial measure the flatness of the head by placing it about an inch from the bracket you're adjusting. It's always saved me time in the long run & is the most accurate method I've found in 27 yrs of banjo playing. I have tried them all!!!!!!! Even tension all the way around is the key, just as Randy said. I start by adjusting the tension to an even 86 or 87 & then, I slowly work my way up to see what the banjo best responds to. It takes a few days for a head to completely settle in & you usually have to go over it a time or two after that. When you get it where you want it, let it set for a day or two & then, check it again. Do this a couple times & you should be good to go. A brand new head will take longer to settle. If you're OCD like I am, give it a check up every 3 or 4 months. If your tension is pretty well even you should only notice a few brackets that need adjusting. Note: Anything you do to one side will effect the opposite side. Banjos are complicated like that!! The wood of the banjo is usually a determining factor on what tension works best & the bridge can often be a determining factor as well. As another side note, never tighten the resonator thumb screws past finger snug!!!!!!! It will warp & weaken the flange!!!!!!! It can also dampen the sound a bit. These suggestions are especially true on older & prewar banjos. Most flanges are made of pot metal & pot metal is not the strongest of materials. God Bless & I hope this helps someone out there!!!!!!!
I had no idea about tuning banjo heads. I have a banjo that's been sitting around for years and I've never even gotten close to trying to tune the head. Wow - I bet mine's severely out of tune lol! When I go for it, I'll make sure it's tuned to G, which makes sense since it's an open G tuning. You're the master, Randy!
a lot of players like their heads tuned to a G sharp, mostly bluegrass players, I got into that fr a while but really like mine a little tighter like A440.thanks for checking out the video brother and good luck if you tune your head! cheers!
@@RandySchartiger Wow G# ! That's interesting, probably provides brighter overtones. I've got this one bookmarked so I can go back through it and make sure I don't wreck my instrument :) I'll try both, actually. Thank you!
Well Randy, If you arent shaving your nut youre tightening your head or running away from Earl! Thanks Kindly Bro! I have an old banjo I havent messed with for years and it needs a new head. I was thinking about it just yesterday and here you come with a video I need to see! Double Thanks! Blessings to all @THTNS! DaveyJO
You can surely play that thing better than I can! When we did audio gigs with banjos, someone always told this joke after trying to mic one up - "What's the definition of Perfect Pitch? When you throw a banjo in the dumpster and you miss all four sides." LOL! There actually nothing better than a banjo slayer cutting through the mix... Probably the most lively instrument on stage.
I just always hummed a note into the back of the banjo to figure out where it vibrated and where it needs to go from there. Tried G, G#, D, C, E... Always seem to come back to D as a clawhammer guy, I like G/G# for BG. Torque wrench gets them close... enough. I know there can be issues that cause one bracket to be harder to do than another, but it get the tension pretty even; more even than I can get it just by guessing. Drum dial would be nice, but the last time I looked they're like $95+... That buys a few good banjo heads and a new bridge to try out. Or ammo... can never have enough ammo. Bullets and banjo's on hand? Sounds like a good time
I never realized that you tuned the head of a banjo. Maybe my son does, I know he took the resonator off of his, he likes it better that way. I see you freaked me out with that dang spider again. Shows how evil they are when it wraps one up that is just as big for it's dinner. Randy you play banjo much better when you're smokin' pot. lol
yeah tuning the banjo head really changed the sound big time,it really depends on the individual and what tone and volume they like. thanks for checking it out! and watch out for spiders! lol :P
Thanks Randy, I knew nothing about banjo heads - I do now (they’re bigger than pegheads!) Thought you were going to break into the Beverley Hillbillies theme tune at the end there 😄
no the tuning would be the same, granted a new head would stretch and soon need tuned again, but new or used if you wanted to tune the head to A440 note wouldn't matter if it was new or old. thanks for viewing!
I know what you mean, you have to get the right size and crown to fit your banjo, I think my friend may have put the wrong head on this banjo. send me that puppy I'll fix it :D thanks for "tuning" in!
