Banjo head diameter

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John Dallas
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 6:16 pm

Banjo head diameter

Post by John Dallas »

Hi, Folks,
I'm just a banjo-picker, not a luthier, and I need some expert advice.
My old, cheap and cheerful, aluminium-potted 5-string could do with a new head. It should be a plastic one, as the banjo gets played in all weathers. So I looked at StewMac's homepage and found Weatherking heads with diameters of 11", 10 7/8",10 3/4" - all high crown - and 11", medium crown.
So I measured my banjo, and found that the pot diameter (and the diameter of the Weatherking head that's on it) is 11 1/4". Also, it needs a medium or even better, low crown.
I live in Germany, where we don't exactly have a banjo supplier on every street corner, so what can I do? Is there a supplier who can sell plastic heads of a given diameter and crown height?

And no, I don't want to put a natural skin head on, even though you have control over diameter and crown height with them. I have those on all my other banjos, and I keep my plastic-headed one for outdoor gigs, camp-fires, etc.

Thanks in advance for any hints,
John
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Bob Gramann
Posts: 1101
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:08 am
Location: Fredericksburg, VA
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Re: Banjo head diameter

Post by Bob Gramann »

Take a look at Bob Smakula’s site: https://www.smakula.com/BanjoHeads.html He doesn’t have it set up for online ordering, but you can communicate with him by email or phone. He’s very knowledgeable and easy to work with.
John Dallas
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Banjo head diameter

Post by John Dallas »

Thanks, I'll give Bob's site a try!
John
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