Greetings! I've been working on an old Morrison banjo and just about have her all polished and cleaned up to my liking. I still need a vellum for it, and I've seen many different types available. I'd like to get some different opinions on which styles may be better suited for the sound I hope to achieve. I hope to get a nice bright twang with plenty of crispness and volume if possible out of this instrument and its set-up when finished. I've seen some mighty nice Jos. Stern Tanning Co. vellums, particularly the calf skin. They are pricey, but if it makes a difference in sound quality, I'm all about it. I hear tell that a thinner head is preffered for the sound I want, and Stern Tanning Co. will make it however I choose....so my question is how thin should I go? How thin were the heads on Ossman's and Van Eps' instruments?

And also, the mottled goat skins I see look so amazing, but do they compare in sound to a high grade calf skin such as from Stern Tanning? Thanks very much folks, I really appreciate everybodys wisdom! Have a good weekend!

Dow

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As far as I know there is no difference in sound quality between mottled vellums and pure white bleached evenly colored ones and between these and everything in between. Ossman used different banjos and I'm guessing he used what he could get and adjusted his preference according to pot size and weather conditions.  I'm sure that Van Eps used the thinnest heads he could find but he was usually playing a banjo with a 12 inch pot so he needed to balance the potential "woof" that potentially  came along with the extra power that a large pot can give. You already are going to have a sound on the treble side because of your smaller pot size.  So I'd go with an inexpensive vellum of middle thickness. If that works out, great! If not, then you are not out so much cash and you can try for thinner.  However, this does not mean that there is no difference in sound quality between natural heads. There is. But the difference is not because of uniform color or whether it is calf or goat. I have used pure white goat, and mottled goat. Everything imaginable has been used for string instruments around the world that have a thin bridge sitting on a treated animal skin. Fish skin. Sturgeon skin from the north end of a particular body of water, line-caught in October. The stomach of an unborn lamb. The diaphragm of a 3 day old kid (baby goat). And plastic too.  If you want bright and crisp, plastic is going to give you that more than most natural vellums will. The vellum gives a complexity of timbre (tone) and a warmth that plastic cannot produce. But for snappy? A standard Remo 'll give you that every time. For more complexity you could use a Renaissance head or an Amber Elite.

To add to my reply: the chief characteristic sound of Van Eps and Ossman was short sustain. more that than brightness.  A Remo plastic head will add reverb and sustain and you might not want that. So a natural vellum or a Ren head are better choices.  The other thing to consider is that not everything in the sound of those old banjo recordings was due to materials and setup. To sound like Ossman you need to be Ossman. I'll bet he'd sound the same playing pretty much any banjo. Do you know that Ralph Stanley cut a bunch of sides in the 50s playing a flat head Mastertone? He still sounded like Ralph even though he wasn't playing an archtop banjr. And there are recordings of Earl in 40s playing a banjo with a natural vellum and no tone ring. He sounded like Earl. 

Jody Stecher said:

As far as I know there is no difference in sound quality between mottled vellums and pure white bleached evenly colored ones and between these and everything in between. Ossman used different banjos and I'm guessing he used what he could get and adjusted his preference according to pot size and weather conditions.  I'm sure that Van Eps used the thinnest heads he could find but he was usually playing a banjo with a 12 inch pot so he needed to balance the potential "woof" that potentially  came along with the extra power that a large pot can give. You already are going to have a sound on the treble side because of your smaller pot size.  So I'd go with an inexpensive vellum of middle thickness. If that works out, great! If not, then you are not out so much cash and you can try for thinner.  However, this does not mean that there is no difference in sound quality between natural heads. There is. But the difference is not because of uniform color or whether it is calf or goat. I have used pure white goat, and mottled goat. Everything imaginable has been used for string instruments around the world that have a thin bridge sitting on a treated animal skin. Fish skin. Sturgeon skin from the north end of a particular body of water, line-caught in October. The stomach of an unborn lamb. The diaphragm of a 3 day old kid (baby goat). And plastic too.  If you want bright and crisp, plastic is going to give you that more than most natural vellums will. The vellum gives a complexity of timbre (tone) and a warmth that plastic cannot produce. But for snappy? A standard Remo 'll give you that every time. For more complexity you could use a Renaissance head or an Amber Elite.

Elderly Instruments have goat and calf heads, different diameters and grades.

You'll need a 16" diam. head. Medium thickness should be fine. Elderly prices for calf, according to quality are : $13.50, $34.50, $48, $58, $75.

If you have never mounted a head, may I suggest buying a couple of the lower end ones to learn that skill on. There are lots of opportunities to mess up while learning, so why risk ruining a primo quality, expensive head? You can always replace with an upgrade later on, and the experience gained will leave you more confident of the right choice of head to suit your needs at that time.

Wise folks here. All I can do is relate my experiences. I have used both calf and goat, mottled and white. The calfskin heads I've used have always been "harder" than the goat. I've never kept a goatskin on any banjo for very long, they seem rubbery to me. We're talking abou two or three heads though, statistically insignificant, really.

I'm also a proponent of "try cheap first". The skins at Elderly or Bernunzio's have always been fine with me and both have always been willing to send me a selection of thicknesses. For under $15, you can get a good, serviceable head that will do the job, possibly for your lifetime. The one on my first Stewart is still hummin' along after 30yrs.

I have mounted a couple of whisper-thin heads over the years...but not on my own instruments. They just look too fragile to me...and I'm not a particularly sensitive player (or handler). Medium does a great job and I'm happy with the sound I get (which, as Jody sez, doesn't really change from banjo to banjo...I tend to sound like me).

However, you may be one of those people that like the chase (and I did for a good while). A properly mounted hide head can be easily dismounted and swapped out, just like a modern plastic one. A good coat of wax (car wax is fine for this) on the rim where the head mounts helps when you want to swap it out and try something new. Be careful of overtightening the hooks though...they can fatigue and fail with repeated use at their limits.

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