29 Frets?

[Trapdoor2]

Well, I can't say that I've ever seen a 29-fret banjo!

This is from the J. H. Jennings collection Joel has on his Internet Archive site. "Derby Day Galop de Concert". To his credit, he does include an alternate three measures that aren't in the cheese-slicer/nosebleed section. ;-)

[Joel Hooks]

Cammeyer described Farland's concert with "many notes stopped on the vellum itself".  I presume that was the case here. 

[Trapdoor2]

I thought the same...I don't recall ever seeing it notated with fret numbers.

[Jody Stecher]

Could this fingering past the highest fret be the reason or one of the reasons that Farland banjos were fitted with a metal head instead of an animal hide?  On the fretted fingerboard the sound is the result of contact of flesh, metal and gut (fingertip, fret, and string). On a metal banjo head the same three elements would be in contact with each other.

[Joel Hooks]

Farland went deaf in later years.  I have a theory that he had hearing issues and the loud and bright tone of a regular banjo did not sound good to him.

Annealed steel heads, always on mutes, leather plectrums, tremolo= dull and soft tones.

BTW, I have one of those steel heads (not on a banjo) and it is surprisingly thick.  The construction is done with tinsnips and a chasing hammer, then painted flat white.  If one could find the sheet metal they would not be too much trouble to make.

[Trapdoor2]

I played a steel-head Farland many years ago. It sounded like a Banjo. I imagine it would be very unforgiving of rim-size variation.

[Joel Hooks]

The patent reads more like an instruction sheet on how to make the heads than a normal claim. 

It starts with "of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it
appertains to make and use the same."

The illustrations have step outs on making them. 

https://patents.google.com/patent/US1251360A/

Now, where to find annealed steel sheet that is .010" thick?

[Joel Hooks]

[Joel Hooks]

I also have an unused label that I could scan if one wanted to add the label.  It is printed on tissue paper and Farland wrote in a letter that he did not glue them on but just stuck them to the wet white paint. 

[Trapdoor2]

I haven't seen one off of a banjo, so those pix are pretty cool, Joel. I didn't know the edges were slit...makes it much easier to hand build. Of course, with the proper beading equipment, you could roll one of these in just a few minutes without slitting. Wire inserted beading was very commonly used in automotive applications, such as fender edges, etc., well into the 1950s.

I imagine it would be even easier to simply braze a brass hoop to the edges to form a ledge for the tension hoop...although I like the idea of riveting the ends of the fingers. I drove about a jillion rivets back in the 1980s during the Space Shuttle program.

Getting 0.010" thick annealed steel is easy. Choosing the right steel...might take a few minutes. 1095, 1050, etc. are common alloys used in many industries. Their properties and attributes are well known.

If you wanted to go into production, I'm quite sure there are many laser-cutting companies out there who could provide CNC cut steel (laser cutting won't distort the form like tin-snips). I wonder if there would be a tonal difference if they were heat-treated after mfg.? Heat treat would make them pretty much indestructable.

[Joel Hooks]

I am good with polyester heads.

[Trapdoor2]

Support the cattle industry, Boil your old hide heads for soup!

[Byron Thomas]

Here's a 29 fret Farland Beveled wood top banjo thats been on ebay for a bit.

farland%20banjo.webp