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sounds good but !

Just completed a drum to banjo conversion, looks good, sounds ok but after constant retuning I realise that the bridge is pushing into the drum membrane. Firstly, this is not a high quality drum that I have used as it was picked up off the side of the road (big garbage day). I was wondering if regular banjos suffered the same problem, and do you relieve the string tension when not in use? May be the bridge is too high and putting excessive pressure on the drum skin? Maybe there is a reason why drums are not banjos?

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 1, 2017 at 8:39am

Banjos typically have an adjustable internal rod or dowel that spans the diameter of the head, as a continuation of the neck. It keeps the rim and walls from compressing too much, preventing distortion of the head. Also, banjos have 2-3 times as many head adjustment hooks as a typical drum head.

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Permalink Reply by jeff Cadzow on January 1, 2017 at 3:19pm

Yeah, I have a half inch threaded rod going through the guts of it and I have doubled up with the drum head tensioners so I think that I have plenty of tension on the drum head (skin). As I mentioned I picked up a this kit on the side of the road (ex kids Christmas present), so I was wondering about the quality of the drum head. Is there was a lot of variety or quality available in drum heads?
Also wondering if the bridge base should be bigger surface area or whether it should be closer to the middle of the drum? I intentially left the fret marks off for this reason.
I know that there have been a few drum builds go through CBG nation , wondering if they experienced similar problems.?

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 1, 2017 at 4:57pm

Yeah, there's substantial variation in drum head materials. Kid's kit is likely some cheapo plastic. Banjos use either actual thin skin, or synthetics made to resemble it. Hmmm. You might consider replacing the drum head with a Remo or Evans replacement drum head sized for your size drum...Evans skins run around $10-15, depending on size. GC carries them...

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Permalink Reply by jeff Cadzow on January 1, 2017 at 5:19pm

Thanks Ron, if the good skins are so reasonably priced, I will definitely get one and try. Just as a matter of interest, today it's been tuned for a couple of hours and although there is a noticeable depression in the head (see pic attached) it is still in tune??

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 1, 2017 at 5:22pm

Skin tightness can also vary with both atmospheric pressure, and humidity.

You may also have reached the "stretchiness" limit of the head, the strings, or both.

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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on January 2, 2017 at 7:46am

Well then you might be good to go. I know on the goatskin heads I've used there is a period before everything settles in. I'd like to hear this one!

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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on January 1, 2017 at 5:30pm

Cool banjo! Yeah, I'd say replacing that head would most likely fix you right up. Bridge looks like it's in a pretty good position too.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 1, 2017 at 7:10pm

Just for background, turns out most present day drum heads are made from...Mylar:

http://www.onlinedrummer.com/forum/index.php?/topic/23034-a-beginne...

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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on January 2, 2017 at 7:51am

And most modern banjo heads are Mylar too. A banjo ain't nothin' but a drum on a stick ;)

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on January 2, 2017 at 12:31pm

Really nice looking rig!

Is it intended to be played lap style?

I wouldn't make any radical changes. Just give it time to settle in. Keep re-tuning and it should settle.

Nice job.

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Permalink Reply by jeff Cadzow on January 2, 2017 at 10:20pm

Thanks for the encouragement, reguards playing style , it is a bit deep but not much more than a fair dinkum guitar. You can play it any way you like but I am only a beginner so I will be playing how ever Pat Curly tells me to. (CBG Lessons)