Calfskin head
One of the brass hoops from Larry found its home today as the flesh hoop on J.B.'s resonator banjo. It's a tricky business mounting it nice and even all the way around, but we managed to get through this first attempt with no major problems and only one remount when I realized I hadn't hidden the hoop joints. (We did spend a few hours manually rebending the hoop to a smaller diameter, but even that eventually turned out almost round.) Here's Dad tweaking the last few nuts before a few days of air drying.
I would like to add that now that I've seen the hoops, I'm even more impressed. The big one is going to be my tension hoop, and it is so well done. I've read in the forums where guys have problems with the brazed joints busting some percentage of the time or they're trying to figure out how to cover up unsightly joints, but I'm telling you there is no need to cover this one. In fact, I might make an archtop-guitar-style tailpiece that specifically does not cover up that joint. It takes a careful inspection just to find it, and it's so strong that if I used it as a trampoline the brass would flatten to a pancake under my girth before that joint would break. Me: "Is this something I could do?" Dad: "There's an art to it." Understatement of the year. Thanks again, Larry!
P.S. Monica: No tables or tin buckets were harmed in the mounting of this calfskin. I can't say the same for cows, obviously.
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Aug 19 2011, 9:29 AMNicholas Hendrix responded:Your dad's mustache is awesome!