It's Coming Apart at the Seams

It's coming apart at the seams literally, although I didn't know it until I got brave and started dismantling my banjo. What I found was a 3 inch tear in the head. That picture to the right, well that's not proper! That's a picture of the banjo head while I'm holding it up to the light, looking out my office window. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think I'm supposed to be able to see the trees through it!

Exactly what was it that possessesd me to rip my banjo apart? Well, I wasn't entirely happy with the tonal quality. When playing in the key of A or B-flat, I seemed to be happy, but when playing in G or B, something wasn't quite right; I just didn't like the tone it was producing. So, as mentioned above, I got brave. Now my Deering Deluxe is in a hundred pieces!

Just for a little refresher, I'm going to watch a rerun of "Killer Tone," which details proper banjo setup and maintenance according to Steve Huber. Hunny said "don't you think it would have been a good idea to watch the video before you ripped it apart?", to which I nonchalantly replied, "nonsense - I've got it covered!" Surely, she can't know what's on my mind, which is "what have I done? I've just turned a $2500.00 banjo into rubbish!" But, I'm safe - she never reads this blog, she can't read my mind, and you're not going to tell her. You're not, right?

Okay, I made most of that up. But, I think she was a little skeptical until I showed her the hard evidence. "Look Hunny, a ripped head! See? It wasn't a waste after all."

As long as the banjo is disassembled, I might just as well give it a good cleaning before I put it back together - not that it's terribly dirty. I'm going to install a new Weatherking banjo head that was presigned by Earl Scruggs, which I purchased at the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival last fall. Some of you may remember I purchased an additional banjo head while at the festival which I was fortunate enough to have Mr. Scruggs sign in person; that one is a keepsake and has many other autographs on it as well.

I have a new set of Schaller D-tuners that were given to me by a good friend and well known musician around the Saint John area, the late John Virgin. I've been talking about installing these for a while, but I've been too lazy to do it. Now seems like a good time since I'm already in banjo maintenance mode, and since I'm now working on a tune that makes use of them. To finish off this unplanned maintenance, I'll throw on a new set of strings, but that goes without saying. When I'm done, it'll be like having a brand new banjo! Maybe I'll be able to get that Jim Mills model by Huber out of my mind for a little while.

This coming Tuesday, I'm going to Grand Manan Island with some friends to see Cherryholmes in concert. I was planning on taking my banjo with me to have a jam or two, but now I'm not sure. With any luck at all, I'll be able to get it back together and sounding half decent before I go, otherwise it's staying home.