well - new to me anyway. took delivery of a 1915 orpheum no1 short scale this morning and after a quick evaluation i m pretty happy with how it plays. and it plays in tune all the way up so thats great.
however, i m not so happy with the excessive resonance coming off it. the sound is good when i deaden it a bit by putting my hand on the head (remo weatherking), but there are too many overtones for my liking when playing..
what steps can i take to reduce this a little bit - would tightening the head help?
You can try tightening the head, but do it in small increments. I just put a thread from this site on my website (http://www.mikekeyes.com on the subject. It sounds like you have a wolf tone and tightening the head should help. Usually this is the first thing to do as heads are often loose and not at the optimal tension.
Huh, I just bought an Orpheum No. 1 short scale from Pete (Reverend on this site) and I too am really happy with the sound--excellent pop and clarity, well in tune, and easy on the left hand. Mine has a Clareen head that Pete got nice and tight. It's a terrific little banjo.
Sometimes you can get "parasitic overtones" from the strings between the bridge and tailpiece. Some players weave a piece of leather or cloth through the strings back there to stop the vibrations and dampen the overtones.
Along the same lines as Mike's suggestion, you can also try loosening the head to get a bit less ring and a bit more plunk.
Another head might be in the cards for you too. You might try a Fiberskyn head. I didn't really like the Fiberskyn on my Paramount, or Weymann banjos, but the Orpheum is naturally brighter, so it might sound good. Or maybe even a Renaissance head, which is a bit brighter than the Fiberskyn, but not as obnoxious as the white plastic ones.
I only had the Orpheum for about a week, and had barely finished fixing it up when I ended up selling it to cheshire puddy tat, so the only head I heard on it was the Clareen, and I liked the sound. (Can you sense the seller's remorse? Heh).
But I like nice ringy banjos with a fair amount of natural reverb. So take what I say with a grain of salt
BTW, if you want to replace the head, the one I put on the Orpheum was an 11 1/8" medium crown (same that goes on my Paramount). If you're ordering any of the Remo heads, that's model 1102M (in whatever style you want). Elderly Instruments is pretty good about having those in stock.
A silken scarf 'twix rod and skin, is it? And what will you wear while you play? You modern tenor banjo players are a different class. In my day, even the best banjoist wouldn't demand more than the humble cotton sweat sock to quell the mighty roar. Maybe that's why I gave it up.
It's nothing to do with class I can assure you...it is more to do with style.
I could have suggested that he find that largest aran pullover he could find and jam that behind the skin, but I was trying to offer a genuine opinion as to how he could minimise the tintinitus-like ringing he may be experiencing, not just turn it into a bouzouki.
When was your day...and why did you really give it up?
I've just bought a late 20's Leedy Collegian short scale tenor banjo which I'm very happy with. Mine had spent its life as a jazz instrument with a very tight head (and the CGDA tuning) and quite a ringy instrument, so converting it to the Irish setup involved slackening the head off and beefing up the string gauge. This cut out a lot of the ringiness, but as a result the head (I can't quite work out what make it is) does sound a bit plastic-percussive. I plan on changing the head over to one that is a bit thicker and with more density. I'd guess you might want to change string gauges - if you're running at a high string tension in combo with a high head tension, you'll get a lot of sympathetic vibration and hence ringing, especially on unwound strings.
Whatever you decide, keep in mind that the beauty of the banjo as an instrument is that practically EVERYTHING on the instrument is adjustable to some degree. A rotten banjo can be improved to some degree with correct setup - compare against a rotten mandolin or guitar or fiddle, which have Buckley's of getting any better no matter how much time and money and effort you throw at them.
Greenwiggle
Focal? Does he design for all players or just banjoists? Sports injury cut short a promising banjo career. Got on to the fiddle and clawed my way back to the middle of the pack.
I'd never seen this recommended before, but in a bit of random inspiration I recently put a couple of strips of packing tape on the under-side of the head, and it made a world of improvement on my tenor. It got rid of overtones just enough to make it plunky without sounding muffled.
new tenor banjo - quick setup question
new tenor banjo - quick setup question
well - new to me anyway. took delivery of a 1915 orpheum no1 short scale this morning and after a quick evaluation i m pretty happy with how it plays. and it plays in tune all the way up so thats great.
however, i m not so happy with the excessive resonance coming off it. the sound is good when i deaden it a bit by putting my hand on the head (remo weatherking), but there are too many overtones for my liking when playing..
what steps can i take to reduce this a little bit - would tightening the head help?
thanks for any advice
brian
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by saltybrian
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
saltybrian,
You can try tightening the head, but do it in small increments. I just put a thread from this site on my website (http://www.mikekeyes.com on the subject. It sounds like you have a wolf tone and tightening the head should help. Usually this is the first thing to do as heads are often loose and not at the optimal tension.
Mike Keyes
http://www.banjosessions.com
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by mikeyes
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
Huh, I just bought an Orpheum No. 1 short scale from Pete (Reverend on this site) and I too am really happy with the sound--excellent pop and clarity, well in tune, and easy on the left hand. Mine has a Clareen head that Pete got nice and tight. It's a terrific little banjo.
Sometimes you can get "parasitic overtones" from the strings between the bridge and tailpiece. Some players weave a piece of leather or cloth through the strings back there to stop the vibrations and dampen the overtones.
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Will CPT
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
Along the same lines as Mike's suggestion, you can also try loosening the head to get a bit less ring and a bit more plunk.
Another head might be in the cards for you too. You might try a Fiberskyn head. I didn't really like the Fiberskyn on my Paramount, or Weymann banjos, but the Orpheum is naturally brighter, so it might sound good. Or maybe even a Renaissance head, which is a bit brighter than the Fiberskyn, but not as obnoxious as the white plastic ones.
I only had the Orpheum for about a week, and had barely finished fixing it up when I ended up selling it to cheshire puddy tat, so the only head I heard on it was the Clareen, and I liked the sound. (Can you sense the seller's remorse? Heh).
But I like nice ringy banjos with a fair amount of natural reverb. So take what I say with a grain of salt
BTW, if you want to replace the head, the one I put on the Orpheum was an 11 1/8" medium crown (same that goes on my Paramount). If you're ordering any of the Remo heads, that's model 1102M (in whatever style you want). Elderly Instruments is pretty good about having those in stock.
Pete
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Reverend
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
Try taking the resonator off and placing a silk scarf between the rod and the skin.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by Greenwiggle
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
A silken scarf 'twix rod and skin, is it? And what will you wear while you play? You modern tenor banjo players are a different class. In my day, even the best banjoist wouldn't demand more than the humble cotton sweat sock to quell the mighty roar. Maybe that's why I gave it up.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by buck buck
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
Well john
It's nothing to do with class I can assure you...it is more to do with style.
I could have suggested that he find that largest aran pullover he could find and jam that behind the skin, but I was trying to offer a genuine opinion as to how he could minimise the tintinitus-like ringing he may be experiencing, not just turn it into a bouzouki.
When was your day...and why did you really give it up?
PS When I play, I wear focal.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by Greenwiggle
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
Hi Brian,
I've just bought a late 20's Leedy Collegian short scale tenor banjo which I'm very happy with. Mine had spent its life as a jazz instrument with a very tight head (and the CGDA tuning) and quite a ringy instrument, so converting it to the Irish setup involved slackening the head off and beefing up the string gauge. This cut out a lot of the ringiness, but as a result the head (I can't quite work out what make it is) does sound a bit plastic-percussive. I plan on changing the head over to one that is a bit thicker and with more density. I'd guess you might want to change string gauges - if you're running at a high string tension in combo with a high head tension, you'll get a lot of sympathetic vibration and hence ringing, especially on unwound strings.
Whatever you decide, keep in mind that the beauty of the banjo as an instrument is that practically EVERYTHING on the instrument is adjustable to some degree. A rotten banjo can be improved to some degree with correct setup - compare against a rotten mandolin or guitar or fiddle, which have Buckley's of getting any better no matter how much time and money and effort you throw at them.
-andy-
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by dargs
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
Greenwiggle
Focal? Does he design for all players or just banjoists? Sports injury cut short a promising banjo career. Got on to the fiddle and clawed my way back to the middle of the pack.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by buck buck
Re: new tenor banjo - quick setup question
I'd never seen this recommended before, but in a bit of random inspiration I recently put a couple of strips of packing tape on the under-side of the head, and it made a world of improvement on my tenor. It got rid of overtones just enough to make it plunky without sounding muffled.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by Thomaston