Questions on 1925 The Gibson UB-2 Banjolele

MD1948

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Hi-
A neighbor brought over a dusty 1925 The Gibson UB-2. It's in fantastic original condition, but the head is a replacement and the glue has failed around the rim. I'd like to replace it for him.

The round wooden frame measure 8", so I guess this would be a nominal 8" head. I gather these are not the same as drum heads.

Any advice about replacing this would be helpful.

Also, the bridge seems to just "sit" on this head, but I don't know where exactly to place it. I don't find anything about the scale length, or how to determined where the bridge should sit.

Thanks!
 
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I bought a skin for my ub2. It was not that difficult to replace the head.
 
Hi-
A neighbor brought over a dusty 1925 The Gibson UB-2. It's in fantastic original condition, but the head is a replacement and the glue has failed around the rim. I'd like to replace it for him.

The round wooden frame measure 8", so I guess this would be a nominal 8" head. I gather these are not the same as drum heads.

Any advice about replacing this would be helpful.

Also, the bridge seems to just "sit" on this head, but I don't know where exactly to place it. I don't find anything about the scale length, or how to determined where the bridge should sit.

Thanks!

If you are looking for a man made replacement head then a Remo head is the answer. However as another poster has stated it should be replaced with a calf skin vellum, readily available, harder to fit but once you have done half a dozen they get easier. For an eight inch head you will need at least a twelve inch skin, there are plenty of videos online of how to fit one.

My advice, and please do not take this the wrong way, is to have someone who knows what they are doing replace the head.
 
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Thank you all for the responses. Because I'm doing this "bring back to life" for an old (retired) neighbor, I am going with an synthetic style ready made head. I disassembled it all, cleaned it, got the stuck tuners working, and so on. I will replace the 50 year old strings and with a new head, at least Ray can play it again. If he wants a "restoration" in the future he can send it to a luthier. I doubt that's his goal though. Thanks again.
 
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