While we can change the wood a banjo is made from, we can change several individual pieces on the banjo. These include the head, bridge, tailpiece, tone ring, and strings.

Let's get down to business! The part that amplifies the sound vibrations we have created with our fingers picking a string is the banjo head. It's one of the most critical parts in the physical path that create the sound that we hear. This means it can significantly help or hurt whatever is done later. We start with the choice of head to put on. I'm not going to recommend a specific type or brand. Heads are one of those things that don't cost that much compared to the price of a good quality banjo so feel free to try several kinds.

The main differences between heads are the material they're made of, its thickness, if it's coated and how. The standard Remo WeatherKing head was the only one around for many years so it tends to be the reference point. New Remo heads are slightly different from old ones because the coating on the outside is thinner. In general a thicker coated gives a mellower sound that a thinner one. Some heads have no coating (the easiest to spot are the ones that are clear). These usually have the brightest sound. Custom made Remo heads are available that have the same coating as the old ones. They produce a slightly mellower tone with less brightness, therefore a bit bassier sound.

There are other heads out there that use thinner mylar and a more sturdy way of attaching the ring on the outside that is used to tighten the head. These usually have a brighter sound that the Remo heads and also can be tightened more without breaking.

Finally you can still buy actual calfskin heads which were all that existed before the mid 1950's. All of Earl Scruggs' early recordings were done with a skin head and it is fairly easy to hear the difference between skin and the plastic heads everyone eventually used.

There's a good reason Earl and every other professional banjo player quickly moved to the plastic heads. They are much easier to maintain since they aren't effected by temperature and humidity changes like calfskin is. More recently Remo has manufactured several generations of artificial skin heads that look and sound very close to calfskin, but don't have nearly as many of the problems. If you like an old-time sound, give on a try. I'm not going to give any specific setup suggestions using this type of head.