Bell Brass or Rolled Brass Tone Rings????

[Jeff Propst]

Hey Guys,
I've been lurking in alt.banjo for a few days now and I'm ready to post
a question.

Is there much difference in a Bell Brass and a Rolled Brass tone ring?

Thanks,
Jeff

[Don Hergert]

Hi Jeff,

I can tell you my observations, but there is undoubtedly more to this story
that others here can provide...

I've played two banjos with rolled brass rings, one an Alvarez Silver
Princess from the '70s and the other my current player, a '25 Gibson Ball
Bearing Mastertone. The rest of my playing experience over the years has
been with cast bell bronze Gibson or Gibson-style flathead and archtop
rings.

My personal opinion is that it is more the design and mounting of the tone
ring that makes a difference in tone than the material that it is made of.
Bell Bronze makes a huge weight difference, that's for sure, and it probably
does make a tone difference, but that tone difference to me seems to be much
more subtle than the tone difference caused by the design and mounting of
the tone ring.

BTW, depending on the style of banjo you're wanting to play, it might also
be worth discussing banjos built with wooden tone rings or with the head
mounted against a wooden rim.

Best,

-- Don Hergert

[Wayne55Dud]

>Is there much difference in a Bell Brass and a Rolled Brass tone ring?

Yes. Bell Brass or proprietary specific bronze alloys are usually associated
with the Gibson style heavy (ca. 3 lb.) tone rings in resonator banjos. They
excell for Bluegrass music.

Rolled brass is usually commercial brass stock. "Rolled" could mean the 3/16" X
9/16" round hoop sold by Stewart-MacDonald, or a 1/4" or 5/16" brass rod rolled
into a circle. Both these are usually used on open back frailing or clawhammer
banjos. The Mike Ramsey banjos use the 5/16" round brass ring and are
considered to have excellent tone, a good balance of plunkiness and brightness

Wayne Norman.

"If a man speaks in the middle of a forest and there is no woman there to hear
him, is he still wrong?"

[Bob]

I don't know banjo metals, but I know a bit about metallurgy

"Bell brass" is actually a bronze because it is a Copper-Tin alloy and
usually contains a high amount (20-25%) of tin which makes it very hard and
brittle. Because it's so brittle it is usually cast and can't be "worked"
(hammered) into shape.

I'm not sure what roll brass is but I would guess, since it's called
"rolled", that it is a real brass (Copper-Zinc alloy). Musical instruments
are typically made using "Low Brass" (70% copper-20% zinc). Brass with more
"spring" is called "cartridge Brass" and has 30% zinc. Both these materials
are good candidates for this application and can be hot-worked for shaping.

Commercial brass is (90% copper/10% zinc). The material is cheaper, is easy
to shape, but doesn't have the hardness and "spring" that a higher zinc
material would have. Still, it's easier to work with and could be used.

So there's an answer that's possibly useless since it tells you nothing
about how any one of these materials would sound!

Bob Hope - Toronto

Jeff Propst <J6...@knology.net> wrote in message
news:3C609651...@knology.net...

[Jeff Propst]

Hi again Guys,

Thanks for the responses. Seems theres a little more to consider than I
had expected.

I learned how to play bluegrass banjo about 25 years ago, but layed it down
about 15 years ago and haven't played since. It's time for me to get back
to it. Before I buy another banjo, I wanted to make sure I know a little
about the components.
Seems I already know VERY little :)

Thanks again, I appreciate your input.
Jeff