woody banjos in our booth. They were come off the curved crown of a flathead
PROFILE both a complete success, but something
very interesting happened by the end of the
ring or the sharp edge of an archtop ring
left Tony wondering what would happen
week. Many people preferred the sound of if he combined the larger vibrating surface
The Tony Pass ”Almost Flathead” the archtop over the flathead. They said the of a flathead with the sharp edge of an
banjo rim, www.tonypassbanjorims.com archtop was a little cleaner and clearer, but archtop. To do this, Tony realized, “I
the flathead still had more bottom end. I would need to close the gap, slide the inner
By Ian Perry
left the show with a new project—to put rib outward to meet the outer rib, and open
Since 2000, Tony Pass has been the clean, clear sound and the bottom end the archtop from 9 ½” diameter to 10 5/8”
revolutionizing the banjo world with his all in one rim.” diameter.” (see Figure 3, Point C).
development of the modern block rim. Tony goes on to explain how flathead Tony was so pleased with the result
With over 30 years of experience as a and archtop configurations affect the tone that he sent rims to David Schenkman
design engineer, Tony decided to apply of a banjo: “The most noticeable difference and Kyle Smith for testing, both of
his considerable skill and creative mind to between a flathead and an archtop is the whom had flathead banjos with Figure 1
improving what he saw as the flaws in the vibrating area of the head. The flathead configurations to compare the new rims
standard 3-ply shell. Along the way, he not (Figure 1) vibrates over 10 13/16” of the 11” against. “Dave was the first to respond. He
only breathed new life into the concept of span, while the archtop (Figure 2) vibrates received the new banjo and called to say,
the block rim, but also designed the “Thin over 9½.” This alone is reason enough to ‘Killer out of the box…cleaner, clearer,
Skirt” rim, which enhances the deeper explain the sound difference, but there is with more pop…excellent bass response.’
tones of a banjo by removing some of the more. To me, the way the head leaves the Kyle called later and, ironically, used
wood from the inside surface of the shell, tone ring is the most obvious one. They almost the exact same words.”
and the “Woody” rim, which replaces have completely different releases. On a Tony originally considered calling
the standard metal tone ring with another flathead, the head leaves its stretcher band the new rim an “Extended Archtop,” but
layer of wood and produces a beautiful, upward, making contact with the crown of Schenkman thought that might turn people
slightly mellower tone, not to mention the tone ring and staying in contact over away because it would lead them to believe
reducing the weight of the instrument by the radius on top, then leaving the ring at it was just another archtop, rather than a
about 3 pounds! Tony’s block rims are now point “A” for 10 13/16” to contact the ring new version of the more popular flathead
found in Stelling, Hopkins, and Desert again at the other side. At point A, it is a design. With that in mind, Tony thought,
Rose banjos, and are option through most gradual release as the surface of the radius “Well…it’s just a 1/16th of an inch short,
builders. They are also used as an upgrade on the ring falls away from the head.” and that makes it ‘almost a flat head.’”
to replace standard 3-ply shells in Gibsons “The archtop (Figure B), has two Since introducing his new Almost
and others. For more information on the distinct ribs, an outer and an inner. The Flathead rim at the 2009 IBMA convention,
development of Tony’s block rims, see head leaves its stretcher band upward, the response has been very enthusiastic.
BNL March 2008, and articles by Bob making contact with the crown of the “It has become my most popular selling
Carlin and Donald Nitchie which can be outer rib, across the ¾” span of the ring at Woody rim. However, it is the least well
found on Tony’s website. a 15 degree angle, until it makes contact known. Sometimes when mentioned in
Now an iconic figure amongst banjo and travels across the top of the inner rib. chat lists, some pickers have never heard
players and builders alike, Tony’s latest From there it leaves the ring at point (B), of it and want to know more. Hopefully
brainstorm is what he calls the “Almost which is a sharp edge that suddenly drops this article will answer any questions and
Flathead” rim. Tony describes how the away and continues to travel across the 9 clear up any misconceptions.”
concept evolved: “At the 2006 IBMA ½” span.” Those who want more info should
show we had both flathead and archtop This difference of having the head contact Tony through his website.
A B C
10 13/16'' SPAN 15° 9 1/2'' SPAN 10 5/8'' SPAN
HEAD HEAD HEAD
15° 45°
CROWN
CROWN
STRETCHER
FIG. 1 FIG. 2 BAND FIG. 3
FLATHEAD ARCHTOP ALMOST
FLATHEAD
3/4
3 PLS