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I concur with all of Joe's observations, especially toward the end. My first two banjos were Silvertone longnecks - sold by Sears, where my father was a VP - but manufactured by Harmony. The calfskin heads sounded really crisp most of the time, and for my money no plastic head ever sounded quite the same. But even a modest rise in humidity loosened the tension, and at times the instrument was all but unplayable. I always wondered how the professionals dealt with that before plastic heads became the norm.