I am afraid that I must disagree with Dr. Webb in "Ring the Banjar". The best skin heads for the early banjos are very thin calf skin. Although cat was used by Joel Sweeney on his first banjo in the 1820's, most of the best banjos of the 1830's-1870's used a form of calf called "slunk". This comes from still born and premature calves and is tranparent. It gives a very clear tone and a very strong voice to the banjo.

Groundhog is a later developement in the banjo. It was and is used on banjos but the sound produced is not as clear as thin calf. Also, the thin calf does not work well on steel strung banjos. As for Webb's claim that this has been done for over 200 years, all of the 19th century writers on making banjos (pre 1875) would dis agree with this statement. They all used calf.

So far as goat goes, it works well when new, but looses it sound rather quickly after a few months. If you like the earthier - tubbier sound, goat is a great way to go. Cat & groundhog work best on banjos with smaller heads.