These guys that are saying EVERY banjo's head should be tuned to a certain pitch are not taking into consideration differences in banjo construction, different makes and models of banjos, different kinds of wood and metal composition, the several aspects of setup I listed, and most important, personal preference of tone.

Also, comparing the tuning of the head to a certain pitch to tuning the five strings to a standard tuning is "apples to oranges" - if a banjo's strings are in tune, any given chord that is fingered correctly will sound right. If any or all of the strings are out of tune, it will not. A head can be tuned to ANY PITCH, or no pitch at all, and it won't affect the relationship of the different notes in the chord. It will only have a bearing on the overall frequency, (bassy or treble), kind and amplitude of overtones generated, and overall volume of the banjo. Would you set the spark plug gap exactly the same on ALL automobiles? How about the the carburetor jets? This is the same logic as tuning all banjo heads to a specific pitch.

Thanks to Jack Hatfield for this info.