what drum head company

[Der Trommler]

There are only 4 major companies here but if you use something else, feel free to dicuss.

[Der Trommler]

Aquarian for now (I got them free from the owner)

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

I've used all of those over the past few years. I used to like Evans, but not so much anymore. They sound mushy to me now. I've probably played Remos the most. I have Pinstripes on my kit right now. I have an Evans EMAD on my bass drum batter side that I don't like. I want to get an Aquarian. I had one on my old Premier kit and loved it. I want to get Attacks on my toms and switch between Attacks and Remos on my snares.

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (CygnusX-1Bk2 @ Jun 10 2006, 12:20 AM)

I've used all of those over the past few years. I used to like Evans, but not so much anymore. They sound mushy to me now. I've probably played Remos the most. I have Pinstripes on my kit right now. I have an Evans EMAD on my bass drum batter side that I don't like. I want to get an Aquarian. I had one on my old Premier kit and loved it. I want to get Attacks on my toms and switch between Attacks and Remos on my snares.

Remo ends to fall apart easily (when I worked for Guitar Center, I usually had to do an exchange on those because the collar lock would hold)

 

Evans is not bad....up until recently they were my favs

 

I've heard many Aquarians on kits (sound good)

 

Last two are ones I spend time using

[kazzman]

For the toms I use the DW Factory heads which I believe are made by Remo. Only problem with this is whenever I need a replacement head, I can't just go to the store and buy one since they're sold by factory order only... Lukily, my order for spare heads came in yesterday.

 

For the snare, I use the Evans coated G1. It gives me a very crisp sound out of the snare when compared to a Remo coated Emporer or Ambassador (which I used to use)

 

For the bass I use the Remo Powerstroke 3. Very punchy sound out of it.

Edited June 10, 2006 by kazzman

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (kazzman @ Jun 10 2006, 12:57 AM)

I use the DW Factory heads which I believe are made by Remo. Only problem with this is whenever I need a replacement head, I can't just go to the store and buy one since they're sold by factory order only... But they do give me the tone and sound I want out of my toms. For the snare, I use the Evans coated G1.

Aquarian makes something similar to the DW factory. Studio Clear. They sound pretty decent....The DW factory heads are do difficult to get, eh?

[kazzman]

QUOTE (Der Trommler @ Jun 10 2006, 01:00 AM)

QUOTE (kazzman @ Jun 10 2006, 12:57 AM) I use the DW Factory heads which I believe are made by Remo. Only problem with this is whenever I need a replacement head, I can't just go to the store and buy one since they're sold by factory order only... But they do give me the tone and sound I want out of my toms. For the snare, I use the Evans coated G1. Aquarian makes something similar to the DW factory. Studio Clear. They sound pretty decent....The DW factory heads are do difficult to get, eh? I've fooled around with Aquarian heads in the past. I honestly wasn't impressed by them.

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (kazzman @ Jun 10 2006, 01:01 AM)

QUOTE (Der Trommler @ Jun 10 2006, 01:00 AM) QUOTE (kazzman @ Jun 10 2006, 12:57 AM) I use the DW Factory heads which I believe are made by Remo. Only problem with this is whenever I need a replacement head, I can't just go to the store and buy one since they're sold by factory order only... But they do give me the tone and sound I want out of my toms. For the snare, I use the Evans coated G1. Aquarian makes something similar to the DW factory. Studio Clear. They sound pretty decent....The DW factory heads are do difficult to get, eh? I've fooled around with Aquarian heads in the past. I honestly wasn't impressed by them. They lose tone as they wear out. They don't break often though. Remo has a tendency to fall apart easier than the other 2. I used to use Remo CS (clear black dot) for the concert toms....they worked very well

[Milton Banana]

I like the Evans EMAD head on my bass drum. It controls the sound just enough that I don't have to put any muffling in my bass drum, which I always hated having to do.

 

Remo Ambassadors for all the toms and snares. Diplomats for the bottom heads, if I can find them. I always liked real open, jazzy drum sounds. Let the drums have their natural voice; the soundman can gate it if he needs to.

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (Milton Banana @ Jun 10 2006, 01:13 AM)

I like the Evans EMAD head on my bass drum. It controls the sound just enough that I don't have to put any muffling in my bass drum, which I always hated having to do. Remo Ambassadors for all the toms and snares. Diplomats for the bottom heads, if I can find them. I always liked real open, jazzy drum sounds. Let the drums have their natural voice; the soundman can gate it if he needs to.

Makes sense.....How about tuning?

[Drumnut]

I have Evans G1's on now but don't like them. I do like the EMAD bass head over a Pinstripe though.

 

Next change, I'm going with:

• Remo coated batter on the snare
• Remo Pinstripes back on the toms
• Evans EMAD on the bass

[Drumnut]

QUOTE (Milton Banana @ Jun 9 2006, 09:13 PM)

I like the Evans EMAD head on my bass drum.  It controls the sound just enough that I don't have to put any muffling in my bass drum, which I always hated having to do.  Remo Ambassadors for all the toms and snares.  Diplomats for the bottom heads, if I can find them.  I always liked real open, jazzy drum sounds.  Let the drums have their natural voice; the soundman can gate it if he needs to.

Ain't that the truth, let them drums sing!!! Good shells with quality heads that suit your ear properly tuned sound better than anything. I don't know any singers that sing with garbage in their mouth, why should my drums?

[Der Trommler]

What I found was that Evans sounds great for lower frequencies & tunings but Remo plays pretty well for higher frequencies & tunings.

[Milton Banana]

QUOTE (Der Trommler @ Jun 10 2006, 12:21 AM)

QUOTE (Milton Banana @ Jun 10 2006, 01:13 AM) I like the Evans EMAD head on my bass drum.  It controls the sound just enough that I don't have to put any muffling in my bass drum, which I always hated having to do.  Remo Ambassadors for all the toms and snares.  Diplomats for the bottom heads, if I can find them.  I always liked real open, jazzy drum sounds.  Let the drums have their natural voice; the soundman can gate it if he needs to. Makes sense.....How about tuning? The toms are about a fourth apart. I'm not going for definite pitches just the spatial relationship. I'll start from the highest tom and go down. The bottoms are slightly higher than the tops to increase resonance. Bass drum should sound full, not deadend; I don't muffle it with anything besides the EMAD head.   I actually will hold the drum straight up to my ear and strike it, looking for a full pitch (no bending up or down) and a long tone. A bad idea if I want to protect my hearing but...   I agonize over my snare drum. It's a Ludwig Supraphonic, but I'm always futzing with the snares. Heads are tight but I can't seem to find the medium between a wet jazzy sound and a choked sound. I'm told it sounds good out front, but from where I sit I'm never satisfied. Any suggestions?

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (Milton Banana @ Jun 10 2006, 07:18 PM)

QUOTE (Der Trommler @ Jun 10 2006, 12:21 AM) QUOTE (Milton Banana @ Jun 10 2006, 01:13 AM) I like the Evans EMAD head on my bass drum.  It controls the sound just enough that I don't have to put any muffling in my bass drum, which I always hated having to do.  Remo Ambassadors for all the toms and snares.  Diplomats for the bottom heads, if I can find them.  I always liked real open, jazzy drum sounds.  Let the drums have their natural voice; the soundman can gate it if he needs to. Makes sense.....How about tuning? The toms are about a fourth apart. I'm not going for definite pitches just the spatial relationship. I'll start from the highest tom and go down. The bottoms are slightly higher than the tops to increase resonance. Bass drum should sound full, not deadend; I don't muffle it with anything besides the EMAD head.   I actually will hold the drum straight up to my ear and strike it, looking for a full pitch (no bending up or down) and a long tone. A bad idea if I want to protect my hearing but...   I agonize over my snare drum. It's a Ludwig Supraphonic, but I'm always futzing with the snares. Heads are tight but I can't seem to find the medium between a wet jazzy sound and a choked sound. I'm told it sounds good out front, but from where I sit I'm never satisfied. Any suggestions? for snares....I found that if you control most of the tone from the top head, you should be fine. The bottom is the ACTUAL tone. So, when you are tightening the bottom head, keep it at medium to tight tension so the snares can bounce off. Next, the tension of the snares can never be too tight. If they are, you will never get the right sound. Proper eveness on tuning will help...Supraphonics were always kinda tough to play with but you should be able to get somewhat of a good buzz from it.   Make sure, you have your head on the BOTTOM side when listening for what the snare is going to sound like. I fond that out about 3 years AFTER I started playing & when I hit it, the bottom was about a 5th higher that what I heard from the top.   I like the Puresound snares (the brass warms the tone quite a bit) or the DW (fashioned after ther Puresound because Puresound used to put them on the DW snar e drums)     Make sure the snare is a little closer to the butt end when you are putting on the snares so that when you tighten the snares, the snares will center themselves.....From there I need to look more at the drum. I'm such a perfectionist! lol

[MrMiltonBanana]

The heads i use are the Ludwig brand ones that came with my Accent Combo. Not very good. But ill upgrade em in a few months.

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (MrMiltonBanana @ Jun 10 2006, 10:16 PM)

The heads i use are the Ludwig brand ones that came with my Accent Combo. Not very good. But ill upgrade em in a few months.

Depending on what sound you want, each head & manufacturer will give you what you're looking for....

[Drumnut]

For anyone that feels like doing some reading about tuning, I've always found this site to be kind of interesting:

 

Prof.Sound's Drum Tuning Bible v3

 

 

 

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (Drumnut @ Jun 10 2006, 11:45 PM)

For anyone that feels like doing some reading about tuning, I've always found this site to be kind of interesting: Prof.Sound's Drum Tuning Bible v3

That is pretty cool....

[fledgehog]

Never been let down by Evans.

[Der Trommler]

QUOTE (fledgehog @ Jun 11 2006, 12:00 AM)

Never been let down by Evans.

I've used Evans & Remo for much of the 18+ years Ive been playing. I tend to like Evans for lower tunings & Remo for higher

 

 

Aquarian is really cool & you can beat the crap out of them & they don't usually fall apart, however, they lose tone pretty quickly....

[MrHands]

Coated G2's over clear G1's for toms. EQ4 on the kick & HD Dry on my snare.

[launchpad67a]

QUOTE (kazzman @ Jun 9 2006, 09:57 PM)

For the toms I use the DW Factory heads which I believe are made by Remo. Only problem with this is whenever I need a replacement head, I can't just go to the store and buy one since they're sold by factory order only For the bass I use the Remo Powerstroke 3. Very punchy sound out of it.

Kazz,

The factory DW heads are basically Remo CS clears. You can replace them with these and not hear a bit of difference.

As for the Powerstroke 3's, they are the best kick head on the market...imo.

[Rush!]

Currently, I'm using Remo heads. I'd like to try out the other 3 though.

[kazzman]

QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Jun 28 2006, 05:53 PM)

QUOTE (kazzman @ Jun 9 2006, 09:57 PM) For the toms I use the DW Factory heads which I believe are made by Remo. Only problem with this is whenever I need a replacement head, I can't just go to the store and buy one since they're sold by factory order only For the bass I use the Remo Powerstroke 3. Very punchy sound out of it. Kazz, The factory DW heads are basically Remo CS clears. You can replace them with these and not hear a bit of difference. As for the Powerstroke 3's, they are the best kick head on the market...imo. Ahh. Thanks for the heads up. Next time I get new heads, I think I'll fool around with different brands and see exactly which model gives me the best sound out of my drums instead of just using one brand on them.