how often should resonant heads be replaced?

[parksung]

i used the same res heads for 1.5 years, but have also read that they should be changed every 2months!

ok, that's a long stretch between 2mos and 1.5 years, and obviously the head is more dead after a longer period, but realistically, do i really need to change every 2 months?? if so, i've gotta switch to cheaper reso's!

[Zildjian 242]

I change the reso's once a year (batter's twice)

When you change them, you will be blown away with how better your drums will sound

[masonni]

I change the resonant heads on my toms maybe every 6 months or so. Somtimes more somtimes less.... I should probably change them more often.
I change the bass drum reso a few times a month because I have a bunch of them with different artworkd on them. And snare sides... well I change them about twice a month.

For Tom batters, I change them 2-3 times a month, roughly every other show. I change my kick batter every few months, and my snare batter almost every show, sometimes I can get two shows out of them, but no more than that.

[Jookbox]

once a year for me. but that's mostly financial and laziness.

[Class A Drummer]

Ive never switched my resonant heads. Once you get new ones, i dont really understand how you would need new ones, unless an actually better model came out of the same head.

[parksung]

ok, that's helpful...thanks...

but how about reso heads on the kick now? i've got the clear Evans Heavy Rock head that is about 30yrs old and my kick sounds great. i love the look cuz it's got a reverse "Sonor" logo on it, but should i really switch it out for a new one soon? guess i'll have to part with it someday anyway, don't i?

and snare resos...any other opinions? not sure if i want to go through changing them often (cuz i'm lazy, ahaha)...

[Steady Freddy]

Ive never switched my resonant heads. Once you get new ones, i dont really understand how you would need new ones, unless an actually better model came out of the same head.

Drum heads are vibrating membranes. Even though the reso heads are not played on, the constant vibration fatigues the head. When this occurs the head stretches slightly and needs to be tightened to achieve the same pitch. As this process is repeated the head becomes stretched tighter and tighter.

The tighter the reso head the less sustain a drum will have. It can also cause the drum to choke. As the mylar stretches and is re-tensioned it becomes harder, and that changes the velocity of the vibration. The reso head becomes more difficult to excite and the sound is reflected differently that with a new head.

Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

[Class A Drummer]

Drum heads are vibrating membranes. Even though the reso heads are not played on, the constant vibration fatigues the head. When this occurs the head stretches slightly and needs to be tightened to achieve the same pitch. As this process is repeated the head becomes stretched tighter and tighter.

The tighter the reso head the less sustain a drum will have. It can also cause the drum to choke. As the mylar stretches and is re-tensioned it becomes harder, and that changes the velocity of the vibration. The reso head becomes more difficult to excite and the sound is reflected differently that with a new head.

Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

hmm, thats very interesting, and i never would have thought of that. oh poo, thats another thing i have to worry about spending my money on.

[the.tree]

Are resonant heads the outter head on the bass drum?

[hauk]

yes, and the bottom heads on toms/snare

i'll probably try to aim for once a year, with maybe twice on batters
as for your bass reso, if you love how it sounds, i say why mess with it

[Skitch]

i used the same res heads for 1.5 years, but have also read that they should be changed every 2months!

ok, that's a long stretch between 2mos and 1.5 years, and obviously the head is more dead after a longer period, but realistically, do i really need to change every 2 months?? if so, i've gotta switch to cheaper reso's!


I would think that the 2 months would be if you are playing every day or night or in a high head tension situation .


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com


http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=drummermikemccraw

[radiofriendlyunitshifter]

i change my resos anually, and my batters about every six months.

[skippy]

i only change em if the rip or get messed up. or get past thier stretching area or whatever you wanna call it. just when they need to.

[Doug Masters]

i change my resos anually, and my batters about every six months.


Unless you play everyday, this seems to be the most common among the drummers I know.

[Cymbalrider]

I would imagine if you had a kit that sat at home or in studios mostly you probably don't need new res. heads very often. But frequent tuning on it would cause them to wear out that is for sure. I've seen drums with heads that have been on them for 20+ years and the res. heads are fine. When the batter heads sound like plasitc wrap>time to change them. Coated heads are easy to tell this by--the coating goes away. Clear heads start losing the bounce in the middle and the tone goes away. Kick drum batter- I would suppose when you start wearing a spot in it. Bass res-if the tone goes bad at any point
snare bottom-when it breaks :)