How Often Do You Replace Heads?

[caprisun3484]

How often do you replace the heads that are under the drum that never get hit?

[radiofriendlyunitshifter]

about once a year. maybe a few months less than that. they're called resonant heads.

the heads on top are called batter heads.

[ermghoti]

And to answer your next question, they stretch unevenly over time, losing their ability to tune. The pitch of the drum is mostly generated from this head, so a bad resonant head equals a bad sounding drum.

[Kenneth Nishimoto]

Honestly, never.

Never in a million years.

[Class A Drummer]

I have never replaced my resonant heads, although i know it is necassary, i just feel the sound on my set is amazing as it is.

[Tutin]

Same, I've never done it and they sound fine to me.

[caprisun3484]

alright thanks i was just wondering because i've never replaced mine but i'm going to go pick up some new batter heads. so i'll just pick up some resonate heads as well

yay for new drum vocab

[Mapex589]

I like to change the resonant heads once a year.

[CASP3Rdrummer]

every time i have extra money which i dont have to spend on anything else ....which is never

[rockitman]

And to answer your next question, they stretch unevenly over time, losing their ability to tune. The pitch of the drum is mostly generated from this head, so a bad resonant head equals a bad sounding drum.

I've never experienced a resonant head that could not be reused as a batter. I take the single ply reso's off of my Birch kit and apply them directly to my maple kit as batter heads. I change resos when I change batter. It's really the only way to keep the kit sounding the way it should. Tune drums often to ensure they do not "stretch unevenly"

Changing the reso or snare side of the snare drum will shock you guys that do not change them frequently. Drop the cash and get your snare drum back.

[Batera945]

some good heads are the evans ec2 for the batter and the g1 for the bottom... i ussually go with two ply for the batter and 1 ply for resonant..
changin heads is good.. and try to experiment with new heads and c wat u like.

[Tutin]

Changing the reso or snare side of the snare drum will shock you guys that do not change them frequently. Drop the cash and get your snare drum back.

I have a Ludwig gold label snare which was won in 1964, and may be much older for all I know. It still has the original reso head. It sounds beautiful.

[zambizzi]

As a general rule; whenever they start to sound bad.

I tune my drums roughly once a month and I tune both the resonant and batter heads by loosening to the point of the head being able to move around...but not taking them off entirely.

I tighten both heads and then go about tuning...resonant side first. If I find that they're not tuning well (and/or evenly "enough") and I can't get a good tone out of them anymore, I get new ones. This might take a year and it might take three....eight...whatever. You'll replace your batter heads more often as you're hitting them and they wear faster.

I've had the same heads on my new(er) kit for 6 months...I tuned everything up the other day and both the factory batter & resonant heads still sound fantastic - like brand new. I'll probably replace the batters in 2 mo. or so...resonants will probably last much longer.

[rockitman]

I have a Ludwig gold label snare which was won in 1964, and may be much older for all I know. It still has the original reso head. It sounds beautiful.

Well then the perfect drum in the perfect world. Good for you Tutin.

[gmrakich]

as needed = never.....

[Tutin]

Well then the perfect drum in the perfect world. Good for you Tutin.

Haha, cheers. It is an amazing drum.

[catchagato]

I use Remo FiberSkyns, and those heads really last you a while. I bought them about last summer in August, and I still have them today. The condition on them haven't changed from the first day I bought them. They still look great and with no scuffs or stick dents in them. So I would say so far, I haven't had to change heads!

[Deathmetalconga]

I think a lot of it depends on how tight you have them. The tuning bolts for my resonant heads are only finger-tight. They'd fall out all the time until I used Tightscrews. Anyway, I keep my reso heads very loose, but carefully tuned, so they aren't under much stress and should last indefinitely.

[Skitch]

I change them when I can't get them to tune!

Mike

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

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