What beater heads should I use?

[Muffled Tom]

EDIT: Batter, not beater

Okay I'm buying a new drumset soon. I play rock (like Incubus and Foo Fighters), classic rock (like Grand Funk Railroad and The Who), and jazz (big band and a quintet).

So the tom sizes are 10, 12, and 14. The snare is going to be 14x5.5. I'm already getting an EMAD for the bassdrum, but I was wondering what you guys think I should get for my snare and toms? For the toms I was thinking of coated Ambassadors on top of stock reso's, but I'm not so sure; opinions?

[Les Ismore]

What drum set are you buying?

Good chance someone here on the forum will have the same set and know about head combinations for it.

[thesilentnoise]

coated ambasadors over stock resos should suit your needs perfectly.
or even coated G1s which is the evans equivalent.

depending on the type of drumset you buy the stock batter heads might be fine for a while.

[Ozzy Biz]

Coated single or double ply batters, depending on your preference of 'feel' or the drum, resonance and responsiveness.
Buy a coated amb/G1 and coated emp/G2 for one of your toms and see what you like, then fit the rest of the toms out with that head.
For the snare; coated amb (or G1). There's something about ambassador heads though; nothing seems to go past a coated amb and snare side amb for a snare.
I'd also be looking at a coated P3 batter and coated amb reso with no port for the kick. That, in combination with coated ambs on toms (batter & reso) plus the afore mentioned snare combo is the ducks guts. Possibly switch out the reso for coated dips if you want a bit more sensitivity and brightness, but ambs all round rocks some major arse

[Muffled Tom]

Coated single or double ply batters, depending on your preference of 'feel' or the drum, resonance and responsiveness.
Buy a coated amb/G1 and coated emp/G2 for one of your toms and see what you like, then fit the rest of the toms out with that head.
For the snare; coated amb (or G1). There's something about ambassador heads though; nothing seems to go past a coated amb and snare side amb for a snare.
I'd also be looking at a coated P3 batter and coated amb reso with no port for the kick. That, in combination with coated ambs on toms (batter & reso) plus the afore mentioned snare combo is the ducks guts. Possibly switch out the reso for coated dips if you want a bit more sensitivity and brightness, but ambs all round rocks some major arse

I wish I could afford Ambs all around! although I've heard that using Ambs over Emps are what rox the most.

What drum set are you buying?

Good chance someone here on the forum will have the same set and know about head combinations for it.

Either a Ludwig Accent CS Custom, or a Yamaha Stage Custom Advantage.

[Drumrunner]

I can help you on a stage custom. I use clear g2's on my toms for about a month now. Exelent head! Nice attack, lots of warmth and depth to them. Makes you hear the whole drum. I used to use clear g1's and they were loud with nice attack but no real depth.

[ZildjianMan1023]

for the toms maybe some evans ec1s, 2's or pinstripes.. maybe even some remo ebony series heads...

as for the snare.. powerstroke three? or maybe a ps3 with a dot batter?

maybe even an emperor.. but hey try and see what works..

[bonzolead]

I have a export select kit with the same sizes and I have coated ambassadors all the way around with the stock res. heads and they sound great.IMO I like coated heads on smaller dia. kits(Jazz) and clear emperors on larger dia. kits(Rock) i'd stay away from a PS3 on the snare since it would really choke out the snare the PS3 is what I use on my Bass drum and that sounds great also.

Good Luck,
Bonzolead

[Les Ismore]

Either a Ludwig Accent CS Custom


I believe the Accents come with Evans G series heads. I played an Accent set last week (right out of the box) at a gig and the heads were actually nice, especially the bass drum head.