Fave Snare Batter Heads

[kaysek]

i thought it would be cool to see what snare batter heads people are using, or have had a decent experience of in the past. i am thinking of buying a new snare batter head (i bought a stagg drumkit and found that the head is flaking away and leaving vast amounts of white plastic fragments on my carpet, after only 2 weeks of use!!).

cheers people.

[Alk3fan]

I usually go with Remo coated Emperors. They have a nice thickness for what I like to play. Everynow and then i will go a little thicker, with the Emperor-X. But yeah, im a Remo man.

[Danny]

i agree with Alk3fan. I just bought a remo emperor coated batter for my snare yesterday, and it's the best sound that has come out of snare so far. I've made the decision to stay with coated emperors for my snare from now on.

[Led Opeth]

if you would have caught me 2 months ago, i would have said remo ambassador coated which is really good, but i recently to evans, i first baught the genera thinking it would be good, but it was too controlled, so i cut off the under-ring and now its a Evans G1, it sounds like an ambassador, but the coating lasts alot longer...therefore i would say evans g1 is the way to go to have a really articulate snare that doesnt ring out tooo much. and if it does ring out, just pop a mini-emad on it like i did :-D

[davodi74]

EVANS G1 COATED BATTER and HAZY 300 RESONANT. The two best head combination ever made!

[Led Opeth]

yea, forgot to mention i have hazy 300 lol

[hotsauce3n]

i have always gotten coated ambassadors on my snare just for brush work, but the coating usually wears off pretty fast? what do you guys use for brushwork? im guessing coated?

[Led Opeth]

i have always gotten coated ambassadors on my snare just for brush work, but the coating usually wears off pretty fast? what do you guys use for brushwork? im guessing coated?
if you read what i said before, evans g1 is like ambassador, but the coating lasts alot longer...try Evans G1 Coated

[Thinshells]

Evans reverse powercenter and hazy 300. Also, Remo emperor suede are great

[dr_worm]

I've been using PS4 coated's for awhile now. It's on a brass Pacific tuned way tight. Very bright and short. Maybe I should try something new...

[sir_wagner]

the new remo cs-controlled sound...with the black dot and cotet! they are the BEST!!

[somedrummer]

Evans Genera Dry with the 300 Reso.

[Mike Firth]

Power Center Reverse Dot Drum Head is my fav at the moment, just bought today with some min-dampers sounds really nice and "rock-sided".

[wooltonboy]

Evans Genera Dry....beautiful and meaty, but really crisp with a rimshot.

[davodi74]

Evans G1 coated batter and the Hazy 300 resonant with Gibralter 16 strand snares. B-E-A-utiful.

[the rich]

Lets see...

I've tried all of the following several times...

Remo Ambassador (coated)
Remo Emperor (coated, thicker than an ambassador)
Remo Emperor X (this is a very thick coated skin with a power dot)
Evans G1 (coated)
Remo Fibreskyn 3 Powerstroke (unusual choice for me, being a rock drummer, but i thought i'd give it a shot)
Remo Controlled sound (power dot on underside of skin)
Remo powerstroke 3

My favourite is the coated Emperor X. Not too much ring, but just enough and it is the most durable skin i've used, and i am a hard hitter on the snare. The Fibreskyn really kills the sound. It sounds better on a brass or steel drum, but at the end of the day I preferred to have a little more ring. I find that the coated Ambassadors ring a little too much on my brass snare, but they are still nice. Evans are good too, but I've always been a Remo man...

But yeah, I also noticed that the coating lasts longer on an Evans compared to a regular Remo head. I use coated emperors on my toms.

[rendezvous_drummer]

remo ambassador coated is what I use, but i havent tried out too many of them. I'm gonna try a few evans soon tho.

[zildjian_dude101]

For a "snap" sound, I like Remo Coated Ambassadors. and for an industrial sound, I like Evans ST Dry.

[mattsamoto]

I just started using a regular Remo Controlled Sound. Not the coated one. The clear one with the black dot. I use a narrow muffling ring to take the ring out and fatten it up.

I play really loud rock with a Ludwig Supraphonic 6.5 inch. I've tried coated black dots and emperors. This set up has that Phil Rudd or Alex Van Halen sound. Maybe because that's what they used.

Anyway, I really like it.

[Bad Drummer]

I really like the Aquarian Texture Coated. Great head.

[larlev]

I just bought a 3005...

I figured I would try something different.
I put on a Attack single ply medium, with a Attack reso....$14 for the both of them....Terry Bozzio pack. I also put on a 42 strand snare.

Sounds killer.....and was really suprised just how well it cracked.....never knew much about attack heads...but this combination is sweet.

[MooseMasterBass]

Does anyone share a preference for coated diplomat batters? I got a really good response out of it and it made a crack that sliced through any amps or PA i was playing with, was a bit too much at times though.

My uncle (who plays) gave me a bag of all his unused skins, was about 18 skins of all sizes and conditions, new to screwed. Been tryin them out gradually as my skins need changing, and discovered an Aquaria thin coated jazz head, which turned out pretty good. Its lasting me ages aswell.

[vedox1024]

every time i hear an aquarian coated studio x on a snare drum it's the most wonderful sound. sensitive, but full, and rimshots blow through the music. and with the powerdot, it's plenty durable too.

[Hasselhoff]

REMO Renaissance RA clear. I have only played one and it was awesome, apparently it is the closest thing to pig skin that has been made or somethin along those lines. But it was so beautiful and rich in tone. I wonder if REMO still produce them.

[groovydrummer616]

either remo coated emperorX or Aquarian TC with powerdot. depends on the snare drum

[Mike Firth]

I personally like Remo Coated Ambassador or Remo Coated Emperor X with Remo Diplomat on snare side.

[franklinj]

Remo Coated CS. Great feel and has a nice, deep pop. I like it a lot; wish all Remos were like this...

[rendezvous_drummer]

Evans G2 coated. Great feel and crack to me snare.

[Goody602]

Remo Emperor coated. Tried the Emperor X but the sound and feel were just a little too dead for me.

[nhzoso]

I have an Evans Powercenter reverse dot and it is a pretty tough and great sounding head.
I just changed the reso head tonight it had a remo weather king diplomat on it, It may have been as old as the snare (ludwig supraphonic 1971) it had some holes in it but I played it for a week to see the difference when I change the head.

I put an Evans resonant black on it and now have to wait till tomorrow to tune it up. Anyone have any experience with these Black reso's. I talked the guy into giving me a new reso with the snare since the old one looked so bad and this was all they had left.

[Skitch]

I know that this is boring but, the tried but true coated Remo Ambassador. I sometimes opt for the coated CS.


Mike

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


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

[jasonarp]

I just picked up the Remo CS (controlled sound).


Really nice head, it makes my snare louder, and sounds a lot more in your face now.

[Class A Drummer]

I would have to go with either Remo Emporer X or Remo Coated Ambassodors.

[Rossy_j]

Evans power center reverse dot over remo ambassor reso, my all time fave :)

R

[RudimentalDrummer]

The best Snare Batter I prefer is the EVANS J1 for the Snare.

[Nick5]

Evans
G1 Coated
Genera Genera Dry
Power Center Reverse Dot

Snare side Evans Hazy 300

[emmerson]

Evans power center reverse dot .... enough said

[themac5150]

In order of my preference..

Remo Emperor X coated
Remo Emperor coated
Remo Ambassador coated
Remo CS Black Dot

[infamouspdp]

i tried a few,but the emporer x sounds great and has lasted a long time for me and i hit hard.it's on my 12 inch pork pie little squealer.

[bighaibigdrums]

I just started using a regular Remo Controlled Sound. Not the coated one. The clear one with the black dot. I use a narrow muffling ring to take the ring out and fatten it up.

I play really loud rock with a Ludwig Supraphonic 6.5 inch. I've tried coated black dots and emperors. This set up has that Phil Rudd or Alex Van Halen sound. Maybe because that's what they used.

Anyway, I really like it.

Im the same. I switch between a regulare Black Dot or a clear Pinstripe (a lot like the Black Dot but a more controlled ring) on an Export steel snare. Big 80's arena rock snare sound.

[Zildjian 242]

I really like my Aquarian Texture coated Powerdot head. Very powerful

on my auxsnare I like the 1 ply coated head.

[nickg]

ATTACK Terry Bozzio white coated

[evans_69]

I started off using Remo emperors years ago, and changed to a Aquarian Hi-energy about a year and never thought i would change from this head, i thought i would try something different and bought an Evans power center reverse dot,,, wooow this head has blown me away......

[AronMapex]

Remo cs controlled sound

[Fat Elvis]

after trying a bunch, there is still no beating a coated ambassador.

[larlev]

Evans genera......my new favorite...on my chad smith it sounds incredible

[JoshRead]

Used to use the Terry Bozzio ATTACK head (a pretty nice head really) with the TB resonant head as well, but I've switched to Aquarian Focus X with Center Dot. REALLY nice head! I still have the TB ATTACK resonant, but I'm going to change it (just not my cup of tea).

[dLesage]

after trying a bunch, there is still no beating a coated ambassador.

*sigh* it's true. :( now if only they didn't wear thin so fast.

[Salicete]

Evans HD-Dry Batter
Evans 300 Hazy Snare-Side

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Remo Powerstroke III......................

[wolfmoon]

aquarian hi energy..

[Synthetik]

after trying a bunch, there is still no beating a coated ambassador.

I like the sound, but the aquarian coated are warmer, and the coating seems more durable.

I don't like 2-ply or pre-muffled heads on a snare drum.

I like my snares like I like my chicken: extra crispy.

[Class A Drummer]

Right now Im using a Remo Emperor Coated X. I love it, so its either between that, or the Coated Ambassodor.

[ludwig guy]

Evans Power Center Reverse Dot, they are very durable, and great sounding when tuned high.

[Steady Freddy]

Another vote for the Evans Power Center Reverse Dot.

I just spent a few hours messing around with some of my snares. I was into the Genera Dry heads for a while. I think they'd be great in the studio or even mic'ed, but the fall a little short in the volume department for playing live.

I fooled around with an Evans EC2 power dot snare batter, but after mounting it on two different drums, A Brady 7 X13, and a Dunnett titanium 6.5 X 13, I've decided it totally kills the drums. Again, maybe a good choice in the studio. The cross stick sounded super dead also.

I drug out a 4 X14 Craviotto that I haven't messed with for a while. It had an Aquarian New Oleans Special batter head over an Evans 300. After a little tuning I played some second line style stuff on it and it sounded really good. Surprisingly the drum had tons of bottom end for a shallow drum. With the wires set real loose it sounded great.

I've pretty much settled on single ply batters. I still like the dry heads for home practice where volume isn't an issue, but for live the singles seem to be the ticket.

I'm going to try a plain old G1 and see how that works out. Just another reason to go to GC tonight.