Recently either had a string of bad luck or something else is going on. I purchased several heads from different manufacturers to see if switching to another head type or manufacturer would produce a more desirable tom sound. First out of the box was an Evans coated G2. The second was an Aquarian clear super 2. The problem with both heads is when the head in tensioned even to about a medium head tension there exists a wrinkle near the bearing edge of the head. This only disappears if I cranked the head up pretty high. At that tension the wrinkle is gone but the desired tone is way too high. The head is about what a snare drum would be tensioned to at that point.
First thought is well maybe my bearing edge is not making the same amount of contact on the head. I took the batter head off the drum and placed the drum upside down on the bearing edge on a piece of thick glass. Taking a piece of paper and trying to slide the corner tip between the bearing edge and the glass showed that the edge was making uniform contact. I could not get the paper to slide between the edge and the glass at any point of the bearing edge.
Next step was to re-tune the head and mark the head and the rim where the winkle was occurring. Then I rotated the mark on the head to the opposite side of the drum and rotated the rim to another area of the drum away from where the wrinkle originally occurred. After tuning to medium tension the wrinkle followed the mark on the head. This seems to indicate that its not the drum or the rim that's the cause of this loose spot on the head.
Both the Evans and the Aquarian heads had this problem. This was on a 16" floor tom if that matters. It seems this has not been an issue on smaller toms. Having previously used Remo Ambassadors and Emperors I never seemed to have this issue. Do you think I just got some bad heads or am I overlooking something else here. (sorry for the long post!)
BTW - the both heads with the problem fit nicely onto the drum and the rim fit the head with no binding.
First thought is well maybe my bearing edge is not making the same amount of contact on the head. I took the batter head off the drum and placed the drum upside down on the bearing edge on a piece of thick glass. Taking a piece of paper and trying to slide the corner tip between the bearing edge and the glass showed that the edge was making uniform contact. I could not get the paper to slide between the edge and the glass at any point of the bearing edge.
Next step was to re-tune the head and mark the head and the rim where the winkle was occurring. Then I rotated the mark on the head to the opposite side of the drum and rotated the rim to another area of the drum away from where the wrinkle originally occurred. After tuning to medium tension the wrinkle followed the mark on the head. This seems to indicate that its not the drum or the rim that's the cause of this loose spot on the head.
Both the Evans and the Aquarian heads had this problem. This was on a 16" floor tom if that matters. It seems this has not been an issue on smaller toms. Having previously used Remo Ambassadors and Emperors I never seemed to have this issue. Do you think I just got some bad heads or am I overlooking something else here. (sorry for the long post!)
BTW - the both heads with the problem fit nicely onto the drum and the rim fit the head with no binding.
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