Resonant Heads : Coated vs. Clear

JesusMySavior

Silver Member
Is there a big difference here with coated and clear as your resonants? What would be the tonal difference, if any?

Also, 1 ply vs. 2 ply?

Thanks!
 
I think there's a difference.
I don't know if it's a night and day difference. In some playing situations, it may not make a difference at all.

1 ply clear heads (brand new off the shelf - not stock heads) will provide the most highs in the general sound of a sustaining tom. Tuning is important and if you are still somewhat of a novice at that aspect, they may not be the best choice. The batter and resonant heads need to be in some kind of agreeable harmony (same pitch, third apart, 5th apart etc.) for the sustaining tone to be good. That's with any combo of heads but the thinner you go, the more you'll notice defects in tuning, drum construction, edge problems and playing technique.

The closest I've come to using 2-ply heads as resonant heads was using an EC resonant head on my 12" Gretsch gum maple tom. Sounded very good but it's not 2-ply (I think) and there was a loss of highs (for me). The rest of the time I've always used 1-ply although I did use coated for awhile. I had my Yamaha MCAN's setup with Aquarian Satin Texture coted 1-ply heads on top and bottom. A really nice sound with the highs slightly attenuated, i.e. a warmer sound.

If you are using a lot of dampening of your toms or use a heavy, 2-ply batter (Evans Hydraulic, Emperor X, etc) then the difference won't be as great. If you are doing that, I would go with the tried and true, (x)-ply batter and 1-ply clear resonant.

I will say that some posts I've read on forums seem to indicate that 2-ply resonants can give a healthy amount of sustain. That might be an answer, but I do think you lose some singing highs in the sustained note in that equation.

Jim
 
I think a lot of it is appearance, also. I have a clear plexaglass set and I use transparent blue hydrolic heads, batter and reso, mainly for the look. They make the set appear blue.
 
Thanks for the tips!

I guess I'm just trying to settle on the most open, warm tone I can get.

I've tried different heads on this new kit that I've got, and I'm convinced it's a great sounding kit... it just needs the right heads on it.

Right now I've got some Studio-X with Power Dots on there and various reso heads from the previous owner. It's ok but it is really "gummy" and dead sounding. It's a birch/mahogany fusion set, and I think next time I will be going for Remo clear Dips for resos and Evans J1's for the batter.

My set is the one in my pic and sig. They say it's equivalent to a Tour Custom nowadays.
 
If you're after open and warm sound you might want to consider single ply coated batter with single ply clear reso. Single ply provides open sound, the coat provides warmth. I have not tried coated reso heads as I found the coated batter/clear reso (both Evans G1) an ideal combination for me.
 
Thanks for the tips!

I guess I'm just trying to settle on the most open, warm tone I can get.

I've tried different heads on this new kit that I've got, and I'm convinced it's a great sounding kit... it just needs the right heads on it.

Right now I've got some Studio-X with Power Dots on there and various reso heads from the previous owner. It's ok but it is really "gummy" and dead sounding. It's a birch/mahogany fusion set, and I think next time I will be going for Remo clear Dips for resos and Evans J1's for the batter.

My set is the one in my pic and sig. They say it's equivalent to a Tour Custom nowadays.

I'd buy th batter first , use them for a while and then decide which reso heads would be better according to the sound that the new batter heads provide. for example if you want a more open sound get clear ambassador , if you want the same sustain and more tone get the embassador x, if you want a warmer and a little bit drier sound get coated heads, etc.
the idea is to try the new batter heads and then "adjust" the sound with the reso heads
 
If I was going with Dips, what would happen if I used the snare side heads on the bottoms of my toms instead of regular Dips?
 
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