Thick single ply heads?

Duck Tape

Platinum Member
Just wondering what a thicker single ply would sound like? Or if there are single ply heads with some sort of control/muffling?

What heads fit this description?
 
I have a thick head so I'm qualified to answer this lol. Evans G-12 is a 12 mil single ply head. Evans G-14 is a 14 mil single ply head. Some people like them, I didn't prefer them. But a lot of people really like them. I'd say get the G-12 first. If you like that, then maybe try the G-14.
 
I have a g14 that I bought for a snare head but haven't used it yet.

I was interested in how they sound on toms.

Have come across Evans g plus in my doogle searches.
 
As always, succcessful head choice depends on the type of music, and the drum's size, edge, shell material and density. I love G14s on my touring (Keystone) toms, G12 on my local (Keystone) toms, and Strata 1000 heads (10mil) on my Legacy toms.

Bermuda
 
As always, succcessful head choice depends on the type of music, and the drum's size, edge, shell material and density. I love G14s on my touring (Keystone) toms, G12 on my local (Keystone) toms, and Strata 1000 heads (10mil) on my Legacy toms.

Bermuda

Aren't those Strata 1000 heads for concert toms? Is there any difference in how they fit on the bearing edge and with the hoops?

I remember people having problems when trying the Hybrid head on kit snare drums, as they were originally designed for marching snares. I know Evans eventually came out with a modified design for standard snares and that fixed all the problems.

I'm guessing that concert toms aren't really all too different from kit toms?
 
I use coated Ambassador-X batters on my 60's keystone kit and also on my Club Date Se kit.
I use standard coated Ambassadors on the bottom. I like the classic warm sound with just the right amount of open tone that this combination provides.
I also use the Amb-X on my snares when I am hitting hard.
 
Aren't those Strata 1000 heads for concert toms? Is there any difference in how they fit on the bearing edge and with the hoops?...
I'm guessing that concert toms aren't really all too different from kit toms?

They're standard 10mil heads (basically a G1 with a light brown coating, same vibe as Evans' "coated" bass drum heads) and they fit as any Evans head does. As to why the brown coating sounds different than the white, I don't know. I just prefer the sound & resonance on toms for light to moderate playing.

Since concert toms don't have the resonance benefit of a sealed chamber (that is, no bottom head,) batter choices are even more important. The differences between coated and clear, single or double-ply, and thickness (10, 12 or 14mil single-ply for example) are readily apparent, and also provide a wide variety of tones.

In case you weren't aware, I'm a big fan of concert toms, and offer this site for your perusal - www.concerttoms.com

Bermuda
 
I'll be able to tell you how they sound on toms in a few months, but on snares, they sound like two-ply heads (sort of) without the decrease in response and sustain that comes with two-ply heads. My X14 has a lot more rebound than my Ambassador, but part of that might be the feeling of a stave drum.
 
Big fan of the thicker but single play heads(for sound - durability is just a bonus for the bashers, which I am not). There are less high frequencies in the thicker heads. Just do the tap test on unmounted heads. A single ply 10mil head will sound more "papery" than an Evans G14, and an Evans 2 ply head like a G2 will also sound less deep and w/ a shorter note. You really get the best of both worlds IMHO w/ thicker head, yet single ply.

To prove my fandom, on 14" & 16" floor tom (2007 starclassic bubinga) I run clear G14 batter over clear G14 as resos - smooth, deep tone w/ plenty of life (plenty! - even w/ diecast hoops), on the 10" and 12" rack toms, Evans clear G12's over clear G12's. Granted only 2 mils thicker than a G1 but when you combine the 2, you get the boost in less high frequencies. On the 8"(currently shipping) I will run clear G1 over clear G1. If they passed a law and I could only run one head thickness on the kit, I guess I would go w/ all G12's, but I do think the G14's could pull it off on the entire kit - they resonate well...

I also have now become a recent fan of coated G14 on snare. Really compliments the bubinga 6.5" deep snare. Adds a "thickness" or more substantial presence when hit. I have it right next to a Tama S.L.P. "Vintage Steel" w/ a coated G1. The G1 is thinner and yes, sounds "thinner" - not bad, just doesn't have the presence and "balls", if you will, of the G14. I forever thought one should generally stick w/ the classic single ply 10mil on snare drums... nope, coated G14 is now me head of choice on my snare. Snares are a unique beast in that the batter is so radically different from the reso - a G14 just adds to that contrast(desirable) and the tone of the drum. Speaking of tone of the drum, I've also recently got religion on 12 strand snares (20 is even overkill!) from Puresound. I can see now why Gavin Harrison runs a mere 8 strands!

Hope this helps on your thick single ply question. Answer: yes, even on resos!!

P.S. I also chose the GMAD (I would've bought a 14mil if they offered it - I bet they will sooner than later, eh "Evans Specialist"? It only makes sense) over the EMAD and EQ4... yep thicker, but not for durability but for sound (you can easily hear it on the evans sound samples on their site)
 
In case you weren't aware, I'm a big fan of concert toms, and offer this site for your perusal - www.concerttoms.com

Bermuda

I perused, thank you very much, Bermuda! Interesting stuff... for this 70's kid.
I hit some of your recommended concert tom samples in my iTunes collection. Don't know what Karen Carpenter was pulling off on her drums (was it her?) on "We've Only Just Begun" but I would've guessed they're were double headed standard toms on that recording. Full(tone) and warm sounding (not a bad bank jingle from Paul Williams - as a kid I had no idea he was doing all those 70's talk shows smashed, as I saw the other day)... but I will admit, I chuckled out loud when I got to the tom fill in Cracklin' Rosie - major, major concert tom sound - semi flat and a, ummm, whappy(?) "heady" sound - just like the sound when I pulled off the bottom heads, almost immediately, off my first drum set... hence my chuckle at the audio memory.
 
Wow great post, thanks Birdman (and everyone else).

I'm gonna try the Aquarians. I think they're a bit ugly but I really dig the response 2's I bought recently.
 
Big fan of the thicker but single play heads(for sound - durability is just a bonus for the bashers, which I am not). There are less high frequencies in the thicker heads. Just do the tap test on unmounted heads. A single ply 10mil head will sound more "papery" than an Evans G14, and an Evans 2 ply head like a G2 will also sound less deep and w/ a shorter note. You really get the best of both worlds IMHO w/ thicker head, yet single ply.

To prove my fandom, on 14" & 16" floor tom (2007 starclassic bubinga) I run clear G14 batter over clear G14 as resos - smooth, deep tone w/ plenty of life (plenty! - even w/ diecast hoops), on the 10" and 12" rack toms, Evans clear G12's over clear G12's. Granted only 2 mils thicker than a G1 but when you combine the 2, you get the boost in less high frequencies. On the 8"(currently shipping) I will run clear G1 over clear G1. If they passed a law and I could only run one head thickness on the kit, I guess I would go w/ all G12's, but I do think the G14's could pull it off on the entire kit - they resonate well...

I also have now become a recent fan of coated G14 on snare. Really compliments the bubinga 6.5" deep snare. Adds a "thickness" or more substantial presence when hit. I have it right next to a Tama S.L.P. "Vintage Steel" w/ a coated G1. The G1 is thinner and yes, sounds "thinner" - not bad, just doesn't have the presence and "balls", if you will, of the G14. I forever thought one should generally stick w/ the classic single ply 10mil on snare drums... nope, coated G14 is now me head of choice on my snare. Snares are a unique beast in that the batter is so radically different from the reso - a G14 just adds to that contrast(desirable) and the tone of the drum. Speaking of tone of the drum, I've also recently got religion on 12 strand snares (20 is even overkill!) from Puresound. I can see now why Gavin Harrison runs a mere 8 strands!

Hope this helps on your thick single ply question. Answer: yes, even on resos!!

P.S. I also chose the GMAD (I would've bought a 14mil if they offered it - I bet they will sooner than later, eh "Evans Specialist"? It only makes sense) over the EMAD and EQ4... yep thicker, but not for durability but for sound (you can easily hear it on the evans sound samples on their site)

Great post!…and yes I agree with you on the G12's & 14's, great heads…never really thought about using them on reso side though..might have to give that a try...
 
Big fan of the thicker but single play heads(for sound - durability is just a bonus for the bashers, which I am not). There are less high frequencies in the thicker heads. Just do the tap test on unmounted heads. A single ply 10mil head will sound more "papery" than an Evans G14, and an Evans 2 ply head like a G2 will also sound less deep and w/ a shorter note. You really get the best of both worlds IMHO w/ thicker head, yet single ply.

To prove my fandom, on 14" & 16" floor tom (2007 starclassic bubinga) I run clear G14 batter over clear G14 as resos - smooth, deep tone w/ plenty of life (plenty! - even w/ diecast hoops), on the 10" and 12" rack toms, Evans clear G12's over clear G12's. Granted only 2 mils thicker than a G1 but when you combine the 2, you get the boost in less high frequencies. On the 8"(currently shipping) I will run clear G1 over clear G1. If they passed a law and I could only run one head thickness on the kit, I guess I would go w/ all G12's, but I do think the G14's could pull it off on the entire kit - they resonate well...

I also have now become a recent fan of coated G14 on snare. Really compliments the bubinga 6.5" deep snare. Adds a "thickness" or more substantial presence when hit. I have it right next to a Tama S.L.P. "Vintage Steel" w/ a coated G1. The G1 is thinner and yes, sounds "thinner" - not bad, just doesn't have the presence and "balls", if you will, of the G14. I forever thought one should generally stick w/ the classic single ply 10mil on snare drums... nope, coated G14 is now me head of choice on my snare. Snares are a unique beast in that the batter is so radically different from the reso - a G14 just adds to that contrast(desirable) and the tone of the drum. Speaking of tone of the drum, I've also recently got religion on 12 strand snares (20 is even overkill!) from Puresound. I can see now why Gavin Harrison runs a mere 8 strands!

Hope this helps on your thick single ply question. Answer: yes, even on resos!!

P.S. I also chose the GMAD (I would've bought a 14mil if they offered it - I bet they will sooner than later, eh "Evans Specialist"? It only makes sense) over the EMAD and EQ4... yep thicker, but not for durability but for sound (you can easily hear it on the evans sound samples on their site)

Great choices all around! I happen to be a big fan of the balanced set concept as well. It's really the same idea as varied thickness for guitar strings (thicker medium for lower frequencies, thinner for higher).

The thought of a 14mil EMAD has crossed my mind...
 
I've been using the Evans G14 coated heads over G1 clears on my toms and they sound great IMO.

Personally, I didn't care for the G14 on my snare...............too much ring and crazy overtones that I couldn't tune out. But the toms sing perfectly.
 
I also have now become a recent fan of coated G14 on snare. Really compliments the bubinga 6.5" deep snare. Adds a "thickness" or more substantial presence when hit. I have it right next to a Tama S.L.P. "Vintage Steel" w/ a coated G1. The G1 is thinner and yes, sounds "thinner" - not bad, just doesn't have the presence and "balls", if you will, of the G14. I forever thought one should generally stick w/ the classic single ply 10mil on snare drums... nope, coated G14 is now me head of choice on my snare. Snares are a unique beast in that the batter is so radically different from the reso - a G14 just adds to that contrast(desirable) and the tone of the drum.

Amen to that! I put a G14 coated on my Tama Starclassic Maple 5.5" x 14" snare for the recording of my band's first EP and felt like I finally have found the batter that that particular drum likes best. It just seems to pull the most body out of it, while not killing the duration of the note, like a 2-ply would.

I really enjoy an ST or G2 coated or on most of my other 14" snares (except for my Ludwig Epic "Brick"), but I suspect I'll be slowly switching all of those over to G14s, eventually.
 
]
And don't forget the reso at 14 mil too = subwoofer depth! Death to 7 mil bass reso heads! ;)

Has there ever been an official reason as to why Evans generally doesn't do anything thicker than a 7mil bass reso head? I mean, I know one could just take a batter head and slap it on the reso side, but it would be nice to be able to get something that's got a pre-cut microphone hole (like the EQ3 resonant black) in it that's a little thicker. Options are good!
 
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