oil-filled heads

spyder18

Junior Member
Anybody got any opinions on these? I'm looking for a way to make my cheap Ludwig kit a little less 'boingy' while retaining attack and feel.
 
You will definitely get rid of the "boingy". The feel of those may not be what you are looking for. To me they feel like I;m playing a plastic 5 gallon bucket.

What kind of Ludwig kit do you have? Even the budget and beginner lines should sound pretty good with most single ply heads from Evans, Aquarian, Remo, etc. Moon Gels take care of overtones. I would stay away from those hydraulics unless you try them out first. They are really dead.
 
my guess is its not heads, and i'd avoid oil-filled like the plague.
your kit likely needs re-tuning. your kit should sound fine with normal heads. boingy is an overtone you could get rid of, getting batter and reso in sync, and also maybe not tuning as high?
 
There's a heap of non-oil filled heads that will do the job too. If you're finding normal single or double ply heads just too much, then check out many of the pre-muffled heads out there. I'm really only familiar with Remo so can offer up things like Pinstripes, Controlled Sounds, PS3's or PS4's, Emperor X's etc. But both Evans and Aquarian offer similar pre-muffled products too. Many of them are quite heavy and will reduce most overtones.

Of course, if totally removing them is your aim, then Hydraulics will certainly fit the bill. I just personally think there are better options out there.
 
Remo PS3
Aquarian Performance-II
Aquarian Studio-X
Aquarian Super-2
Evans EC2

Just some of the choices that you have along with the oil heads.
 
I've got hydraulics on an 18" bass drum and an 8" tom (bought it used that way).

I really like it on the bass, and really don't like it on the tom. They pretty much completely 'deaden' the sound, removing almost all overtones, and leave you with a solid 'thump'. You may like it, but there's only way one to tell.

Like others have said, there are plenty of other less drastic heads to choose from though.
 
I use Evans blue hydraulic heads all the way around on my Zickos kit. I love the way they sound. I have a few for sale cheap (selling for a friend). 6". 8", 10", 12", 15", 16", 18" in blue, black and clear. $2 - $10. PM me for more info.
 
I use Evans blue hydraulic heads all the way around on my Zickos kit. I love the way they sound.
And indeed, hydraulic heads are a perfect match for acrylic drums. Zickos and Vistalite (I owned both) drums are especially bright. Zickos came stock with red hydraulics, if my memory is correct. Personally, I liked Pinstripe (batter) and Ambassador (reso) the best.​
Back to the OP, I'd use Pinstripe or Powerstroke 3 (batter).​
 
Sorry... but I believe, perhaps I'm mistaken... but Pinstripes and Emperor heads have no "oil" or fluid of any kind... that "liquid effect" you see is the way the two plies affect light.
 
Sorry... but I believe, perhaps I'm mistaken... but Pinstripes and Emperor heads have no "oil" or fluid of any kind... that "liquid effect" you see is the way the two plies affect light.

those heads are listed as alternatives here, no one is saying they're oil filled.
 
Ok... thanks.. it's just that someone reading might have gotten that idea!
 
a little less 'boingy' while retaining attack and feel.

Boingy is a product of tuning. You can tune out boing. Usually, when the batter head is tensioned tighter than the reso head, you get the boing. Make the reso head tighter than the batter. You can test the theory by turning the drum around and hitting the reso head. It should sound less boingy if it's looser than the batter.

Oil filled heads.....no thanks. I'll take your overtones.
 
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Sorry... but I believe, perhaps I'm mistaken... but Pinstripes and Emperor heads have no "oil" or fluid of any kind... that "liquid effect" you see is the way the two plies affect light.

That's correct - you can get an oil "Look" from a non oil filled 2 ply.

If you saw how little the amount of oil is in an Evans Hydraylic, you would not believe it, its just a tiny wipe of an oil filled cloth over the ply.
 
And indeed, hydraulic heads are a perfect match for acrylic drums. Zickos and Vistalite (I owned both) drums are especially bright. Zickos came stock with red hydraulics, if my memory is correct.​

Actually, I think they were blue hydraulics.
 
Boingy is a product of tuning. You can tune out boing. Usually, when the batter head is tensioned tighter than the reso head, you get the boing. Make the batter head tighter than the reso. You can test the theory by turning the drum around and hitting the reso head. It should sound less boingy if it's looser than the batter.

Sorry, but I don't understand this - I'm still working on learning proper tuning myself - do you get a 'boing' when the batter is tighter than the reso head or vice verse?
 
If you saw how little the amount of oil is in an Evans Hydraylic, you would not believe it, its just a tiny wipe of an oil filled cloth over the ply.

Yup! It's quite a small amount but it definitely does the trick. It always blows me away how some people trash the Hydraulic series, yet when I see what they're using, it's a two-ply with a studio ring, moongel and a duct tape...
 
Sorry, but I don't understand this - I'm still working on learning proper tuning myself - do you get a 'boing' when the batter is tighter than the reso head or vice verse?
I'm sorry, I messed up the wording in that post. I edited it. What I meant to say is keep the reso tighter than the batter. A tight batter and a looser reso sounds boingy to me. A looser batter and a tighter reso sounds much more punchy to me.
 
Yup! It's quite a small amount but it definitely does the trick. It always blows me away how some people trash the Hydraulic series, yet when I see what they're using, it's a two-ply with a studio ring, moongel and a duct tape...

HA! Very true. People use the thinnest, ringiest heads on their drums and complain about how thin and ringy they are, then stuff pillows, blankets, mattresses and engine blocks into their drums and duct-tape tampons to the heads to kill the sound as much as possible (don't laugh, there are photos of that somewhere around here). But if you suggest hydraulic heads, they're like, "No WAY would I ever do that to my drums!!"
 
I'm sorry, I messed up the wording in that post. I edited it. What I meant to say is keep the reso tighter than the batter. A tight batter and a looser reso sounds boingy to me. A looser batter and a tighter reso sounds much more punchy to me.

OK, thanks, that's what I found out as well.
 
Yup! It's quite a small amount but it definitely does the trick. It always blows me away how some people trash the Hydraulic series, yet when I see what they're using, it's a two-ply with a studio ring, moongel and a duct tape...

HA! Very true. People use the thinnest, ringiest heads on their drums and complain about how thin and ringy they are, then stuff pillows, blankets, mattresses and engine blocks into their drums and duct-tape tampons to the heads to kill the sound as much as possible (don't laugh, there are photos of that somewhere around here). But if you suggest hydraulic heads, they're like, "No WAY would I ever do that to my drums!!"

Reason why they do this is that hydraulic, 2 plys and even dot heads not only remove the overtones but they also reduce / remove some of the warm resonance, attack and lower tones as well. Using a thinner head, the right tuning and if need be adding a studio ring or some moon jell to the outside edge allows you to remove most of the unwanted odd harmonic over tones and still keep most of the resonance, all of the tone and attack. I have tried just about every type of heads available over the last 33 years and from the audience point of view, miced or unmiced the fullest sound with the most attack and lowest tuning is achieved by using singly ply heads. I do agree with you Deathmetalconga about pillows and blackets in the bass drum tho, as it reduces the cubic area of the drum and basically turns 22's into 20's and 20's into 18's etc. For all the drummers that prefer a muffled kick as apposed to an open sounding one and with all the premuffled heads available a good kick drum sound should be able to be found without having to be stuffed.
 
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