heads for maple toms

qwikdoc

Junior Member
I just purchased my first maple kit, a Mapex Meridian and I am going to swap out the stock heads. I've always loved Remo pinstripes on the toms of my birch kit. I'd love to stick with the pinstripes but not sure if it is the right head. I'm not necessarily looking for brand recommendations as much as advice on the thickness and coating that works best for maple. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I use an Aquarian High Energy head for my snare. Hopefully that is a good head for maple as well.

To be more specific, I play in an ACDC tribute band and want a big sound from the toms without a lot of sustain. That fat, classic rock sound if you will. I tend to tune my drums a little lower. Hopefully that helps.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In my opinion, drumheads are not really drumshell wood type specific. The best way to choose is by experimentation or get the advice from someone who has basically the same kit as yours and start there. A lot of the time the genre of music is a great place to start with the selection of heads. My "maple" heads also sound very nice on my "bubinga" kit and I'm sure I would get great results from them on a birch kit, if I had one.

Dennis
 
Clear Evans G2's are a safe choice. If u find that they ring a little too much, just through on some e-rings.
 
I put EC2 clears on the toms last night and I like how they sound. They seemed to tune easy. They really let the toms sing. I wasn't able to put them through a workout with the band but I will tonight. I am anxious to hear them.
 
The more different types of heads you experiment with, the more info. you'll gain on what heads you like .... and what heads you don't.​
If your playing live (in an AC/DC trib. band) and loud, most of your sustain won't even be heard above the din of the band. But ... that sustain does help your drums to cut thru. So Pinstripes might be a little too muffled for what you want. Typically, that vintage sound was produced by double ply heads over single ply heads. And good tuning skills. A single ply head with a richie ring (Powerstroke 3) also works well.​
 
I hear what you're saying Harry. I like how my toms with the pinstripes sound sitting behind the kit but never seem to like them as much when I listen to them recorded live. I probably make the situation worse by using tone control rings over the pinstripes. I'd like to try your suggestion with the powerstroke 3 when I replace the pinstripes. What would you suggest for tuning? Top higher? Bottom higher? Both the same?
 
I mostly tune with the reso head higher in pitch, than the batter.​
The Pinstripe heads work really well on my Vistalite kit. Acrylic drums tend to be bright, so the Pins. tame that a bit. For all my wood shell kits, I mostly use Emperor or Powerstroke 3 for batter.​
 
I'm sure the AC/DC "classic rock sound" you're looking for was probably created using Emperor over Ambassador heads in the first place. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what heads Phil Rudd uses/used if you really want to concentrate on the AC/DC sound.

I also really agree with Harry's suggestion to try a variety of different heads so you can figure out what is going to work for you. All the advice in the world isn't going to help unless you finally try something for yourself.
 
I went with EC2's on the toms and stuck with Aquarian hi energy on the snare. I will swap out the kick stock batter with a SK2 shortly. The EC2's easily rival the Pinstripes for the tom sound I like. I was really impressed with them. Especially on my 16 x 16 FT. My first foray into using Evans heads on my toms.
 
I just purchased my first maple kit, a Mapex Meridian and I am going to swap out the stock heads. I've always loved Remo pinstripes on the toms of my birch kit. I'd love to stick with the pinstripes but not sure if it is the right head. I'm not necessarily looking for brand recommendations as much as advice on the thickness and coating that works best for maple. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I use an Aquarian High Energy head for my snare. Hopefully that is a good head for maple as well.

To be more specific, I play in an ACDC tribute band and want a big sound from the toms without a lot of sustain. That fat, classic rock sound if you will. I tend to tune my drums a little lower. Hopefully that helps.

Stick with Pinstripes if that's what you like. You can't get much more "fat and classic rock" than those. Me personally, I'm a single-ply head guy. I like a brighter open sound, even at lower tunings and I like the sensitivity. However for hard rock and sheer durability, you can't go wrong with Pinstripes. Emperor coated heads would be my second choice.

I have to add, I won't buy anything Aquarian, since they began producing them in Mexico. Expensive US-made drumkits are one thing but being that the price of heads is about the same be they Remo, Evans or Aquarian, I'm going to opt for Made in USA. Every time.
 
Last edited:
An Ambassador-X is another choice to consider for tom batter.
I use the coated version of them as batters on both of my Ludwig kits that I use for Rock and Country. They make a big boom sound that is in between a single and a double ply.
I can smack the snot out of them and they won't dent.
I also use an Amb-X on my 14" Saturn maple/walnut floor tom cranked up tight for jazz. It adds a bit of warmth even at tight tension.
I use Amb-X's on my Ludwig Black Beauty snare and also on my Ludwig 2012 Club Date wood snare for harder hitting gigs where I want a full cut from my snare with less ring.
 
I like the EC2 heads on the toms so much that I decided to try an EMAD2 on the kick with an EMAD reso. I have them but haven't put them on yet. When I do, I will post how I think they compare to the SK2.
 
Back
Top