Dilemma selecting heads

Hi I am in a dilemma selecting heads

I would like to try out coated heads, problem is the head on my 16" floor tom is a pretty new clear emperor, on the 12", a clear pinstripe and 13" clear pearl stock head that I want to switch out. I'm thinking of just replacing the 12" and 13" heads with coated heads. Should I do this or just replace all the heads?

Also, if I did leave the 16" clear emperor alone should I get coated ambassadors or coated emperors for my 12'' and 13''? I'm leaning to the emperors for uniformity sake. This must sound a bit mad. But I don't want to waste a perfectly good clear emperor. My kit is a low end pearl by the way.

Last question I promise, can I use a normal clear ambassador for my snare reso or does it have to be a hazy ambassador or specifically the snare side ambassador? Is the normal amb the same as the snare side amb or is the snare side lighter in weight? THANKS ALOT

tiffanyl said:

Should I do this or just replace all the heads?

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It's good to replace them all at once so that they wear evenly...

tiffanyl said:

Also, if I did leave the 16" clear emperor alone should I get coated ambassadors or coated emperors for my 12'' and 13''? I'm leaning to the emperors for uniformity sake. This must sound a bit mad. But I don't want to waste a perfectly good clear emperor. My kit is a low end pearl by the way.

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If your 16" head is new, keep it and get new heads for the 12" and 13". I would suggest getting clear heads to match your floor tom. The coating on a head will reduce the amount of "attack" the stick has on a drum. Keeping the toms uniform in this respect, I recommend. Ambassador (higher pitch) or Emperor (more durable)...it's your call.

tiffanyl said:

Last question I promise, can I use a normal clear ambassador for my snare reso or does it have to be a hazy ambassador or specifically the snare side ambassador? Is the normal amb the same as the snare side amb or is the snare side lighter in weight? THANKS ALOT

Click to expand...

Get a hazy or snare side. The normal clear ambassador will sound really bad. Trust me, I was a noob, too, at one point...

If the Clear Emp on the 16" sounds good, leave it. Get whatever heads you want for the other drums. Sound should come before any type of uniformity. Rack toms sound inherently different than floor toms anyways...not having the same series of heads on them shouldn't mean anything.

For the lower level Pearl kits, I like Emperors, but anything can sound good if you know how to tune.