Tuning Remo Heads

LedFoot65

Head Questions with no end...
Is it just me or has anyone else had trouble tuning remo's.I put a brand new PS3 front and back on my kick.If I loosen up the heads to try to get a deeper tone they sound very loose plasticly if I bring them up they don't sound bad they have a strong punch.I'm looking for a fat sound. I had a fat sound last year with this combo but know I don't know.In between I was useing an emad2 on the kick it sounded great but at gigs people told me they couldn't hear the kick.I'm even having trouble with my toms they take forever to get in tune. I put a brand new ambassador on my snare and just while I was tuning it the coating was coming off.When I put clear g2s on they tuned rite up now clear emporers are driving me crazy.My kit is a Tama SCP all birch. So is it me or I'm I going insane HA!HA!.Please help!
 
Maybe stick with Evans for now then? If you're having problems with the PS3 and the Emperors that you're not getting with the EMADs and G2's, just stick with 'em.

I have found that the coating on Remo heads comes off MUUUUCH faster than that on Evans heads. At my practice room on monday, there was a new Emperor X on there which had only been put on the day i got there, it had been played once for about 15 minutes to stretch it out and settle it in a bit more and even then it was quite patchy where the coating had come off.

Now, i'm a very hard player, particularly on the snare, and i thought that after about 3 hours band practice, the coating was in a 'normal' sort of state because some of the actual film was showing. The i realized that i've had my Evans Onyx since christmas and the film has only just started to show through, and I use my snare a lot more than the one at the practice room.

I've also found, like you, that Evans are generally easier to tune and work with. I don't know what it is. Maybe after the amount of times i've used Evans heads on several kits and snares and then used Remo on a different snares and kits i've developed a liking for Evans. Strangely, the only sound i've really liked and really wanted was from a 10" Pearl tom with a coated ambassador on it. And even that took about 15 to 20 minutes to get just about right. Whereas my Onyx, clear G1's i used to have on my toms, the Hydraulics i have on them now, and previous snare heads from Evans have just seemed better and easier to work with for me.

As for volume of the EMAD, trying using the small foam ring, or none at all.
More muffling = less volume. Even if it sounds echoey and bad from behind the kit, it'll most likely be just enough from the audience.

60% of the time, it works all of the time.
xoxo
 
Thanks alot Im going to change my snare drum first and so on. I think I'll just try a g1. I love the sound of ambassadors on the snare but if there gonna wear out quick what's the sense.
 
I love the sound of ambassadors on the snare but if there gonna wear out quick what's the sense.

I'm not doubting anyone else's experience here, but one thing that has continually staggered me since joining the forums, is the continuing claim the Remo heads" don't hold up" or that "the coating wears off after 15 mins of playing". I've used Remo heads for over 25 years and have just not found this to be the case. If they were rubbish, fell apart or had the coating wear that quickly, I simply wouldn't use them.

Coating on ALL heads wears off eventually....it's just a fact of life. I've used Evans heads on and off before (predominantly when i'm unable to get Remo).....i'll let you in on a little secret....their coating wears off as well.......but just like Remo, it takes a hell of a lot longer than 15 mins or a few hits of the drum.

I'm not advocating that you should buy one over the other. that's your decision to make, but I do want to provide some balance to the argument that Remo don't do what they're supposed to do. YMMV, and that's fine by me, but I've never encountered issues with Remo's durability. The idea that they're not durable perplexes me to be honest, and I know it's done the same to a couple of other Aussie posters on the site.

Who knows, maybe Remo send the quality Downunder and leave the scraps at home?....nah, I'm not buying it either, but I'm at a loss to explain their perceived durability issues . :)
 
I used Remo coated heads on my drums for almost 45 years before I made the change to Evans. The reason was the coating on my snare's batter head would prematurely wear. I do a lot of brush work with some of my styles of music and found that I loose the bite of the head much quicker with Remo snare heads than I do using Evans. When I was using Remo I found that the coatings would sometimes slightly chip away on some areas of the head, nothing that would make the head immediately useless, but I haven't experienced this with the Evans heads I'm using now. If you're using clear Remos, there's really no issues. I always did like the sound of Remo heads, but in my experience and usage, Evans heads do last longer in the coating department.

Dennis
 
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I'm not doubting anyone else's experience here, but one thing that has continually staggered me since joining the forums, is the continuing claim the Remo heads" don't hold up" or that "the coating wears off after 15 mins of playing". I've used Remo heads for over 25 years and have just not found this to be the case. If they were rubbish, fell apart or had the coating wear that quickly, I simply wouldn't use them.

Coating on ALL heads wears off eventually....it's just a fact of life. I've used Evans heads on and off before (predominantly when i'm unable to get Remo).....i'll let you in on a little secret....their coating wears off as well.......but just like Remo, it takes a hell of a lot longer than 15 mins or a few hits of the drum.

I'm not advocating that you should buy one over the other. that's your decision to make, but I do want to provide some balance to the argument that Remo don't do what they're supposed to do. YMMV, and that's fine by me, but I've never encountered issues with Remo's durability. The idea that they're not durable perplexes me to be honest, and I know it's done the same to a couple of other Aussie posters on the site.

Who knows, maybe Remo send the quality Downunder and leave the scraps at home?....nah, I'm not buying it either, but I'm at a loss to explain their perceived durability issues . :)

I'm not talking their durability as a drum head, they don't break or split after 15 minutes, but it's just the coating. I've used Remo and Evans heads on and off at different places, venues, practice rooms and so on and in my experience, the coating lasts longer. As i said, it's not the actual heads breaking, just the coating. Each to his own though, and my own will remain as Evans from now on.

xoxo
 
I'm with PFOG.

In 35 years of using Remo (I've also used Evans, Aquarian, Ludwig, Attack etc...etc...) The coating has come off ONE head and it was a Coated Top Dot Emperor. That head has a clear film, with a clear dot, then coated.

That being said, I can see if there was something on the film, or a bad batch of coating, I can see it kind of coming off. It didn't flake off in 15 minutes, more like a week or so.

I don't know if it's WHERE people are buying heads, or what, but the coating of my heads just gets smooth before I change them (I use Coated Ambassadors, Emps sometimes).
I never have a problem with the coating, and it's strange to me that so many people do.
I play quietly and hard, so I don't think it has to do with how heavily people play.
I've had a scratch take off a line of coating, but it's never come off from sticks.

I've found any brand to be pretty easy to tune up, but getting a sound you like on your drum from a particular head can be the problem.

I'd say to the OP that if the Evans had a sound you really liked, just use them and don't think about it anymore. Sure, try stuff out (try 1 head--cheaper that way), but once you get a sound you really like, at least you know what's going to work for you to fall back on.
 
The thing you have to know about PS3s is that they do not sound their best at JAW tuning--where many guys tune their miked bass drums.

If you're playing out unmiked, tune the reso up above JAW a little bit, just to where it begins to get some bottom end and sustain. Then tune the batter a smidge higher.

For the loudest drum unmiked, avoid excessively muffled heads, ports, and anything in the drum. Tune for sustain. You'll hear the sustain at the kit, but the audience won't--they'll just hear a louder drum. If you bring a muffled, ported drum to an unmiked gig no one's going to hear it unless the venue is very small and the music is very soft.

And: finally I can disagree with Audiotech! ;-) In 40 years of using them I've never, not once, had a coated ambassador's coating wear prematurely.

Personally I think it's mass hysteria. ;-)
 
No. I don't think it's hysteria of any type. I have seen it happen ( the coating issue ) I have also seen coated heads last a long time with very little or no wear. I don't have an answer or even a guess as to either case. Aquarian claims they have the toughest coating. Well I tried coated Studio x's . They sounded nice but the coating on my 10 tom started popping and flaking off revealing a clear head the next day. Who knows for sure but really, whatever brand you choose it's going to wear off at some point. It's sprayed on the head. It can't last forever.
 
The Aquarian Jack DeJohnette coating is never coming off. Remo's do get dirty and come off sooner, but I think they sound better than Evans, so it's worth it. My stock Ludwig brand head on my LM411 had a great coating! I've not heard much about ATTACK, but one review highly praised them. Play with tuning more, PS3's sound better higher up. Good luck.
 
I finally got my kick drum tuned. I took both heads off and then I put on the batter head first. I tuned it then I put on the reso and tuned that one and I finally got a sound I like. I actually perfer a deeper sound like the emad but it don't cut unmiced.How do you guy's tune , both heads on at the same time or one on first than the other on? In any case wich head do you tune first top or bottom ? I've been playing a long time but I don't know I have a hard time with these Remo's. When I was younger I had a Tama Imperialstar kit I used pinstripes on the whole kit except the snare I used an emporer. I never had a problem. I hear all this stuff about Remo's quality control I wonder if is true. I don't have this problem with Evan's but I think Remo sound better. What do guy's think about my whole saga.
 
I finally got my kick drum tuned. I took both heads off and then I put on the batter head first. I tuned it then I put on the reso and tuned that one and I finally got a sound I like. I actually perfer a deeper sound like the emad but it don't cut unmiced.How do you guy's tune , both heads on at the same time or one on first than the other on? In any case wich head do you tune first top or bottom ? I've been playing a long time but I don't know I have a hard time with these Remo's. When I was younger I had a Tama Imperialstar kit I used pinstripes on the whole kit except the snare I used an emporer. I never had a problem. I hear all this stuff about Remo's quality control I wonder if is true. I don't have this problem with Evan's but I think Remo sound better. What do guy's think about my whole saga.

Remos are no harder to tune than other brands of heads, nor is their QC any better or worse.

For playing out unmiked, take the advice I gave you above: tune the reso first, up above JAW to where you begin to get some bottom-end and sustain. Then tune the batter a smidge higher. No port and nothing in the drum. That should give you maximum volume unmiked.

Don't worry about hearing sustain from the driver's seat--the audience doesn't hear the sustain, they just hear a louder bass drum.
 
For those who talk about coating "flying off"....how sharp are the angles of your drums?
Just saying......
 
If I loosen up the heads to try to get a deeper tone they sound very loose .. if I bring them up they don't sound bad

Just the way this is written makes me want to suggest you always tune "up". I don't know if this is thrown around a lot anymore (I haven't seen it referenced on this site yet; granted, I'm pretty new but a longtime troll), but I suggest reading Prof Sounds Tuning Bible.
 
I'm back from my favorite Five Star drum shop with my new set of drums. The factory heads on these drums are coated Remos. They all tuned very easily and sound fantastic, just as the Remo heads I used four or five years ago. Since I have knowledge that these heads are very factory fresh, I'll report back on how their coatings hold up in the near future.

Dennis
 
i personally have always loved remo imo they produce a shorter and brighter sound than competitors

i think as with most good drumheads they r easy to tune just make sure take the extra time to break the glued seal that remo drumheads have

but all i can tell u for a fat bass sound is tune the reso as close to "buzzing" and possible the lower the better and then tune the batter to control pitch

the more muffling u have or the bigger hole u have will increase punch and decrease "fatness"

good luck to u
 
I keep hearing negative things about Remo heads on this board and I'll chime in with some others on this thread ans say I've never had any issues with Remo heads... never had to return one, never had any tuning issues... not sure why so many seem to have such issues. Oh - and the PS3 has been my favorite bass drum head for years.
 
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