Black coated heads...

keepitgreen

Senior Member
I ordered an Aquarian Hi-Velocity head for my Mapex Blade steel snare, and I decided to get it in black for a couple of reasons... First, because I've never had a black skin before, and I wanted to see what they were like... And second, because I think it would look really cool on this snare in particular... The shop should have it in for me either today or tomorrow...

Anyway, it got me thinking about all the black coated heads, Remo, Evans, or Aquarian. Has anyone ever had any problems with the black coating marking cymbals or white coated skins? The reason I ask is because all my toms have white Remo Suede batters, and I wonder if the black coating will transfer to the sticks, and start leaving black marks all over the toms.... Or on my cymbals....

Thanks for any help!
 
I used the Remo emperor suedes for a bit when they came out and really liked them. They will mark up a white snare head a bit, I use wooden tipped sticks, nylon may transfer less. I never noticed any transfer onto my cymbals, even my ride stayed fairly mark free.

The suedes are good heads. I highly recommend them.
 
I used the Remo emperor suedes for a bit when they came out and really liked them. They will mark up a white snare head a bit, I use wooden tipped sticks, nylon may transfer less. I never noticed any transfer onto my cymbals, even my ride stayed fairly mark free.

The suedes are good heads. I highly recommend them.

Agreed! I'm loving the suede heads, which surprised me. They really have a beautiful warm sound, with just the right amount of ring.

But it's my snare head that will be black, while the toms are white. I use wood tips, so I'm wondering if its gonna transfer the black. Only one way to find out I guess!
 
I have the black suedes on my home kit (BRX) right now, and the "coating" or "coloring" (whatever it is) doesn't come off on the sticks, but one gripe I do have is that from the first couple hits the heads start showing marks as a dark grey color from your sticks. I use wood tipped sticks only. The marks that show really put a damper on the aesthetics of them.

They sound fair enough, but really - if I knew it was going to do that, I would have just ordered a set of G1's or Ambassadors and called it good. I do agree that these blackies sound like the warmth of a coated head with the attack of a clear head. They are not quite perfect as you'd think, but they are somewhat of a different animal.

If they stayed newer looking longer, I'd say thumbs up. But I don't think I'd buy them again.
 
Agreed! I'm loving the suede heads, which surprised me. They really have a beautiful warm sound, with just the right amount of ring.

But it's my snare head that will be black, while the toms are white. I use wood tips, so I'm wondering if its gonna transfer the black. Only one way to find out I guess!

Also if you're getting an Aquarian head in black, their heads are "Video Gloss Black" which is not a coating, it is a color/paint underneath the head and a clear coat of some kind on top to make it shine. So no, I wouldn't think it would transfer to your other equipment by getting picked up by your sticks.
 
So the shop called me this morning, and after work I went in to pick it up. Just popped the old one off and tuned up the new Aquarian Hi-Velocity nice and med-tight... It sounds really good right now, but I don't have any time to actually work it into the kit yet... That'll have to wait for tomorrow. One thing I noticed right away is that it really cuts out the ring of the steel. I usually use an evans ring on this snare, but as soon as I put it on, it sounded dead. I think I'm going to like this a lot... If the black coating really starts wearing off quickly and looking rough, I'll probably switch over to the regular white, but for now, this snare looks bad-ass! (I just realized that picture is TERRIBLE quality, I'll take another and post it with the kit tomorrow)
 

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I've been using the Evans Onyx heads on my toms in the studio as of late, which are 2 plies of 7.5 mil black film, frost coated. Since the film itself is black colored and the coating has no coloring of its own, it doesn't transfer the black color onto cymbals or any clear or white coated drumheads I may be using on any snare I may be using in conjunction with it. I've used a 14" Onyx as a snare batter on my Pork Pie Big Black 6.5" x 14" that was particularly unruly in a certain room I was recording in, and it worked beautifully. If you're not so much into a coated head, I'm told that the new Evans Black Chrome heads are quite nice as well.
 
Please let us know if the head starts showing stick marks. Post pics if you can! Thanks!
 
Please let us know if the head starts showing stick marks. Post pics if you can! Thanks!

It ended up being a ridiculously busy weekend, and I didn't have a chance to sit behind the kit at all... I banged on the new head a bit, but only for a few minutes. I'm hoping to sit down with it today or tomorrow and really give it a run through. I'll take some pics and post when I get a chance to play!

Edit: Finally found some time this afternoon to bang on the kit. This is after about 30 minutes of banging through half a dozen songs. The black has turned into a kinda ugly grey, but that doesn't bother me much. What I'm more impressed with is the sound. It's exactly what I wanted, minimal ringing, a wee bit of overtone, and still lots of bark. I like the dark side, but I think I'm gonna go back to the light after this one wears out...
 

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Evans doesn't make any black coated heads, so there isn't any transfer of color that can take place. Cheers!

So with the black chrome and onyx heads that Evans makes, what happens to the black color over time? I'm genuinely curious, because with this Aquarian head, the sticks are changing the black to a dull grey color.

Again, I don't really care that much about the color change if the sound is right (which it is!), but I did choose black over white because of the look. If the Evans heads are more durable and retain their black color for a longer time, I'd definitely try it out!

What's the Evans equivalent to the Aquarian Hi-Velocity?
 
So with the black chrome and onyx heads that Evans makes, what happens to the black color over time? I'm genuinely curious, because with this Aquarian head, the sticks are changing the black to a dull grey color.

Again, I don't really care that much about the color change if the sound is right (which it is!), but I did choose black over white because of the look. If the Evans heads are more durable and retain their black color for a longer time, I'd definitely try it out!

What's the Evans equivalent to the Aquarian Hi-Velocity?

In the case of the Black Chromes, the black doesn't change, because it's the bottom of two plies. Stick marks will show on the top ply, but the black doesn't fade, nor does it transfer. The black film of the Onyx heads won't likely fade, though stick marks will show on the frost coating.

Regarding something similar to the Hi-Velocity, I would recommend the Evans ST for snare. As for toms, the Onyx series or G2's are your best bet.

Cheers!
 
It ended up being a ridiculously busy weekend, and I didn't have a chance to sit behind the kit at all... I banged on the new head a bit, but only for a few minutes. I'm hoping to sit down with it today or tomorrow and really give it a run through. I'll take some pics and post when I get a chance to play!

Edit: Finally found some time this afternoon to bang on the kit. This is after about 30 minutes of banging through half a dozen songs. The black has turned into a kinda ugly grey, but that doesn't bother me much. What I'm more impressed with is the sound. It's exactly what I wanted, minimal ringing, a wee bit of overtone, and still lots of bark. I like the dark side, but I think I'm gonna go back to the light after this one wears out...

I'm the same way. I liked the Black Suedes for like 2 weeks, then I was like meh...give me plain old clears or whatever. :)
 
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