good ol' coated ambassadors

ok...so I fitted some rack toms last night with Coated Ambassadors and love their simplicity of tuning and also love the end result sound and feel but I already have a little bit of coating chipping off in the center of my 10"rack tom.

My question is how much will that affect the sound or is it more of an aesthetic thing?

Thanks
 
Are coated Ambassadors really that different than Evans coated G1's? Are they different than all of the other one-ply coated heads out there?


Peace, goodwill, and blues.
 
I didn't find a difference in feel, but the overall "crispness" on my drums was different.
I think the Remo might be slightly more dry. I like the jazzy tone from them.
It's probably not noticeable through a PA, but to my ears, an Ambassador is a little more crisp in attack, and nice and full in tone.

The G1 sounds really good, and maybe a little more "solid" in the attack where it gets to the whole tone of the drum a little quicker. I'm talking milliseconds, but behind a kit, I could hear it.
I had G1 coated top and G1 clear bottom, and it was a little too.... "standard rock sound everyone had" maybe to my ear. It was a good sound, just not what I'm after. They were quality heads, and never failed in anyway, so that was not an issue for me.

I actually really liked the Evans UNO58 heads though. Those were discontinued around 2000-2001 I guess.
 
Never had much luck with them, even when the coating didnt chip off I found the head went dead in 3 to 4 weeks of regular playing. I have found the Aquarian texture coated and or my favorite the texture coated studio x last at least 3 to 4 times longer before going dead and the coating is almost bullet proof plus they sell for less money.

I second this.. Remo are great don't get me wrong,I've played them since I was 8, but after playing Aquarian and having the same Response 2 (coated) on my kit for several months now and they still look the same as they did when I brought them home, and they are considerably cheaper than any other counterpart where I live, it's a no brainer. Being a musician that is not signed you have to cut costs and corners in order to do something you love and survive.
So Aquarian heads are great, they sound just as good if not better and the best thing is no coating comes off....
Plus the sealing process of these heads is incredible, when you seat the head thee is no cracking sound like the others, guess its the glue cracking etc...
Aquarian, if you have not tried them.. Try them.
 
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I really liked those Evans UNO58 1000 heads too. Peace, goodwill, and blues.
 
Thought I would share. In case you don't read my entire post I want you to know Remo came through. I know there has been talk on this forum about Remo's coating wearing too quickly. I use Coated Ambassadors on two of my kits top and clear bottom and have never had such an issue. So I walked into GC and picked up 2 14 Coated Ambs to go on a Brass Master and an Lm400. After about 30 minutes of fairly spirited brush playing at a gig I notice a large area on the head where the coating is gone. Same happened with the other head about a earlier but I didn't think much of it and replaced it. I contacted Remo about this and they asked for pictures and the number stamped on the hoop. I only had pictures of the latest head because I had already turned the other one into a potted plant base and it was very dirty. After I sent the pic of the head I did have I received an email saying they would help me out. I figured since I couldn't show proof of the first head I would be receiving one Amb. 5 days later a box sits on my front porch and inside is a Coated A and a Coated AX. Thanks Remo and Chris Wakelin.
 
Thought I would share. In case you don't read my entire post I want you to know Remo came through. I know there has been talk on this forum about Remo's coating wearing too quickly. I use Coated Ambassadors on two of my kits top and clear bottom and have never had such an issue. So I walked into GC and picked up 2 14 Coated Ambs to go on a Brass Master and an Lm400. After about 30 minutes of fairly spirited brush playing at a gig I notice a large area on the head where the coating is gone. Same happened with the other head about a earlier but I didn't think much of it and replaced it. I contacted Remo about this and they asked for pictures and the number stamped on the hoop. I only had pictures of the latest head because I had already turned the other one into a potted plant base and it was very dirty. After I sent the pic of the head I did have I received an email saying they would help me out. I figured since I couldn't show proof of the first head I would be receiving one Amb. 5 days later a box sits on my front porch and inside is a Coated A and a Coated AX. Thanks Remo and Chris Wakelin.

This is good news for you. The trouble is that Remo should not rest on it's morals. Many people like me will only turn to another brand of head after multiple disappointments.

Dennis
 
Toms sound great. Nice sound from just a phone! Ambassadors are my fave heads on everything.
I just picked up one of those Ambassador X-14's (14 mil single ply) to try out.

Putting it on a BB, and I'll give a report.....


Report: 1/2 hour later.....
This head is pretty dang great. Fat sounding, articulate, good tuning range, not choked when tightened up higher.... I LIKE IT!
I will be using this drum at my show Saturday, & if they have another one at the shop, the other BB is getting one too.
I stated using a Coated Emp with a top dot about 9 years ago, and it's been my go-to, but this one is going to become a favorite I can tell already.

They said it's only available in 13 and 14" snare sizes.
AX-0114-14
 
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Toms sound great. Nice sound from just a phone! Ambassadors are my fave heads on everything.
I just picked up one of those Ambassador X-14's (14 mil single ply) to try out.

Putting it on a BB, and I'll give a report.....


Report: 1/2 hour later.....
This head is pretty dang great. Fat sounding, articulate, good tuning range, not choked when tightened up higher.... I LIKE IT!
I will be using this drum at my show Saturday, & if they have another one at the shop, the other BB is getting one too.
I stated using a Coated Emp with a top dot about 9 years ago, and it's been my go-to, but this one is going to become a favorite I can tell already.

They said it's only available in 13 and 14" snare sizes.
AX-0114-14

Thanks Karl....I was pretty impressed with the audio quality as well on the iPhone too!

Would you classify my tuning as medium or high in that vid? To me they feel just right and while I also like them tuned a little lower my rack toms seem to be in there sweet spot for feel and sound.

I'm going to give the ambassador x14 a try soon on my jimmy chamberlain steel snare so thanks for your update :)
 
Medium is what I'd say.
I have mine around where you have them, and they don't feel "tight", and have room to go higher.
Great sounding and feeling heads.
Tried a "new" Aquarian (with their new film), and...... nope. I liked how it sat on the shell, and the rim, tuned up easily, but it sounded real thin and papery on my drum.

Sticking with the Ambassador. I put clears on the bottom for a change (coated or SW for the last year or so).

I need to stop at the shop today after work anyway, so I'm going to see if they have another X-14. If not, I'll have them order some in, & they'll get there by Thursday.
That head is pretty cool. I like the "tonk" I get with the Emp top dot playing right off the dot, but this head is more versatile. I can still get some of that "tonk" (AVH, Peter Criss) ring on it by de-tuning a rod too.
 
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