Flaking on Coated Emporer Heads

drummerfluff

Junior Member
For years I've played Evans heads, but I notice a fair amount of professionals use Remo. I put a coated Emporer on my snare drum for comparison and the coating began flaking immediately (after one show there is a spot about the size of a pea where the coating is gone).

Is this a problem with coated Emporer's or Remo in general; or did I get a bad head? Can anyone offer some insight?

Thanks!
 
I cannot speak for the emperor head on the snare, but I do have a coated ambassador heads on my entire kit and I put them through the paces and have not had a flake from them yet. I have heard of this with some other folks though so maybe it is an issue.

Welcome to the Forum
 
I have noticed Evans does have a more durable coating, but...I do prefer the sound of Remo. The sound I can get from Vintage E's is like no other.
 
For years I've played Evans heads, but I notice a fair amount of professionals use Remo. I put a coated Emporer on my snare drum for comparison and the coating began flaking immediately (after one show there is a spot about the size of a pea where the coating is gone).

Is this a problem with coated Emporer's or Remo in general; or did I get a bad head? Can anyone offer some insight?

Thanks!

Not from my experience. I have coated emps on 5 snares and 4 toms. I have used them for years now. The coating wears in time, of course, but I'm yet to see a head, where the coating 'flakes'.......especially so soon.
 
I have seen people use coated heads with no or little wear of the coating and I've also seen and heard of the coating flaking off almost immediately. I look at like this.. It's sprayed on and it gets hit so sooner or later is gonna come off. I don't who's coating is better. I kind of think they are all the same but I could be wrong. Aqaurian claims their coating doesn't flake or chip but it does. I have tried their coated Studio X heads and the coating popped off them right from the start. I don't do brush work so I just avoid them. I have always used clear heads in my 30 years. I gave coated a chance and they always flaked and chipped and made a mess so...
 
Technique, sticks and drum placement have more to do with coated heads wearing away than a manufacturing defect.

Technique - If you don't have a perfect up/down stroke, then you are doing what is called "slicing" This will scrape the heads causing premature coating wear.

Sticks - If you are using sticks with beat up beats, this will take the coating off a head prematurely.

Drum Placement - If you have your drums at strange angles, whether a real steep angle or that new awful flat fad, you will end up taking the coating off of the heads.

I have not ONCE had coating come off a Remo, Aquarian or Evans head. That goes for the Remo heads that do have more problems than others. Those include, Coated Emperors, Coated Powerstroke 3 and Coated Powerstroke 4. These are heads that have coating on a clear mylar. Again, I haven't even had coating wear on those models.
 
It's incredibly difficult having perfect up and down strokes with brushes, lol. Brushes can play havoc with snare batter heads. The coating wear problem is what actually turned me to Evans after playing Remo for about 47 years. The coatings never flaked after just one night or two, but I have noticed some premature erosion of Remo's coating compared to that of Evans.

Dennis
 
For years I've played Evans heads, but I notice a fair amount of professionals use Remo. I put a coated Emporer on my snare drum for comparison and the coating began flaking immediately (after one show there is a spot about the size of a pea where the coating is gone).

Is this a problem with coated Emporer's or Remo in general; or did I get a bad head? Can anyone offer some insight?

Thanks!


Yeah...Remos heads do that. In MY experience... Do a search on the forums and will find all sorts of Remo vs. Evans vs. Aquarian, etc. Everyone has their preference (and it's just that...a preference). I used to use Remo heads until I got tired of them flaking after just one practice session and in some cases, just one song. There were also a few customer service issues with Remo; I'll just say I've had better.
A few years ago I switched to Aquarian for all my heads. They are the best sounding ones I tried and they last forever. Also, they have the best customer service department; I've been helped by Roy Burns personally a few times.
If you are looking for a good Emp weight head, try the coated Response 2 head.
 
Only time I've ever seen that happen is on my Coated PS3.... on my bass drum. I tend to bury the beater when I'm playing louder too, so it's understandable. It was a gradual, slow removal too, so I eventually just put the patch I was trying to avoid using because of the attack on it and now everything's fine.

Other than that, I had teeny tiny spots where the coating had started to wear away enough to where you could just barely start to see the clear part of an Ambassador on my snare once... after I had played the crap out of it for about a year and a half.

Never had an issue otherwise.
 
Technique, sticks and drum placement have more to do with coated heads wearing away than a manufacturing defect.

Technique - If you don't have a perfect up/down stroke, then you are doing what is called "slicing" This will scrape the heads causing premature coating wear.

Sticks - If you are using sticks with beat up beats, this will take the coating off a head prematurely.

Drum Placement - If you have your drums at strange angles, whether a real steep angle or that new awful flat fad, you will end up taking the coating off of the heads.

I have not ONCE had coating come off a Remo, Aquarian or Evans head. That goes for the Remo heads that do have more problems than others. Those include, Coated Emperors, Coated Powerstroke 3 and Coated Powerstroke 4. These are heads that have coating on a clear mylar. Again, I haven't even had coating wear on those models.

I appreciate the response, but I've been playing for 25 years and I'm pretty sure my technique is sound. I Evans G1 Coated heads on the toms and never had the coating flake or chip. My snare has always been a Genera HD Dry and it has never flaked or chipped. I use either Pro-Mark 747 Oak with nylon tip or Vater 5a Los Angeles Hickory with a nylon tip.

However, in this instance the flaking occured within an hour of regular playing with slightly used sticks. I'm not so simple as to wonder why the coating wears over time - this was literally less than 60 minutes into the first use of the new drum head. It was seated, tuned, and positioned no differently than any other head prior, yet began flaking almost immediately. If my playing style and/or drum position were a factor, then it stands to reason every drum head I use would flake; yet this is the first one to ever do so.

It would seem there's a mix of those who have experienced what happened to my head and those who have never had it happen. Perhaps I hit too hard or the angle of my drum just isn't in the Remo sweet spot. I'm not sure, but I know that I'm extremely disappointed in the experience and will likely stick with Evans heads.

Thanks to everyone who offered their experience and insight.

Fluff out
 
However, in this instance the flaking occured within an hour of regular playing with slightly used sticks. I'm not so simple as to wonder why the coating wears over time - this was literally less than 60 minutes into the first use of the new drum head. It was seated, tuned, and positioned no differently than any other head prior, yet began flaking almost immediately. If my playing style and/or drum position were a factor, then it stands to reason every drum head I use would flake; yet this is the first one to ever do so.

I know you're not referring to general wear and tear here, so I'll suggest a bad head in this case. As I stated earlier, I've not seen one 'flake' so quickly and I've used Remo heads for years. All heads wear, that's a given, but flaking after an hour is certainly not the norm, in my experience.
 
Thanks for all the avice!

As it turns out, Remo heads and I just don't seem to get along. I tried the coated Ambassador head after the issue with the Emporer. It lasted longer, but still began flaking much quicker than the Evans heads. It must be the combination of my playing style mixed with the coating process/material and drum placement.

No clue. Sad to say I'll not be endorsing Remo anytime soon (sorry Remo lover!), but I very much appreciate everyone who offered their experiences. Very helpful stuff!!!

Fluff out
 
Drum Placement - If you have your drums at strange angles, whether a real steep angle or that new awful flat fad, you will end up taking the coating off of the heads.

How does a flat placement promote this? If anything it makes the angle of attack as flat as possible which should be the best thing possible in terms of head wear.
 
How does a flat placement promote this? If anything it makes the angle of attack as flat as possible which should be the best thing possible in terms of head wear.

Not real sure. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say he means that if the drum angle is flat and your downstroke is not, the tip of the stick might hit at an ackward angle causing the coating to flake.
 
I think you may have gotten an older head from an older production run. I was buying coated ambassadors from a local shop whose stock was probably several years old. Those heads would flake like nobody's business. I then started buying them at the local Guitar Center and noticed right away that the color was different (more of an ivory shade of white), they sounded better, and they wouldn't flake at all.

Obviously they have changed their manufacturing process in the past few years and are making better heads now.
 
Well, Remo may have earned a few points. A buddy of mine asked me to try the Powerstroke 3 head before dumping the brand all together. I put on one my snare last night, which still has the Ambassador snare side, and LOVED how fat it sounded. I played for 1:45 live last night, smacking the crap out of it, and you can barely tell I hit it!

I also think the nylon tips may have something to do with what's been happening. I noticed a little bur on one of the older sticks that could have contributed to scratching off the film. Not sure when the bur happened, I try to remember to check the tips before every show. However, I'm going to put this Powerstroke through it's paces with wood tips and see what happens.

Stay tuned!!!

Fluff out
 
They have changed over the years, certainly. I've seen coated Remos last for years (as far as the coating is concerned) and then other wear out very shortly after one gig or so. I've started preferring the Fiberskyn (hope to try the Skyntone models) because of their warm sound but without a coating that can flake off.
 
I just put coated emps on all my toms and my 14 floor has flaking coming off after one day. Do I go back and get another one or just let it go and continue using it?
One day!!
I love Remo heads but one day!!!
So should I replace it right away or just leave it?
 
I just put coated emps on all my toms and my 14 floor has flaking coming off after one day. Do I go back and get another one or just let it go and continue using it?
One day!!
I love Remo heads but one day!!!
So should I replace it right away or just leave it?

This must be some kind of a new record, lol. Make sure that your stick tips are not chewed up. If they're in good condition, I would return the head.

Dennis
 
I have had my share of problems with flaking from Remo heads, but I like the sound of them. I gave them another shot with coated Ambassadors on the snare and I noticed what Zambizzi said about the different color of coating. After about three months, still no flaking. The heads that I was using were the Ludwig coated heads on the toms. No extreme angles on the rack toms,( low and rather flat) floor toms (flat) and snare(flat), so I don't think the flat drum scenario that was mentioned previously is the problem.
 
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