The Remo Starfire head

Larry

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
Bo Eder was the first guy to make me aware of these heads. He posted some pics of a Tama set in black oyster pearl, and the reso head of his bass drum was chrome, the whole thing. It looked exactly like a mirror. I thought it was the coolest looking reso head I ever saw, so I asked Bo about them and he told me they were Remo Starfire heads. I've been using them for almost 2 years now. I put them on all my drums because they look so badass and no one else uses them. I never even knew they existed before I saw Bo's.

The look is killer. If you set your drums up on a lawn, it reflects the surrounding grass, and it looks like you have grass growing inside your bass drum. It kind of makes you go....huh? Plus when you hit the kick, it pulses the reflection, and is actually quite mesmerizing. I notice people in the crowd zoning out looking at it sometimes.

But I love the sound of these heads. On their website, Remo states...."while not being known for their tone".... or something to that effect. I totally disagree, I really like the crispness of it. It's a 10 mil head with no gimmicks, just a chrome looking finish. The metallic finish seems to make it sound crisper than other heads. I really can't stand the tone of bass drum reso heads that have control rings on them. They sound too thick and sluggish to me and they make me want to shove fondue forks in my ears.

The Starfire is the crispest sounding bass drum reso head I've heard so far. I guess a simple clear ambassador would be the next crispest tone. Even a regular old coated ambassador sounds a bit deader by comparison. The Starfires come in a chrome or bronze hue. I got a bronze for the Gurus, but later switched it to chrome. Great looking, great sounding head.

Anybody use these? Thoughts?
 
I've only ever seen Remo Starfire heads used as resonants, mostly for looks... I'm assuming you have to special order them? I can't imagine anyone has them in stock, except for maybe Vic's Drum Shop (he stocks everything).

I'm an Evans guy, but I've always been mystified by the Starfire heads. I'd buy one if they were readily available, just to check it out.
 
I don't special order them, I just do a google search to see who stocks them. I got some from Memphis Drum Shop. But yea not everyone carries them. I like them because I've never seen anyone use them before, save for Bo Eder. One thing I have come to realize....people like shiny things. They seem to be a big hit with people. One guy asked me how I mounted a mirror on my bass drum.
 
Wow I didn't know they still made them. The guitarist in my band (former drummer) used to have one as his snare batter about 20 years ago. More for looks than sound though as he had tons of muffling and of course the chrome wore off quickly.
 
They would look cool as a batter head, but no one really sees your snare batter head. Plus the thought of the chrome flaking off isn't a very appealing visual. I'd get them for resonants on my toms though. Currently I'm liking the Evans Genera resonant, because it's a crisper sounding head....but so is the Starfire.
 
I did quick Google search and found that the Starfire is a Diplomat.....but a SHINY Diplomat at that. I actually didn't realize they made them in chrome. I was only aware of the gold.
 
If it's essentially Diplomat weight, no wonder it's got that "crispness" as a batter head. I played on a Diplomat batter once, and I was scared to really play that thing any harder than maybe mezzo-forte for fear of punching a hole right through it!
 
larryace said:
Anybody use these? Thoughts?
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I used them in the mid 80's on my Tama Artstar Cordia double bass kit (see pictures), Tama called these heads "Mirage" at the time, but they were made by Remo, so I guess it's probably the same design, if I remember correctly, they were like an ambassador with a mirror finish, at least they produced the same sound as a clear Ambassador.
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Nice pics Henri you handsome devil you.

I get different information from web searches. Some say it's a 2 ply head, others say single ply 12 mil, I thought it was a 10 mil head, I don't like the 12 mil heads. It feels like a single ply 10 to me. Remo doesn't state film thickness and rates it on the dark side, where I think it's a pretty crisp sounding head. So whatever, I like the sound and look of them.
 
Yoshinya said:
I'm an Evans guy, but I've always been mystified by the Starfire heads. I'd buy one if they were readily available, just to check it out.
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Evans used to make "Looking Glass" heads, which had the mirror, or chrome, finish. Neil Peart used to use them for his tom batters (with Blue Hydraulics for resonant side).
 
drumming sort of person said:
Evans used to make "Looking Glass" heads, which had the mirror, or chrome, finish. Neil Peart used to use them for his tom batters (with Blue Hydraulics for resonant side).
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I used to use those on my Ludwig Classic power tom kit in the late 80s. I used the looking glass top and bottom though. As I recall they were two ply and fairly dark sounding, so it doesn't really sound like they are quite the same as the Remo head. Also, there was nothing to flake off - the chrome look was imbedded in the mylar, kind of like a mylar space blanket.
 
Hmm I saw these ages ago and I've wanted one since.

It's a shame they have the remo logo up top and same goes for the memphis drum shop putting their big stamp on it.
 
larryace said:
I get different information from web searches. Some say it's a 2 ply head, others say single ply 12 mil, I thought it was a 10 mil head, I don't like the 12 mil heads. It feels like a single ply 10 to me. Remo doesn't state film thickness and rates it on the dark side, where I think it's a pretty crisp sounding head. So whatever, I like the sound and look of them.
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Back in the days, two types were available, both in mirror finish, but one model was slightly transparent, I prefer the solid mirror like, but both were definitely single ply head, the transparent one seemed slightly thinner than the solid one.
 
Ya gotta love the look of that Paul. On the snare no less! I take it you like the tone of it on the snare?
 
Dre25 said:
Hmm I saw these ages ago and I've wanted one since.

It's a shame they have the remo logo up top and same goes for the memphis drum shop putting their big stamp on it.
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Get yourself some nail polish remover with acetone in it and those logos come right off. This only works for smooth heads - don't try it with coated heads, you'll just make a dark mess.
 
I was looking to try one of these Starfire heads and I went looking and saw this: "This item has been discontinued by the manufacturer". But other places still seem to offer them, and they are listed on Remo's site... hmmm. I wonder if they are gonna finally quit making them, I hope not!
 
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