Coated Emperor or Ambassador on the 6.5 supra phonic?

TimmyG

Junior Member
I have a 6.5 supraphonic snare. I like love the coated Ambassador, but want the Bohnam sound. So i bought the Emperor, it is diffenatly thicker sounding. But i have a harder time tuning it. Any tips on the tuning differances? the pro's and Cons? I know they are both legendary skins.

Tim
 
Bonham's kit.....Bonham's tuning methods. As Jeff says here, his heads are tuned tighter than you would expect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMqHqADnREY

I use emps on all my all my snares, save for one. This includes my supra's and black beauty. Great heads and I find they tune up really well on these drums. Tuning range is so wide and they sound great anywhere you dial them in.

Keep at it, you'll get there.
 
I use either a Remo Coated CS Dot head when I play hard rock with my one band or a Remo Vintage A Ambassador in the other band which is lighter acoustic rock. Both sound good to me.
 
Try the new Ambassador X, also the new graphic heads are Ambassador X weight so you should get one and tell us how it is!
 
Doesn't matter what Bonham used ..... I'm a single ply snare head guy.....

ANY coated single ply sounds good on a Supra,....I still have the factory heads on mine (Ludwigs coated single ply (Ambassador) and it sounds AMAZING .......
 
I agree with fusssion. I have taken off the emperor head and put back the Ambassador. It is easier to tune, and sounds more like a snare is supposed to.

I just keep seeing in Magazines and you tube video's how Bohnam used emperors. I love his snare sound and wanted to try it.
 
+1 on coated ambassadors as the go-to head.

I default with a coated ambassador to see what a drum can do (I have the most experience with these, and so the differences I hear in a drum I can bet are from the drum itself and not the head). I also have several other heads I use to test out on each snare I get: coated emperor, genera dry, fiberskyn, coated diplomat.

So...when I got my supraphonic 402, I tried all of the heads out, and my opinion is that the coated ambassador sounds the best, has the most ideal tuning range, etc. The coated emperor sounded okay, too, but it was a bit too dry for an already dry drum...
 
Another vote for the Remo Ambassador. I run that head on a wide range of snares.

That said, I use a G2 on a 6.5 X 13 brass Yamaha. That drum is very bright sounding and the two ply head tamed it down just enough.

Two ply heads make sense on some drums. Metal, solids, and staves, come to mind that are more aggressive than a ply drum.

The Supra already has a dry quality to it, so let it sing out. Single ply heads on that one.
 
I use mainly Ambassadors or reverse dot CS batters on my snares. My Supra has an Ambassador, as does my BB.

However I am thinking of using an Aquarian New Vintage head. Anyone here tried these?
 
I use Vintage Ambassador on my supra. Itś little bit thicker than regular ambassador coated. So it's something between amb and emp.
 
I use mainly Ambassadors or reverse dot CS batters on my snares. My Supra has an Ambassador, as does my BB.

However I am thinking of using an Aquarian New Vintage head. Anyone here tried these?


I've used one on one of my snares (maple). They're great for brushes. They do have a nice warm 'vintagey' sound to them, if that makes any sense. They are intended to replicate calfskin heads. I would say it's probably a little lower than your Ambassador. Maybe closer in sound to a Vintage Amb? But it's a single ply medium weight head. They sound great and last forever. Check them out.
 
Doesn't matter what Bonham used ..... I'm a single ply snare head guy.....

ANY coated single ply sounds good on a Supra,....I still have the factory heads on mine (Ludwigs coated single ply (Ambassador) and it sounds AMAZING .......

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Ludwig snare heads that say medium are 7.5 mls. which would but them in the Diplomat weight. Which I think makes that drum sound so good. Thats what mine came with back in 1979. Not the (Ambassador) weight, which would also make the drum sound good without the sensativity. Unless yours say Heavy.
 
I use mainly Ambassadors or reverse dot CS batters on my snares. My Supra has an Ambassador, as does my BB.

However I am thinking of using an Aquarian New Vintage head. Anyone here tried these?

Yeah I have one on a Ludwig maple snare and it sounds lovely and warm and dark too. I would definitely say get one and give it a shot. I have only tried it on one drum though. Maybe it's time to switch around a bit :)
 
In my opinion Coated Ambassador is the most versatile head. And the best one for any kind of snare drum. The coated Emperor has limited tuning options especially in x6,5 snare drums (metal or wood).
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Ludwig snare heads that say medium are 7.5 mls. which would but them in the Diplomat weight. Which I think makes that drum sound so good. Thats what mine came with back in 1979. Not the (Ambassador) weight, which would also make the drum sound good without the sensativity. Unless yours say Heavy.


Never paid close attention to the logo on the head. It's an early 2009 w/ the 100th Anniversary logo on it ....I'll take a look tonight
 
The Ludwig Medium (7.5) is "Diplomat" film weight, but the coating Ludwig uses is pretty heavy, and it basically brings the head up to an Ambassador sound and durability.

The "Heavy" head is 10mil, but when the coating gets on it, it tends to be pretty plastic-y sounding if it's tuned like you'd 'normally' tune a head.

The Heavies sound OK if they are tuned looser.
The Mediums are actually REALLY nice sounding heads with a pretty good tension range.

JMO/E with the Ludwig coated heads sound-wise.

On a Supra, yep, the Ambassador is a pretty 'even' sounding head with the balance of nice resonance and crack. Can't go wrong with it.
 
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