my review Super Kick 1 / Regulator combo

JesusMySavior

Silver Member
I got the SK1/Reg combo from my wife for Christmas and spent some time putting them on while watching a Rambo movie. I have used the Regulator before and prefer it as a reso head but this was the first time I have tried a Super Kick of any kind. It was a Relaxing time and allowed for me to clean the drum and inspect it, etc. Also put a new DW beater on my Yamaha kick pedal. All in all after messing with a TuneBot and putting it back in the box to tune by ear, the tuning process from head locked on hoop to desired sound was about 1 hour. The kick pad came with the set which was a nice touch. I applied it after taking the back paper off. What was strange was the white ring on the sk1 looked like foam rather than smooth muffling material.

I tuned the regulator loose to get a good low, resonant "woof" when tapped. Initial reaction before tuning the SK1 was "wow, this is a low pitched dead head". I tuned the SK up tight like my Evans Eq3 was - it wasnt happening. So i tuned a little at a time, gradually lowering the pitch to resonate deep with the Regulator. The lower I tuned it the more responsive it became. As I said it took an hour to get to my desired pitch from wrinkle. What I ended up with was a low whump with a tiny bit of initial attack remaining after the beater struck. At impact the beater sound is pronounced but quickly gets buried by the corresponding whump of resonance.

Overall next time I may choose to stick with Evans as I am a fan of bright, punchy, open kicks without any muffling in my kick. I had heard so much about the SK1 and I think it has a lot of guts but needs to have time spent tuning it so it doesn sound like a wet fish or a cardboard box. It is growing on me, though. By the end of the year I may be raving about it; as thats how I can be. Time will tell but final note here is that you should buy it if you are looking for low whump. Not for punch.
 
I have been using the same combo on my 20"x18" BD for about three months now. I have the batter tuned JAW and the reso fairly tight with nothing inside the drum. This gives me a fat thud with some tone. I used to use coated PS3 which had a sweet fat tone but not a lot of punch, at least the way I had it tuned. Between the two, I prefer the Super Kick 1 / Regulator combo because of the mixture of thud/punch/tone I get.
 
I have been using the same combo on my 20"x18" BD for about three months now. I have the batter tuned JAW and the reso fairly tight with nothing inside the drum. This gives me a fat thud with some tone. I used to use coated PS3 which had a sweet fat tone but not a lot of punch, at least the way I had it tuned. Between the two, I prefer the Super Kick 1 / Regulator combo because of the mixture of thud/punch/tone I get.

Thank you for your comments. I was beginning to wonder if anybody had read this or if I spent 20 minutes on my iPhone doing this review for nothing, lol.

Powerstroke 3 is definitely punchy. I have never had one on my drums personally, but our church has a clear PS3 on their PDP MX and it is pretty snappy on an already woofy muted bass drum.

I may try tightening up the Regulator like you said. I have not tried it with a mic yet but we will see what the results yield. Traditionally I always tune the reso loose so my kick soaks up some resonance from my otherwise tightly-tuned punchy batter heads.

Still in love with the EQ3, haven't tried a head quite like it before - just wow, and it's been on two kits over the past 3 years (Yamaha and then transferred it to the Pearl when I got it to replace the stock Masters head), it is just now developing a 6" split that's spreading widely through the first ply but still sounded great up through when I changed it.

If I put my Vic Firth headphones on it sounds much better than when I have them off. It's the boom. I know that doesn't matter especially if you are playing live, but as long as I can get the kit to sound good mic'd and recorded, that's all I need. The kit is staying at home permanently and I'll be using my YD if I gig anywhere. The YD is still a decent kit despite being an intermediate set!

Verdict is that I'm still trying to get used to the Super Kick. Not a bad head by any means, but it's polar opposite of a bright head.
 
I had 2 SK's. I don't get their popularity. Didn't like them at all. Tried for a couple weeks then sold them, used.
IMO you shouldn't have to live with a bass drum sound or get used to one that is nto satisfactory to your ears. It should sound good when you tune up.
I'd take PS3 or EQ3 anyday.
 
I don't have any experience with Evans bass drum heads. Next time I need a head I might try the EQ3. My experience is different from you guys, probably based on how I tune (or lack of good tuning - lol) and my drum's characteristics. I could not get a good punch out of the coated PS3. A nice, fat, round tone which I did enjoy, but no punch or slap. I was using the stock Taye reso head with no hole. That probably had something to do with it. When I switched to SK1/Regulator combo, I found the punch I was seeking!

Now I am tempted to put the PS3 back on and experiment with it. LOL.
 
These AQUARIAN heads are great and I would suggest trying them separately with other heads, that is; the SK with your other reso head and the REGULATOR with your other batter.
 
I always liked the ps3 and eq3 until I tried the sk1 with ported regulator combo, the difference was incredible, super easy to tune with good attack, huge punch and just enough resonance. I always get comments on how big and fat my kick sounds and sometimes it gets mistaken for a 24 even tho its a 22.
 
I've had great luck with the SuperKick batter heads and it seems that most people are in the same boat.

However, I will say that I couldn't get my 16"x24" Ludwig Classic Maple bass drum to sound "right" with a SuperKick II batter and stock reso. It sounded a little more "dead" than I wanted, so I tried a PS3 and whoa, the difference is unbelievable!

So... I guess it (obviously) depends on the drum and what you're trying to get out of it. I didn't want my 24" to sound as muffled as it did, so I went to a PS3 and couldn't be happier.

Still love my SuperKick 1 on my 14"x22" drum, though!
 
I've had great luck with the SuperKick batter heads and it seems that most people are in the same boat.

However, I will say that I couldn't get my 16"x24" Ludwig Classic Maple bass drum to sound "right" with a SuperKick II batter and stock reso. It sounded a little more "dead" than I wanted, so I tried a PS3 and whoa, the difference is unbelievable!

So... I guess it (obviously) depends on the drum and what you're trying to get out of it. I didn't want my 24" to sound as muffled as it did, so I went to a PS3 and couldn't be happier.

Still love my SuperKick 1 on my 14"x22" drum, though!


Yup, definitely SK1 for a 24" not SK2, if you used a PS4 on the 24 it'd probably sound too dead also.
 
I tried the SKI and just couldn't get a sound I loved from it. It wasn't horrible, but not what I wanted. Cranked up fairly tight I found the sound really boxy, and tuned low there just wasn't enough resonance. (This sounds to me like the same experience the OP had.) The drum was noticeably quieter than with my prefer PS3 or EQ3, too. I never found a sweet spot that I liked, and I ended up giving that head away.

Interestingly, not long ago I played another guy's kit with an SKI on it. He was raving about the sound, but I found it completely uninspiring both out front and behind the kit. So it is clearly a matter of different strokes for different folks.
 
^^ yep ^^

Well, now that I had a chance to mic it I can say it is a bit of a different animal. With a D6 in the port hole it sounds amazingly good. It's a very tight, uni-directional, fat sound with competent beater click. Easily the quickest and best 'set and forget' kick sound.

I like this kick head for recording, which is its primary purpose with this kit.



So my opinion has changed somewhat. But it is still hard to get a satisfactory sound out of right off the bat.
 
Just Installed this combo yesterday in my studio on my 18 x 22 DW Collector with the DW muffling just slightly touching both heads.. and tuned both to a medium tension .. WOW!!... They sound GREAT!... been playing PS3 for years and this sounds more controlled and focused when recording... Very nice!.. PS3 are great for a more boomy sound..
Also better pedal control if don't bury the beater..
Hope this helps..

Cheers!..
 
I use Superkicks on every single bass drum I have (3), I can't fault them.
I haven't ever used the regulator head, just standard single plys with felt strip. I have mine like this...


20"x14" 3ply: Superkick 1, Remo Ambassabor Coated on front with 3" wide felt strip, no port. Sounds punchy as hell, great for hiphop/funk

22"x14" 6ply: Superkick II, Aquarian Classic on front with 4" felt strip, no port... perfect 22" kick sound with balance on punch and thud

24"x14" 3ply: Superkick II, some stock single ply reso with 4" felt strip and 4.75" port. The perfect kick sound, the only kick I dont have to mic up at rehearsal!


All with no internal/extra muffling (no pillows or laundry or fancy EQ thingys). The best way is to tune the batter up further than you'd think to - JAW sounds **** on SKs in my opinion - so the thing resonates a bit. The sheer construction of the head means it naturally resonates at a low note anyway, so coupled with the front head being tight enough to not sound 'rattley' you get a fantastic FAT note out of it

I must say, you're doing something wrong if it takes you an hour to tune a Superkick, took me about 10 minutes the first time and about 2 now I know the things - and I'm no master thats for sure!!
 
I must say, you're doing something wrong if it takes you an hour to tune a Superkick, took me about 10 minutes the first time and about 2 now I know the things - and I'm no master thats for sure!!

Sorry, I have nothing to do tonight besides reply to old threads. I have to disagree with you Johnny. The Super Kick may be easier to tune than other heads, but that does not mean that it plays nice with all kits. Tuning ability has nothing to do with it either. Some heads just do not work with some kits and experience should tell you that.

Even after several months I am generally unsatisfied with the head and may be putting it up online since I only recorded with it.

From now on it's probably going to be Evans for me.
 
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