What heads do you use on your Saturns?

sixstringer7

Junior Member
I'm a beginning drummer. I was fortunate enough to score a great Craigslist deal on a five piece Mapex Saturn shell pack (10/12/14/16/22). When I got them, the toms had Emperor clear heads over clear Ambassadors, the snare had a coated Ambassador batter, and the kick had a clear Emperor batter and Aquarian Regulator reso head. All the batter heads are pretty worn, so I'd like to replace the batter and reso heads on all the drums (except for the Regulator, which looks to be in good shape). I've done a lot of research on heads, but I don't have any practical experience, since this is my first kit.
Could those of you who play Saturns please tell me what heads you've used, what you liked/didn't like about them, and what type(s) of music you play.
BTW, right now I'm leaning toward the following:
Remo PS3 coated kick batter head (with the Regulator reso)
coated over clear on snare and toms
Evans heads for snare and toms (Aquarian is too expensive, and I've seen reports of premature wear on Remo coated heads).
Thanks in advance.
 
Toms: clear Evans G2 over EC Resonant
Bass Drum: Evans Emad batter, EQ 3 or EQ 1 Resonant
Snare: Evans EC Reverse Dot batter, Hazy 300 snare side

That is what I would use. I play Saturn drums at church, so I have lots of experience with them. Peace and goodwill.
 
Thanks for your reply. One question: Why would you choose an EC Resonant head for the toms, versus something like a G1 clear?
Thanks again!
 
Clear G2's over G1s on the toms, sometimes clear EC2's over G1's (like this combo on the floors). Remo Vintage A over hazy 300 on the Saturn snare currently. Right now using Emad and Regulator on the kick.

I play rock/alternative/hard rock, etc
 
Thanks for your reply. One question: Why would you choose an EC Resonant head for the toms, versus something like a G1 clear?
Thanks again!

The EC Resonant is single ply and made to go on the bottoms of toms. It gets rid of just a small bit of the higher overtones yet provides great sustain. That sound appeals to me. Peace and goodwill.
 
Evans heads for snare and toms (Aquarian is too expensive, and I've seen reports of premature wear on Remo coated heads).
Thanks in advance.

Dont know where your getting your Aquarians but they are less money than Remo and Evans cost more than Remo, plus for me they last twice as long as Evans and 3 to 4 times as long as Remo. Btw the Sk1 is a great match with the regulator front, not sure what its worth by itself as I usually buy it as a package from music123 as they sell the sk1, regulator and a double kick patch for $62 with free shipping in the USA.
 
My kit came with coated ambassadors (over clear ambassadors) and I tried some old clear g2's I had in the cupboard just to see what they're like. They're both good but the floor tom (I've only got a 14) definitely likes the ambassador alot more. If you tune it just above finger tight it growls and plays a big deep note, it's pretty amazing. I bought some evans g1's on special, just waiting for another drum to arrive before I put them all on. I promise I'll try the aquarians next time, Tard.

For the bass I've got a ps3 on batter and reso and it's perfect, I like it alot more than the evans eq4 I have on my other drum.
 
I have Saturn 6-pc kit (Studioease) but I tossed the snare drum.

The stock Remo Clear Emperors over Clear Ambs were just OK in my book.

Kick I still have the stock Remo PS3 combo that came with it, just waiting for them to die out. When it's due for replacement I will use Evans EQ4 Clear/EQ3 Ebony Resonant.

Toms now have Evans Clear EC2 SST's over Clear G1's. I am waiting for the SST's to die and then will swap and try the Clear G14 on top for curiosity sake. The SST's are a real nice head, I get great attack and good low end on all toms. I used to use Coated G2 on top but didn't like the look nor the dry sound.. again like the Emperors, it was just OK.

My snares ironically have Remo Vintage Amb's or Vintage Emperors... I can't seem to find a good Evans snare batter head I like...
 
I have Saturn 6-pc kit (Studioease) but I tossed the snare drum.

The stock Remo Clear Emperors over Clear Ambs were just OK in my book.

Kick I still have the stock Remo PS3 combo that came with it, just waiting for them to die out. When it's due for replacement I will use Evans EQ4 Clear/EQ3 Ebony Resonant.

Toms now have Evans Clear EC2 SST's over Clear G1's. I am waiting for the SST's to die and then will swap and try the Clear G14 on top for curiosity sake. The SST's are a real nice head, I get great attack and good low end on all toms. I used to use Coated G2 on top but didn't like the look nor the dry sound.. again like the Emperors, it was just OK.

My snares ironically have Remo Vintage Amb's or Vintage Emperors... I can't seem to find a good Evans snare batter head I like...


Just curious, have you tried a G1 coated on your snare?
 
Just curious, have you tried a G1 coated on your snare?

Yea, also have used the Power Center Reverse Dot Coated.... I dunno, something about Evans heads on snares makes them sound too "EQ'd" to my tastes and not airy like the Remo.... The experimentation continues!
 
I'm surprised you don't like the snare. I've got an ambassador on there tuned low and it has a really nice dry and sustained sort of resonance.. I love the strainer system too, best of any of my snares.
 
Yea, also have used the Power Center Reverse Dot Coated.... I dunno, something about Evans heads on snares makes them sound too "EQ'd" to my tastes and not airy like the Remo.... The experimentation continues!

Well, I use G1 coated on my snare and prefer it to the coated ambassador because its not as finicky tuning wise and it sounds way better out of the box. I find the ambassador takes a while to sound good and when it does it doesn't last for long. I find the G1 coateds climax lasts longer. I started using the G1 coated last year on snare and like it better than the CA. Prior to that it was always CA's, just wasn't too happy with the sound I was getting, If remo changed something they did for the worse imao.

I've also converted from clear emps to clear g2's. I'm liking the g2's better. It's all experimentation and preference I guess. Remo's quality has defintely declined through the years. Its hit and miss. I find evans heads more consistent.
 
Last night I tried some coated ambassador Xs on my Saturn rack toms and I noticed immediately how much more lively and natural the toms sounded compared to a double ply head.

This Saturn kit is used at a band practice space and the feedback I got from my band mates was that they definitely cut through better over the previous heads I had on there.

From the drivers seat on my end I could definitely feel and hear my rack toms better as well so I'm extremely pleased with my results so far!

Initially my plan was to try coated ambassadors on my Saturn kit but I had new coated ambassador X heads laying around that I bought several months ago and thought this would be a close test to a regular coated ambassador.

I must say I was a little hesitant to use these ambassador X heads because I really did not care for the Evans Gplus sound sample on the Evans website. I figured Remo's Ambassador X is a 12mm single ply head just like the Evans Gplus head and that I might not like it since they are a equal match across the two manufacturers but it turns out I am happy with my decision to go with the 12mm coated ambassador.

Maybe the sound sample off of their website does not do my ears justice lol.? Anyone know if the Gplus comes in white coated? I just don't care for their frosting look.

I'd be definitely interested in trying the GPlus heads in the future.
 
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