What heads have you tried on your Sonor Designers / Delites / Maple light shells?

Power Tom

Senior Member
Just bought a Sonor Designer and the stock heads are utter rubbish on the deep floor toms and just about OK on the 8, 10 and 12. I haven't measured the depth of the 10 & 12 yet, but they are very shallow. Look to be shallower than standard! I have snares deeper than these!

Anyway, IF you have owned / own a Sonor Designer or similar SONOR light maple shell, please let me know what head combos you have tried and what you found. It would be most helpful as I have 8 shells and cant afford to try lots of options. I was however, thinking of just picking one rack tom and one floor and trying different combos on those two drums and then fitting out the whole kit.

I see a lot of people like the Evans Chrome heads, and some like the Attack heads.

I play rock and am not into boppy bright round sounds. I like bite/attack and a deep tone, however as these shells are so good, Id like to try something a bit more 'representative' / complimentary perhaps than the pinstripes Im used to.

Thanks in advance!
 
Try Ambassador over Amb. or the equivalent Evans and run them wide open. If the Ambassadors resonate too long switch to Emperor or equivalent on the batter side. Emp. up Amb. down is what I use and is a really good rule of thumb for thin maple.
 
2 ply clears are always a good bet. If you want great attack I would steer clear of coated heads, control ring heads and thicker single ply heads. Pretty sure those black chrome heads will be a bit thumpy too.
 
I find thicker single-ply heads (at least clear ones) provide more attack. I'd go with a G1 over G1 on the 8, G1s or G12s over G1s on the 10 and 12, and G12s or G14s over G1s on the floor toms.

If you want something a bit more punchy, I really like Vintage Emperors for that.
 
...sonor's designer maple light shells in african bubinga seem well-matched with single ply 10mm heads (for instance, remo ambassadors coated/clear/renaissance)...
 
Thanks for the input so far. Does anyone know what the stock heads are? They look a tad thinner than an ambassador to me, but they are definitely Remo. Not impressed with them at all at this point. OK on the 8" though. That head may be staying on for a while.

The hanging floors still seem a bit bright and 'basketball' ring sounding to me, compared to my maple customs, even with a pinstripe on. Cant see an ambassador giving me enough bottom end on those toms, but we'll see.
 
Do the stock heads have an actual Remo logo or are they Sonor branded (or one of Remo's "UT", "UX", or whatever sublines)? If the latter, they are probably made from inferior materials and just kind of crap all around. Makes sense that they'd be okay on an 8 since that small of a head on a ply drum isn't really going to produce much sustain/tone, "real" Remo or otherwise.

As for your floor tom problem, it might be a tuning issue. Generally, I'd associate 'basketball'-like qualities to a high-tuned batter head. Try tuning both heads to an identical low-ish pitch, and if it has too much sustain (though with pinstripes, this might be hard to tell), tune the resonant head higher than the batter- I usually do a minor third on floor toms for that.

Thick multi-ply heads usually produce a lower pitch, but due to the muffling effect of the other plies, their sustain and 'rumbliness' is diminished. The difference between thick/thin single ply heads is basically that of dynamicism, or how well they open up. Thin heads do that easily at quieter volumes, but thick heads generally put out 'more' at louder volumes.
 
They are the standard stock Remo heads with the Sonor logo & "made by Remo" stamped on them.

Floors are not a tuning issue. I can get the sound Im after from other shells I own, just not these - yet I tried both the same pitch as well as a slight pitch bend. At the moment they are at lowest pitch possible before the unwanted overtones & head wrinkle kick in. Just thought actually, the pinstripe, although unused is probably 5 years old and has travelled across the atlantic as a spare twice. It has a slight crease in the collar, so it may be just a duff head.

Amount of sustain is not a problem, just the shell tone. I was expecting some warm, low, maple-esque awesomeness from these deep shells

Do the stock heads have an actual Remo logo or are they Sonor branded (or one of Remo's "UT", "UX", or whatever sublines)? If the latter, they are probably made from inferior materials and just kind of crap all around. Makes sense that they'd be okay on an 8 since that small of a head on a ply drum isn't really going to produce much sustain/tone, "real" Remo or otherwise.

As for your floor tom problem, it might be a tuning issue. Generally, I'd associate 'basketball'-like qualities to a high-tuned batter head. Try tuning both heads to an identical low-ish pitch, and if it has too much sustain (though with pinstripes, this might be hard to tell), tune the resonant head higher than the batter- I usually do a minor third on floor toms for that.

Thick multi-ply heads usually produce a lower pitch, but due to the muffling effect of the other plies, their sustain and 'rumbliness' is diminished. The difference between thick/thin single ply heads is basically that of dynamicism, or how well they open up. Thin heads do that easily at quieter volumes, but thick heads generally put out 'more' at louder volumes.
 
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