Best Heads For Basswood

Freeze

Junior Member
I've recently picked up a Ddrum basswood kit and its now time to replace my heads. BTW I love to play metal.

I got the snare taken care of on top but I'm wondering what to use on the bottom. The top has an Evan's power dot.

Also the kit has a 15x14, 16x14, and a 12x8.
I'm looking for top and bottom suggestions.

Also I'm looking at this Aquarian kit for my bass.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Aquaria...Bass-Drum-Head-Pre-Pack-100002721-i1141568.gc

Thanks for the help and suggestions.
 
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For the reso side of your drums, just use a clear single ply head. If you want to go all aquarian, it's the "Classic Clears"

I don't think Pinstripe is the way to go for a Basswood kit though. Pinstripes will probably sound dead and flat due to the tone of your shells. If you want to try and get some life out of Basswood I think a coated head might work. Try an Aquarian Coated Responce 2.
 
thanks for the input since my kit was blue and white i was looking at the evans g2 batters but ive heard a lot of great things from aquarian customer service.
 
Evans G1 Coated, genera reso. Great combo for basswood, I tuned mine nice and low and got great results, nice sustain. Stay away from pre-muffled heads IMO.
 
I had Sonor drums that were basswood and still have some of the toms, I used Remo coated Pinstripes and they worked well and then I threw on some black Evans hydraulics and they were good for some hard rock. At the moment I have the Evans EC2 on the toms I still have to match the rest of the kit and they tune very nice and have a great sound but I have to tell you that now if I were still playing a full kit of basswood I would be tempted to put Remo Emperors on the top and Diplomats on the bottom. They use basswood in violin manufacturing as well so they can be a little on the bright side and the hydraulics were just a bit too thuddy. At any rate coated heads seem to work the best.
 
sounds good looks like imma go g2 whites with generas
but i dont know what diplomats are so i might check em out
 
Diplomats are extremely thin heads, thinner than Ambassadors, used almost solely for reso heads, since they're too thin to play as batters for all but the very lightest touches.
 
do iplomats give better tones as reso's what would be the advantage of going coated on top with diplomats for reso's as opposed to some plain aquarian classic clears
 
do iplomats give better tones as reso's what would be the advantage of going coated on top with diplomats for reso's as opposed to some plain aquarian classic clears

I think that with Emperor's on top they would compliment each other, Diplomats are actually a batter head, very thin and favored by some jazz artists on their snares. Basswood really does have a high pitch to them and they resonate quite a bit and that is why I ended up trying different heads. The hydraulics tune easy and give you that 70's type of sound favored by the pop engineers of the time but often felt like I was playing concrete, going with Emperors on top & Diplomats on the bottom will likely give you a nice balance between the pinstripes and the hydraulics. There is so much to choose from and it can be daunting but I have already experimented with many heads for the basswood and if it can save you money from trying out different types then that is what I recommend, however it is always good to experiment as well when you can.

Not that it will give you the exact sound but if it helps that is what Bonham used.
 
I had the same problem as you, i have a basswood kit, and i tried pinstripe clear heads, evans ec2 coated, but the best ones were remo ambassador coated batter, and remo ambassador clear reso. They gave the best tone for me (I also play metal, but not as a main genre)
 
I vote for EC2's over EC Resos on the toms, EQ3's over Retro Screen on the kick, and a Power Center over Hazy 300 on the snare. Remo Black Suedes are killer heads as well. BS Emporers make great batter heads on both toms and snares. The Black X is an incredible, very articulate snare head and would work well for metal. I used one on a 5mm thick aluminum snare and it defined metal. I've tested EC Resos and G1's on the same drum and the former is the ultimate resonant head. I'd recommend putting them under any batter head. I prefer EC2's to Pinstripes and other muffled heads, but the coating on the BS heads do a great job of muffling the drum, so they would work equally well for metal. As for the kicks, I haven't found anything better than the EQ3 with a Retro Screen on the resonant side.

This is all opinion though. I suggest buying a few heads and trying them out. Experimentation is the best process of elimination.
 
Thanks for the inputs guys i really appreciate it i've been drumming now for 5 months and can use the help.
 
Well the wife went xmas shopping with my list in hand so ill let you guys know what my results are and ill update with pics also.

Just so you guys know i have a Ddrum Punx Basswood kit with a 14x5 metal snare (it sounded 10 times better than the Ddrum one with the kit.
12x8 rack tom
15x14 floor
16x14 floor
22x20 bass (fawking cannon!)

After hours upon hours of research and videos (thanks to websites like this one and youtube of course) I decided to pick up Remo Ebony Pinstripes for my tom batters.
(dark tone)

And as for the resonance since i went so heavy on top im gunna try Remo Weatherking Smooth White Ambassadors on the bottoms

As for my Snare even though i have a brand new evans power dot i like to keep my colors and brands matched so i went with a Remo Black X Batter for the top and a Remo Emporer Snare side for the bottom.

I'm am most excited about my Bass drum and for that im gunna use a PS3 Coated for the Batter and a Retro Screen for the resonant

Thanks for all your input and suggestions ill let you guys know how the come out oncew i put em on
 
Smooth White heads for the bottom are really nice.
They sound beefier than the Clear, and a bit more open than a Coated.

Have fun with the kit and new heads!
 
Finally an Update!!!!

So i decided to pickup the Ebony Pinstripe Batters for the Toms and i actually picked up one for my bass also! I originally got the bass head by accident and realized it when i got home but I am in love with the thud i get from it!

Instead of the resonants i went some hardware i needed instead but on another note i took all my coated batters and put them on my resonants under the ebony stripes! As for the toms they sounds great Good solid thud with zero overtones plus the ebony makes the kit look sharp!. Now i need to get the Black X for my snare and the kit will be lookin Sharp

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I have a Taye Tour Pro basswood kit. I use Evans G1 clears on the resos and EC2's on the batter heads. I also really like G1 coateds on the batters. For my snare i like the hazy 300 reso and J1 etched for the batter. On the kick i have an Evans EMAD with the smaller dampening ring for the batter and an Aquarian super kick reso with one port for the front side.
 
Thanks for all the input guys and i am just ecstatic with my results from the ebony pins
 
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