Remo Ambassador coating wearing off...

double_G

Silver Member
i know some of you guys have been tracking this odd issue for sometime, got an up close look at it the last 2 weeks & wanted to chime in.

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the picture kinda says it all. i have been doing some drum video the last 2 weeks & breaking in new remo ambassador coated heads for a studio gig as well. in the pic, the head on the RIGHT is a coated ambassador from 4/20/12 i took off, a bit beat up but fine...the dark smudge in the center is actually silver sharpie where i write my open tone note from my tune-bot (lug sharpie is muted note). so this 4/12 head really just had a bit of coating worn off a center spot from 7 months of playing. not bad at all.

the head on the LEFT is essentially a NEW head dated 11/2/12 from when i mounted them. i was amazed at how much coating came off with in 2-4 days. today, it is about a 2-2.5" blast zone worn off to the opaque mylar that remo uses for these heads. my guess is they changed the coating or it is outsourced to china or someplace else overseas ?

a couple of things:

(1) the coated ambassador sound is still insanely good despite the coating oddities. normally i would not be this confident saying this, but i have been playing kits w/ Evans & Aquarian set ups recently & i am still super impressed w/ how great the new remos sound & help the drums sing.

(2) i am not a basher...jazz, big band, funk, etc. i rarely dent heads & still have 2010 Diplomats on my Jazz kit that are still great w/ no dents. so i have not been laying into these heads w/ basebats or something.

(3) i did mount the heads, then tune them pretty high, let them sit 24 hours & the play them all untuned & high for a day. i do this everytime to help the heads stretch. don't think this affect thing but FYI.

soooo, are you guys are seeing the same thing...any theories ? and is Remo working on this problem ? sonically, here is no problem, but man, visually it is disturbing how fast the coating wears off. i didnt' do a snare head but if i did, i would start to get a bit pissed knowing the brush sound will start to suffer within a few months.
 
Yep, the pics don't lie.
I've posted in all the other threads like this, and I never have this issue.

In comparing set-ups/styles:
I have my tom relatively flat, tilted to work with my hand. My ft's are flat. I play "off" the heads.
I use custom double butt sticks.
Dynamically, playing "pp" is not "Orchestral PP" with double butt sticks, but it's quieter, with a full sound. I play Rock music, so it's not going to be real quiet anyway....
The point is the coating doesn't come off for me (which I'm thankful for).

My snare is tiled slightly away from me, and my snare heads easily last a year before I don't like the sound.
I use a Top Dot Coated Emperor, which is the Clear film and Clear Dot that's coated. That coating doesn't come off either.
In 10 years of using this model head, I've only had one small spot chip off of one head, and the rest stayed perfect.

Even playing loudly, I don't dent the Ambassador heads, and the coating doesn't come off.
New Ambassador heads have been gotten and used in the last month, as well as within the last 6 months (4 kits).
I'm stumped as to why some people have chipping, and some don't.

I think that even if I did have this happen, I'd still use these heads because they just sound so dang good.

I DO think the coating is a little smoother than it was in the past. It still sounds "the same" to me though. Crisp, articulate and full, with GREAT tuning range.

They last a long time for me too.
 
great feedback, thanks for the input.

you did jog something in my memory -- it seems different from new head to new head. i have a new-ish 13" coated on a snare & it is perfect RE the coating. it's almost as if the chipping head (in the pic this was about 3 days old) was covered w/ very DRY coating vs. normal slightly more flexible / rubbery coating. or maybe they didnt mix enough glue in the coating.
 
Not sure if this is important but I've been playing with my Remo Vintage A for over two years on my main snare and no coating has worn. Only a few dark spots in the center.

I have a slightly used Coated Ambassador (modern) that I bought for $3 from a shop and it looks a bit like yours on the left. Not quite as bad (or I wouldn't have bought it) but you can see just very slightly that the coating is getting thin. I haven't used it but I would judge from the marks that it has only been used for one gig. I will try it on my snare soon to see what it does. I will still be a Vintage A user on this snare until something changes.
 
I bought a used kit a couple of weeks ago. I put Vintage Emperors on top and Coated Ambassadors on bottom. Last night I tuned it up for the first time. On the Ambassadors,there is coating visibly missing near the lugs... JUST FROM CHECKING THE PITCH WHILE TUNING!!!
 
Remo's coating does seem to wear faster than Evans and Aquarian.
Remo's coating is also the warmest sounding in my opinion because it is softer than the others.
I have good luck with coated Ambassador heads on my snare and toms. They do wear but they last a long time for me.
I love them on my Jazz kits because they are so warm sounding and sensitive to the lightest touch.
I use coated heads by Evans and Aquarian on my Rock, Country, and Pop kits because they are brighter sounding at looser tensioning.

This is just my observation, Your results may vary from mine.
 
Remo's coating does seem to wear faster than Evans and Aquarian.
Remo's coating is also the warmest sounding in my opinion because it is softer than the others.
I have good luck with coated Ambassador heads on my snare and toms. They do wear but they last a long time for me.
I love them on my Jazz kits because they are so warm sounding and sensitive to the lightest touch.
I use coated heads by Evans and Aquarian on my Rock, Country, and Pop kits because they are brighter sounding at looser tensioning.

This is just my observation, Your results may vary from mine.

Thanks for that information, Bob. I've read several reviews on Musician's Friend complaining about the coating coming off faster on the new Ambassadors than it did in the old days, so I've still been thinking about going with the Aquarian Studio-X's you used to use on your Pearl Rhthm Travelers. However, I've also been considering going with their Modern Vintage series, which replicates the warmer sound of calf skin. Based on your saying Remo is warmer than Aquarian in general, I'll definitely be going with the Modern Vintages, as Aquarian consistantly gets good reviews on their coating lasting a long time.

Thanks again
 
I have never tried the modern vintage heads.
I have seriously considered trying them.
I just havent gotten around to buying them yet,
I spent a lot on drums and other musical gear this year so I am trying not to spend cash on drums for a while. :)
 
I've had Ambassadors on my toms for 7 months and the coating is surprisingly worn away. Worse, is that the heads have gone dead already so I went back to 2-ply, though this time I bought G2s because of their coating durability.
 
I've been flipping around heads, trying other ones too, cheaper ones (Evans and Aquarian are cheaper where i live) fro months, BUT nothing still sounds the same to my ear as a coated Remo Amb or Emp. Much better tone. It is noticeable, but maybe not to an audience or other band member.
I guess if you don't like the coating problem one can always switch to clear but for a slightly different sound.
 
I was using a coated emperor on my snare and it chipped and flaked right away. I switched recently to a vintage emperor and even after a few gigs it hasnt worn through the coating yet. I think its applied differently on the vintage heads.
 
I bought a used kit a couple of weeks ago. I put Vintage Emperors on top and Coated Ambassadors on bottom. Last night I tuned it up for the first time. On the Ambassadors,there is coating visibly missing near the lugs... JUST FROM CHECKING THE PITCH WHILE TUNING!!!

It sucks, doesn't it? I've experienced the same stuff. I have two snares, both with fairly new coated emperors. One is much more worn than the other. Go figure.

Sometimes that mylar film (or whatever it is) looks shiny like foil or something and sometimes it's white. What's that all about?
 
It sucks, doesn't it? I've experienced the same stuff. I have two snares, both with fairly new coated emperors. One is much more worn than the other. Go figure.

Sometimes that mylar film (or whatever it is) looks shiny like foil or something and sometimes it's white. What's that all about?


My tom batters are Vintage Emperors and I never have that issue with them.. A couple of my snares have Emperor Xs on them.One is holding up fine and the other started losing coating immediately.
 
It has always disappointed me that Remo does not want to comment on this.

thx

jorn

This is my thinking also. I know that they know more about these problems than we do, so why not get them out into the open. I have much respect for companies that respect the views and values of the end user.

Dennis
 
This is my thinking also. I know that they know more about these problems than we do, so why not get them out into the open. I have much respect for companies that respect the views and values of the end user.

Dennis

Possibly (and hopefully) they're trying to fix it before too many people comment on it. But in that case I suppose they should still tell us that they're being proactive eh?
 
It's obvious there is a difference in the coating. The color is different. The new(er) Ambassador (and the one I bought recently but haven't used) has a dull paste white coating while the older head has more of a cream white color, the color I'm used to when I use Ambs.

Too bad...
 
Possibly (and hopefully) they're trying to fix it before too many people comment on it. But in that case I suppose they should still tell us that they're being proactive eh?

The issue is that every few years, Remo seem to tweak the formula and this always happens. Every couple of years, a new set of threads arrive complaining about the coating wearing quickly. I do wish Remo would acknowledge the issue. Evanspecialist on here has really done well with questions like this from an Evans point of view and it's great to see a real representative from the company rather than something faceless.

I say this but all my heads are Remo. I've played Evans as well (never been able to get Aquarian here easily) and I just prefer the sound and feel of the Remo heads. I can't quite explain it but it's the way it is. The 'Vintage A' heads are my go-to on snares (hopefully I'll be able to get them again) and I can't think of anything that would substitute it. I've never had a problem with coatings myself but I don't doubt for a second that it happens.
 
Thanks for that information, Bob. I've read several reviews on Musician's Friend complaining about the coating coming off faster on the new Ambassadors than it did in the old days, so I've still been thinking about going with the Aquarian Studio-X's you used to use on your Pearl Rhthm Travelers. However, I've also been considering going with their Modern Vintage series, which replicates the warmer sound of calf skin. Based on your saying Remo is warmer than Aquarian in general, I'll definitely be going with the Modern Vintages, as Aquarian consistantly gets good reviews on their coating lasting a long time.

Thanks again

Aquarian makes a pretty dark/warm sounding head. I haven't tried the MV's but I assume you may get more warmth than what you're looking for!
 
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