Whats The Best Bass Drum Head??

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piperdoog

Silver Member
Hey gang I need some advice, looking to get a new bass drum head, I have an Evans Eq3 and am or was happy with it, until I rehearsed at a local studio and they had an old beat up Pearl Forum kit with a Aquarian Super kick 2 on it and it sounded great.
I have a 24 inch kick and am looking for that kickass bass sound so before I go get this new head was curious if you guys had some input.


Cheers.
 
I find REMO Powerstroke 3 bass sounds stunning on my tama 24" kick. it depends though, when you say "kickass bass sound" do you mean thunderous or more towards the clicky, it really all comes down to personal preference, unfortunately you just have to experiment until you find the one that sounds right for you.
 
Best head I have tried to date has to be the Evans GMAD. Superb low end and resonance, very powerful, and has the 12 mil durability. After trying about every head on the market this is my personal fav.
 
I use a coated remo weatherking, also if u want a really punchy sound with not a ton of res, remove 3 lugs on ur reso side and put a thin sheet or blanket inside the kick. It sounds amazing
 
piperdoog said:
Hey gang I need some advice, looking to get a new bass drum head, I have an Evans Eq3 and am or was happy with it, until I rehearsed at a local studio and they had an old beat up Pearl Forum kit with a Aquarian Super kick 2 on it and it sounded great.
I have a 24 inch kick and am looking for that kickass bass sound so before I go get this new head was curious if you guys had some input.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

24 x ??? and what wood??

Super Kick 1 or 2, ...Resonator ported reso, WIDE open ......Ka-Boom! :)
 
An Aquarian Superkick II on my 24x18 bass drum sounds great. Tune it half a turn above slack and it's great.
 
What is the best bass drum head is going to depend on style of music, and sound you hope to accomplish.

But for myself, I love the Aquarian Super Kick II, and consider it the best bass drum head ever made for the sound I like.
 
Hey guys thanks for the input, I very much appreciate it. Buying one of these things is crazy almost too many options, which I guess is a good thing, but when you have to throw down 60 to 70 $ on a head and have no input or don't like it then your out lots of money and you have to blow another 60 to 70$ for another.
So thanks all, I appreciate and have taken in all of your advice.

Cheers.
 
It all depends on the music you play too. I've tried alot on the same kick with mixed results.

Evans EQ3 is a good all around head but can be boomy for some people.
Evans Emad sounds good but not durable. (plastic ring came off)
Remo PS3 is my absolute fave but i can't use it do to sounding very muddy when doing fast double bass.
Aquarian SK2 nice lows but no volume whatsoever. Unless you have your own monitor i wouldn't recomend this head. I could'nt here my kick when it was just me playing alone.
Aquarian SK1 (my current head) good volume and punch. I can play fast and hear every note.
Next to try is a PS4 and a Gmad (i heard good things). I also want to try an Aquarian Impact 1 but i would like to hear an instore demo before i decide.

All of this was on a 22x18 birch kick with a ported PS3 reso. I also use a kickport now.
Bottom line the best bass head is the one that suits your playing and your music. We can only give you are own experiances.
 
Drumrunner said:
It all depends on the music you play too. I've tried alot on the same kick with mixed results.

Evans EQ3 is a good all around head but can be boomy for some people.
Evans Emad sounds good but not durable. (plastic ring came off)
Remo PS3 is my absolute fave but i can't use it do to sounding very muddy when doing fast double bass.
Aquarian SK2 nice lows but no volume whatsoever. Unless you have your own monitor i wouldn't recomend this head. I could'nt here my kick when it was just me playing alone.
Aquarian SK1 (my current head) good volume and punch. I can play fast and hear every note.
Next to try is a PS4 and a Gmad (i heard good things). I also want to try an Aquarian Impact 1 but i would like to hear an instore demo before i decide.

All of this was on a 22x18 birch kick with a ported PS3 reso. I also use a kickport now.
Bottom line the best bass head is the one that suits your playing and your music. We can only give you are own experiances.
Click to expand...
I agree with you I have the Aquairian super 2 on my kit now repacing my Evans eq3 and I must say I like the thump I get out of it, I need no muffling in the bass however no matter how I tune it I can't hear myself playing it. It is frustrating considering I just spent 70 bucks on it. I do like the sound but it does take alot of volume away.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
 
^^ This brings up a most important point: are you going to play out with it miked or unmiked?

The SK heads (especially the SKII) are very soft-sounding heads--fine for miking, but will never be heard unmiked in a venue-sized room.

If you need volume unmiked, you need sustain--boooom. You can't get that with most of the heavily premuffled heads available. I use PS3s front and rear, no port, and nothing in the drum. You hear the sustain at the kit, but the audience doesn't--they just hear a louder drum.

If you play out miked, then you can go with a muffled head. Still, when miked I just swap out the PS3 reso for a ported PS3 and add some muffling. You can always add muffling to a wide-open head but you can't remove it from the SKs should you need to.
 
I am a Remo player, I always have been. I don't care for Evans heads too much on my snare or toms & I don't like Evan's coated finish. However there's always and exception, and that for me is the EMAD. On my 18" bass drum I prefer a coated PS3 tuned tight for jazz, but all my other kicks have EMADs, and they feel great and sound terrific.
 
im gonna cast my vote for the Evans EMAD, im a strictly Remo player but the EMAD sounds and feels good. It comes with the plastic ring which you can put one of two foam dampening rings, a small one and a larger one. It makes the drum sound killer, man and i mean it. But uh, i dont use the foam rings, i guess that defeats the purpose but whatever works right
 
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