in the market for a differnet kick head, suggestions?

beatsMcGee

Pioneer Member
currently coming off a long spell using the EMAD2, while its a good head im looking for something different. ive gone back and forth between remo, evans, and even tried the superkicks.

I play mostly loud rock, im looking for something punchy, deep,loud, but also artiulate so that you can make out all the quick doubles etc...

so throw out your favorite head!

oh and my kick is a 24x16 mcx.
 
PS3,PS3,PS3,PS3,PS3,PS3. Seems easy to me. They work great. Use one.
 
thats what Im thinking, just gonna go back to the good old ps3.

ive been having another issue and i might make a separate thread for this but ill ask here too.

so i just bought a new kit (pearl mcx) and its got a 24x16 kick. my old kit had a 24x20 kick. now my foot technique is pretty good, i can do fast singles and really consistently fast doubles (ive worked on this for years lol) but im having a little bit of flutter coming from the beater on the batter head. Its not a huge flutter but i can hear it nothing short of really loosening the head makes it go away... Im tuning the head just ilke i did on my old kick (24x20) and it never fluttered like this. I dont have it super tight or anything odd, so my only idea is that the extra 4 inches really dissipated some of that air and gave the head less rebound. the strange thing is that the rebound feels the same, if it felt alot tighter i would understand, but it doesnt.

its annoying the mess out of me cause i cant get it to go away without really loosening the head and make it sound like shit.

Both kicks have the same ported reso head and ive tried using the same batter head on both (emad2). also i used the same muffling on both kicks.
 
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I'm still using the Evans EQ4 batter head on most of my kits. It has very little muffling, great low frequency fundamental and works great in miked or un-miked situations.

Dennis
 
I'll break from the pack and suggest coated Emperor. I like the PS3 a lot, but prefer the Emperor. It seems to me that the Emperor's sound remains more consistent through a wider dynamic range, whereas the PS3 sounds a little "clicky" at low volume. It's not bad by any stretch, but I'll take the Emp as a first choice.
 
On my Tama 14x22, I had a PS3. My new Mapex Saturn 18x22 came with a PS3. I put an Emad on the Saturn, and even with the small ring I kid you not, it took so much out of my Saturn's Kick that it made my Tama's 14x22 sound like a monster in comparison! I will say that it provided huge attack, but not much punch and almost no "boom". I normally mic my kick, and figured although acoustically it didn't sound great, it would probably sound good mic'd. Boy, was I wrong. I tried everything I could, including removing the small dampening ring, tuning differently, muffling and unmuffling the Emad and the reso head, but nothing seemed to improve the sound. I thought I was imagining it, but two days ago, I went back to the PS3, and Boom! I was not imagining it.

Someone told me it was because I didn't have the Evans reso head that the Emad is designed to work in concert with, and while that may be true, I wasn't about to go there, because in my experience, a reso head doesn't play THAT much of a factor in how a batter head sounds, although with today's technology that might be possible. Regardless, I will probably not play an Emad again anytime soon, but at least I now know how to reduce the output of kick drum, so if I ever need to for some tiny room, like a closet in a church or something, I'll know exactly what to do. :)

For punch, I take a rag about twice the size of a wash cloth (wash cloth doesn't work nearly as well), fold it so it's just about the same width as the ring on the PS3, and gaffer-tape it along the bottom of the batter head. I try to get 10-12% coverage, so I tape it along approx. 1/5 to 1/4 of the circumference. It seems to make ANY kick drum sound awesome. Depending upon how much resonance I want to accompany the punch, I apply the same principle to the reso head, sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes not at all. Either way, the punch is great, and nothing I do to the reso head affects this. The nice thing with this technique is that it sounds good acoustically and mic'd, so no matter where you sit in the audience, it sounds good! ;-)

This also take away pedal flutter! ;-)

Incidentally, I just did this for the 18x22 Ludwig Element Birch kick at my church, and achieved the same result, even thought the Ludwig came with a very cheap version of the PS3, so I suspect this technique works with any single-ply head that doesn't have two much dampening to start out with.
 
I'm also using 16x24 kick...Ludwig Classic Maple...I'd been using Powerstroke 3 and somehow didn't feel like getting the low end "whump" I was looking for, so, I put back the Ludwig Power Collar (Clear) on batter and I'm getting that kick sound I really strive for..Reso tuned just above wrinkling and batter slightly higher...I also put towels which just slightly touching both heads...I've also a couple of 22 kicks and have tried Aquarian SK3, Evans EMAD and Remo P3...On my 22" Zickos, although any head sounds good, I'm using Remo Ambassador (Clear) with Remo Pinstripe (Clear) Reso with minmal muffling (towel..touching reso head slightly) and kick sounds like a pile driver...Seriously...I got lucky and bought set of 70's Zickos 18x22 10x14 16x18 for $300 (Great shape, and, came with some what rusty '64 Suprophonic 5x14) and now I am loving these acrylic shells...Bonzo attack on all shells...Anyways, sorry, acrylics got a hold of me, I'm finding kick and clear batter sound great and Ludwig factory head the best...
 
I like the Evans EQ3 bass drum batter head. Peace and goodwill.
 
My 24x16 has an EMAD2 on it, it rocks my world, but on my other kit I have the Evans EQ3, and it was fat, full, and punchy. I liked it a lot.
 
From your description on what your looking for I would suggest a Remo Power Stroke 3 or an Aq, Super Kick 1 or 2// if your pounding the batter head the SK 2 might be better for you. The SK 1 has been on my bass drums since it came out prior to that Remos PS 3 was used for many years. I don't use patches or whatever their called and no hard plastic beaters either. I don't want the clicky attack sound at all, I'm looking for depth and that good thud that isn't dead, I want some sustain but I need it to decay or I'm gonna have mic problems between the kick and the Fl. Tm.
Have you ever realized that drummers want every damn thing hahahaha, we're good! Doc
 
In my experience the heavier thicker heads that have more plies (2) produce less sustain and less volumn too. If your looking for more bottom and a controlled sustain the single ply kick heads do that. The thinner shelled drums produce more bottom end and that holds true with the heads. I use Aq. Super Kicks and the One model produces more sustain and a better bottom than the Two, theres not a wide difference but its there. Its less obvious as they break in but when new the One is better if your looking for what it does. If you don't want sustain and you don't like pillows in your drum the heavier plies will suit you. I think the Power Strokes work well on thicker shells or if your looking for a dead sound. They do hold up for a long time and I prefer both companies heads without any patches and without the plastic beater side. You can loose (break) any head ion the kit except your bass drum head, you do that with out a back up on a gig and you should be horse whipped hahahaha!!! Doc
 
I agree with doctor dirt on the sk1 over the 2 ply versions, mate an sk1 with the ported regulator front head throw away any extra muffling and you will be hard pressed to get a better sound from your kick drum.
 
i have played sk1s on my maypex drums and sk2s on that same drum, the sk1 is more open sounding and the sk2s have more attack .if you use a kick pad it sounds great for heavy loud rock music ,it punches through the mix better for loud rock music.ive played a sk2 with a kick pad on a 14 by 24 ludwig epic and it sounded awsome,i dont use no pillow or blanket, its all in choosing the right head for your drum,to much muff kills your tone.i am trying out a ps3 right now and will be playing live on halloween night to test it out, it sounds ok for now but i realy like the super kicks the best.
 
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