Do i need new batter heads?

scoreking81

Senior Member
i just got a used kit and the guy i bought it from said he used his reso heads on top and batters on bottom, the batter heads had no damage on them but the resos were pretty beat up. my question is, do i need new batters or just new resos?
 
If the reso heads are factory-installed (which I'm assuming they are), they're probably only 7 mil thick, which is a little thinner than a standard 10 mil batter head, like a Remo Ambassador for example. They're not designed to be hit directly with a stick, which is probably why they're so beaten up. If you're on a budget (and who isn't these days?), replace the resos first and see what kind of sound you get with the old batters on top. Eventually, you should replace the batters also to get a good, consistent sound.
 
see im going to suggest the opposite here.... if he's using the standard batters on the reso side.. they are likely to be just OEM versions of remo ambassadors.. which is the staple choice for reso side heads.

SO why not just leave them on the reso side, and get some proper ambassadors or emperors to go on the batter side, and have the classic setup.

If he does it the other way, he's going to end up putting some crappy OEM heads on his batter side, and putting far superior heads on the reso side, and that doesnt make a whole bunch of sense to me.

Far better IMHO to put some new high quality batters on
 
New resos, and swap them over. I don't have an idea why the hell somebody would do that.
 
I think I'm confused: the head that gets hit is the batter, no matter where it started. There is no difference per se. If you have Ambassadors top and bottom then one will be batter and the other reso, regardless of the fact that the heads are identical.

If you really want to do it right, start over and replace batters and resos with good quality heads. Often factory heads are lame and should be replaced right off the bat anyway.

If you can't spring for new heads top and bottom, then just replace the ones that are beat up (the batters, that used to be resos when they were on the bottom) and leave the (now) resos where they are.

OR - if the heads that are currently on the bottom are two-ply, then I'd put those back on top and get new single-ply heads (Ambassadors or Evans G1) for the bottom.
 
Last edited:
Your not confused mate....

but what is often the case is that the reso heads that come free with kits, are often thinner and less durable than the batter heads... more like remo diplomats than emperors. So they are not entirely equal. In this case, he now has what would be pretty close to an ambassador on his reso side.

So yeah.. just replace the batters and be done with it
 
SO why not just leave them on the reso side, and get some proper ambassadors or emperors to go on the batter side, and have the classic setup.

He said they were beat to shit...Sounds like a good enough reason to replace them.

I would replace both if it were me. The beat up heads area no brainer. The other would depend on what they were but its a pretty good bet they were stock reso's and as such you would be better off to replace them
 
I would replace both if it were me. The beat up heads area no brainer. The other would depend on what they were but its a pretty good bet they were stock reso's and as such you would be better off to replace them

+1.

If you've got the cash....swap 'em all out and let those thing sing!!
 
He said they were beat to shit...Sounds like a good enough reason to replace them.

I would replace both if it were me. The beat up heads area no brainer. The other would depend on what they were but its a pretty good bet they were stock reso's and as such you would be better off to replace them

im pretty sure the OP suggested that what would originally have been the reso heads were all beat up.. but the batters that had been switched to the reso side was fine

my reasonsing was that he has perfectly fine resos in this situation

but the OP may wish to clear that one up for us
 
im pretty sure the OP suggested that what would originally have been the reso heads were all beat up.. but the batters that had been switched to the reso side was fine

my reasonsing was that he has perfectly fine resos in this situation

but the OP may wish to clear that one up for us
Not perfectly fine, as they seem to be stock heads as well so preferably they should be changed too. But if he can only afford to change one set of heads at the moment, I agree with your original proposition - just buy proper batter heads and use the stock batters as reso's.
 
You say as your kit is setup now your reso's are fine and your batters are beat up. Do your reso's have any stick marks on them from being played? If so swap out batters and reso's, if not swap the batters now and in a few months replace the reso's.
 
Back
Top