What drum heads to use? Birch

Bw83872

Junior Member
Hey everyone. I'm pretty new to playing the drums, I picked it up on a whim because I had always wanted to and I love it! I do however know next to nothing about drum heads, and mine definitely need replacing. I do know a little, like the main companies are evans, remo, and aquarian, and that heads usually are one or two ply and clear or coated. But unfortunately i have no clue on how to apply this to buying drum heads. So basically I have two questions:

1. What heads would recommend I get for my set? ( I have a pdp fs drum set, which is made of birch wood I believe. I have "fusion" sized, 14 snare, 10, 12, 14 toms and I think a 22 bass drum all birch. I play kind of alternative rock and some blues stuff. I know that I like the look of coated heads a lot more, but I also know that looks are not the most important thing.)

2. What does the terminology for a lot of the heads mean? (like what does hazy mean and when people say they sound "warm" or "bright" and "clear" what exactly does that mean?)

Again thanks for taking the time to answer probably a pretty stupid question, no one in my family has ever played a musical instrument so I am kind of just on my own. Thanks y'all!
 
typically you want to experiment and find out what works for you, but I will give you these suggestions, on your snare you should use coated My personal preference is Evans, On the snare you might want to try Reverse dot power center and on the toms go with a G2 or G2 coated, Birch sounds pretty good with two ply heads, On the bass go with an Emad. Coated heads sound a little quieter than reg and not as "wet" or warmer. These are merely suggestions, heads are like underwear, you are just going to have to try on a few pairs and see what feels right for you. Another thing if you use brushes you will need coated.
 
Being new to drumming I am assuming you havent done much drum tuning yet plus you probably want your drums to sound similar to the pre recorded music you listen to. That being the case I would suggest a 2 ply batter on toms and one of the controlled snare heads that are available as well as a pre muffled bass drum head, these will be much easier for you to tune and give you a sound from your point of view that will be close to the pre recorded music you are use to listening to. Personally I am an aquarian user now and they have great prices and for my style of playing they last much longer than the other brands and for you situation I would recommend classic clear bottom heads and either a response 2 or performance 2 top head on your toms, a classic clear snare bottom with either a coated focus x or if you want more durability a hi-velocity on the top, and for the bass drum a ported regulator on the front and a super kick 1 (or 2 for a little more durability) on the beater side. Also music123 has some really good prices and free shipping in the USA, I have seen them selling some multi head packs like a super kick 1, ported regulator and a double kick patch for about $62 with free shipping. Hope this helps and good luck. BTW if you go to the aquarian site they have a chart that will show all their heads and the equivelent heads from remo and evans.
 
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I never have tried Aquarian or Attack heads but I hear really good things, perhaps when my current ones wear out. Also, considering how dry you like your drums you might want to look into Moongels, remo or other control rings, and as mentioned a controlled sound snare top head.
 
agreed on double ply clears sounding sick on birch shells. my buddy recently got a pearl kit (mastercraft?) in all birch & sounds insane w/ G2s tuned to each resonant note.

my birch / mahog yamaha tour customs from '88 shipped w/ remo pinstripes. went w/ every possible head combo over the years. clear ambassadors / G1s are great, G2s great. now using coated ambassadors for 70s disco / funk / motown. will probably go w/ coated diplomats next for the longest resonance, etc.
 
All of the major brands are good. I've had really good luck with Aquarians lately.I used Remo for over 40 years and or some reason they don't sound as good to me now. For a birch snare I'd suggest either a Focus X or a Focus X coated head with the Power Dot for the snare batter side. The American Vintage series are great snare side heads. The regular coated single ply Aquarians are fantastic batters as well.

For your bass drum the Super Kick II/Regulator combo is hard to beat. On the toms you might want to consider the Performance 2/Classic Clear combination. Since you're new to this whole thing you might want to look up Bob Gatzen's video series on tuning drums. They're out on YouTube and Bob does a great job of explaining the musical approach to tuning drums.

Anyway, welcome to the world of drumming!
 
I use a birch Mapex fusion kit with Evans G2 Coated batters, G1 Clear reso's and after a bit of tweaking I'm enjoying the sound I'm getting from them.
 
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Hi, I have played drums for many years, And have played around trying to get that perfect sound, You may get it in your bedroom, but then when you go to rehearse in the Church Hall, The sound bounces round like a rubber ball, So here's a few tips that I have picked up over the years, If you gonna be re-hearsing in a small room with plenty of carpet and wall coverings, go for the intermediate, 2ply oil filled top and single ply bottom....... If your gonna be in a large church type, Floorboards and bare brick, go for 2ply oil filled top and bottom. And if you gonna be doin like a Festival outdoor event, Good quality single ply on both.... Where ever you are gonna be, any instrument will sound different, I find that low tunning on the toms and quiet high tuning on the snare works well for me, in any given situation....Its a question of trial and error for what YOU want from your kit, Just try and keep the bottom head the same pitch as the top, when tunning, as this helps the drum resonate to a nice even pitch. And please don't bother with moongel or sound hoops or gaffer tape, Let the drums sound as natural as possible, Only YOU will know when it sounds right..... Hope this helps..... Rob J
 
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