Remo heads for toms?

lachlin

Member
I'm swapping out my stock heads on my toms for better quality heads. I have a remo pinstripe on my snare and really like the sound I get. Are remos good for toms? I really know nothing about what heads to get.
 
Today's heads are leaps and bounds above where they were "back in the day."

I've used Remo and Evans and I've been happy with both. It's all about the sound that you want to get out of your drums... and in fact, even then both companies (and probably any mainstream head company) will be able to suit your fancy.

Currently I'm using Remo Pinstripes on my tom batters, clear Emperors on the resonant side, Coated Controlled Sound (CS) with a reverse black dot on the snare with Hazy Ambassador Snare Side for the snare reso. My kicks have Powerstroke 3 or 4 (depending on my mood and the music I'm playing) with an Ebony logo head on front.

That set up gives me the "classic" 70's rock/metal sound with the deep drums and full snare sound. Of course if you wanted to use coated heads for a traditional jazz or tune them like Bonham did then you could go that route as well.

Check around to see what your favorite drummers use and how they tune their drums in order to get a great sound.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to PM me.

~A.J.
 
Are remos good for toms?

As a general rule, Remo's are great heads. As a general rule, Evans are great heads. As a general rule, both make great tom batters or resos. Now comes the difficult part. What type of Remo head are you looking at for your toms? Heads these days come in many varieties. In order to find out the right head for you, it'd be good to know what sound you're after.

A safe bet is Emperor batters over an Ambassador reso......or a 2 ply head over a single ply, but this may not be what you're looking for at all. Can you give us more info?
 
I'm looking for a good deep sound. I know I want to go 2 ply. I figure I'll give the remo pin stripe a try on my toms. I know my snare sounds tons better with one on it.
 
If I've ever been unsure what head to try, I've bought one and compared that to what I usually use (emperors). If I like it, I'll fit out the whole kit. If not, then I've only wasted money on one head.
 
On 2 different kits, I've used Emporer (Black Suede) and Exporer X (Coated) heads for all of my Toms, except for one 16" Floor Tom I used the Vintage A (Coated)...I seemed to have more difficulty tuning Single Ply heads and decided Duouble Ply worth a try...Drums are tuned to tones I like with really no overtones to speak of...I don't like the idea of having Ludwig Classic Maple and Gretsch Renown kits muffled at all...My kicks are slightly muffled with Felt on Reso head and EMad heads with smallest foam on Gretsch and none in Ludwig (24')...I had a gig last weekend with my new heads installed and had a few compliments on how well the kit sounded...I like that...Musicality...

Emporer X (Coated) - 2 - 10 mil ply w/ 5 mil reverse dot
Vintage A (Coated) - 2 - 7.5 w/ 3 mil reverse dot

Someone had comment to maybe buy 1 head and check it out first...Great idea...But now I do have a supply of Single and Double ply heads for whenever I may need to switch my sound around...
 
There's tons of options, tons of variables, tons of opinions, and tons of preferences. It's a never-ending chase!

The best way to go is to try a head at a time on your kit and see what you like. Generally it's good to find out what kind of sound you are looking for...i.e. open warm tones, deep and focused, etc. From there you can choose your 1-ply, 2-ply and coated/clear options... and if you want dampening or not.

It's the same concept with most musicians...you just have to try things out and see what works best for you.

For me I'd recommend Remo for your resonant heads (the ones on the bottom, not the ones you hit) and Evans for your batter heads (the ones on top that you hit). I know that's a broad generalization but it seems to work for me. I've never been 'disappointed' in what Evans has to offer for batter or resonant heads, but for resonant heads I do think Remo makes a better head.

Hope this helps!
 
Clay Fuqua, a great drum tech at Fork's, worked over my toms and was talking about how Emperors would put more "butt" into them, make them sound fatter. The Pinstipes are going to be better a lower tunings, but they also muffle the drum quite a bit (as that's what they are designed to do).

They question to start with is "What kind of music do you play the most?"

Be honest and then you can go with heads that will be suitable for most of your playing situations. It makes no sense to put Diplomats on a drum set when you play Hard Rock most of the time.


Mike

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