Flaking on Coated Emporer Heads

This must be some kind of a new record, lol. Make sure that your stick tips are not chewed up. If they're in good condition, I would return the head.

Yep......I've never seen such widespread panning of Remo heads since joining DW.

I don't doubt anyones experiences, but I'm continually floored by their bad wrap here at Drummerworld. I've used these things for 25 odd years......quite simply, I know what I like and I'm fully aware of the concept of "value for money". If these things didn't hold up, I wouldn't use them....simple as that. I've used Evans heads before, so I have a viable alternative....yet I go back to Remo......surely I'm not that dimwitted that I'm missing something I shouldn't be?

It staggers me to read post after post highlighting 'durability issues' with Remo heads. The fact remains that ALL heads wear out eventually.......no secret there, surely?

Are they REALLY as bad as you guys in the States make 'em out to be? Or is anyone willing to stick their hand up to "user error"? I'm genuinely lost on this one. :)
 
I've been using Vintage Emps on my drums for the past few months. The coating on the 12" is steadily wearing away. I really don't care since it took many, many hours of use to get there. They're just at that break-in point, too, where they're sounding incredible. They'll probably last another 3-4 months.

But again...I have some Ambassadors that I've reused on several kits now. They're turning brown but there's no flaking, at all.

I bought some Emperors a few years ago that you could basically rub the coating off w/ your finger. By the time I got them tuned, a good portion of the coating was missing. I think they've fine-tuned their recipe since then.
 
II bought some Emperors a few years ago that you could basically rub the coating off w/ your finger. By the time I got them tuned, a good portion of the coating was missing. I think they've fine-tuned their recipe since then.

lol......I thought of you when I was posting Zam......you don't count. :)

I've put your unfortunate run of bad luck (out of round drums...heads falling apart or not fitting at all), down to the fact that you must have been a bad, baaaaaad man in a previous life.

It's karma I tells ya.....it HAS to be! :)
 
Even if the coating flakes off, how much is needed to flake off before it notably affects the sound?

I could care less if there's a quarter-sized 'hole' in the coating, because it still sounds nice when I hit the head.

I'll be sure to buy my heads from Musiciansfriend, it's more likely they have newer ones.
 
lol......I thought of you when I was posting Zam......you don't count. :)

I've put your unfortunate run of bad luck (out of round drums...heads falling apart or not fitting at all), down to the fact that you must have been a bad, baaaaaad man in a previous life.

It's karma I tells ya.....it HAS to be! :)

Hah! It's a small price to pay for the charmed life I have lived, otherwise, so far. Like my mom told me at dinner, last weekend, "Your father had a horseshoe up his a%$, too!". Something's gotta give, right?
 
Well I see it happening again!!!!!
I love Remo heads, I have endorsed their product since I started playing but the 14 floor tom again flaking very fast. I went to the store and they gave me a new one no problem but 2 to 3 weeks in guess what?
I don't get it, my sticks are fine the tuning is fine, the other heads are doing well, but this 14' is the shit's.
I'm going to keep playing it but Remo is starting to eat my account and my patience. I may get the coated ambassadors back on the s classix here, I have clear amb on the reso and coated emps on the batter, I may go to the coated amb?
Any thoughts.
The ambass don't flake quite as easy although I like the emps.
 
Piperdoog, give an Evans GPlus a shot and tell me what you think. Our coating is designed and applied in a manner that is resistant to chipping.
 
Piperdoog, give an Evans GPlus a shot and tell me what you think. Our coating is designed and applied in a manner that is resistant to chipping.

I'm using a wood tip, Buddy Rich Vic Firth sticks. And my next batch of heads maybe different. I have not played Evans but will give them a try, or go to the Ambassadors, I have had them on my snare drums and they don't flake, but those Emperor's (brutal)
 
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I agree with the Evans products and their resistance to coating failure. I switched to Evans products almost five years ago after using Remo for close to forty five years. I just purchased a DW Classic kit with came equipped with DW (Remo) coated heads. I don't play hard at all, but just after a week or two the batter head on my 12" x 8" rack tom already exhibited a bit of coating flaking. When I re-head these drums, I'll probably be using G1 coated heads. I have four other kits and they all have Evans heads top and bottom.

Dennis
 
Same coating on both heads.....doubt you'll see much difference.

I see that they both do have the same type of coating which makes it even more interesting, why is it only the Emperor that I am having the problem with, the Amb have all stood the time. So I'm saying go with the Amb on the toms, the birch kit I have will sound good with those, or breakup with Remo and date another company. Evans, Aquarian...
I have not even tried another tom head other than Remo, so maybe time to test the waters. I have brand new clear Amb on the reso, any advice on the batter for an S Classix. Someone mentioned the Gplus coated.......
 
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any advice on the batter for an S Classix. Someone mentioned the Gplus coated.......

G Plus is great because it's a thicker single-ply head. It has greater resonance than the G2 but has more durability than the G1. For what it's worth, Jojo Mayer uses them on his Sonors and loves them.
 
To simply add to the mix, I've had problems with both Evans and Remo's flaking prematurely.

I've also not had problems with both companies products.

Similar to sticks breaking prematurely, I reckon there are aspects of the skins that the companies' quality control is unable to detect or account for.
 
To simply add to the mix, I've had problems with both Evans and Remo's flaking prematurely.

I've also not had problems with both companies products.

Similar to sticks breaking prematurely, I reckon there are aspects of the skins that the companies' quality control is unable to detect or account for.

Hey thanks for the input, sorry about your Leafs brother!!!!!
I just heard about Remo's new Ambassador x, although I'm tempted to try out these Evans G plus....
 
I bought a Remo Powerstroke 3 for my snare and after one set there were multiple spots missing in the batter. One 45 minute set. And I play folk rock. Unacceptable. At the same time, I have an Ambassador on one of my other snares and it doesn't have spots. But that one head was bad enough. None of the Evans heads I have used have done that before.

There's always going to be the Remo/Evans war, because they are the 2 dominent head manufacturers (no offense to Aquarian and such). But to me, Evans wins hands down. They sound as good or better, and as a company are far more innovative, with the EMADs, the Onyx, the G-plus, the EC's...I don't want to start some sort of argument. I'm just saying I was a Remo boy and Evans won me over with their quality.
 
For me, with Remo, it has allways been so that if the head is a coated clear head, the coating will chip fast. But if it's a coated head that has white film, it will last for a long time. Coated emperors i've had alwways have clear film, and the coating never lasts more than a few hours. Ambassadors, however sometimes have clear film, and sometimes white.
 
Unless you are using brushes on a coated snare head, I can't really see what the big deal is. It's cosmetic - you would have to have an incredible amount of coating come off before it noticeably affected the sound...

FWIW, I've had coating flake prematurely on every major brand. Usually it lasts just fine, sometimes not, but I've never really felt compelled to return a head because the coating flaked.
 
G Plus is great because it's a thicker single-ply head. It has greater resonance than the G2 but has more durability than the G1. For what it's worth, Jojo Mayer uses them on his Sonors and loves them.

Ok I'm taking your advice, the next heads I put on my 3 toms will be the G Plus, sick of the coating on my Emps leaving me prematurely. We shall see....
Still have a little life left in them but will try a change.
 
I beat the crap out of my toms and snare and aside from a very small
worn through area on my snare (cs) I haven't seen any flaking from my Emperors.

I saw this thread when it came out in Feb 2010 and since then I have been beating the living daylights out of my emperors actually trying to get some flakage.....

nada....are you guys tuning like ultra low or something? Using baseball bats for sticks?? Playing more than an an hour a day everyday?

I play about 45 min to an hour every single day and when I hit toms and snare I
HIT. Dents yes, flakage? no. very weird.
 
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