advice for heads

Norwig

Junior Member
I`m a multiinstrumentalist/songwriter/producer who has an old Ludwig "Frankenstein-kit" a 1971 14x6,5 supersensitive/supraphonic snare. 1976 24" aluminium Bassdrum. 1973 13" and 16" wooden toms(dont know type of wood).

as I`m a multiinstrumentalist I haven`t gotten the time to get decent grip on what heads to use, I`ve sort of built this kit piece by piece and used random coated heads. some of these heads have never been replaced and are ooooold.. so I`ve decided to buy new heads for my kit and I wanted to ask you guys for advice..:)

I`m basically mainly going for a 60s sound on my kit. with all coated heads, but being a producer, as time goes by I`d like to experiment with different heads to achieve different sounds as well.

so.. anybody got any advice for coated heads that would suit this kind of kit, going for a late 60s sound?

example of what kind of sound I`m going for... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i015mWV95eE&feature=related

I`m pretty happy with the sound of my kit as it is but the heads are so old and worn and I`ve never replaced all of them.. so I know the kit can sound a lot better...


another question for the patient ones: If I buy clear heads, will I be able to get a "modern" sound out of the kit? or do I need a modern kit?

I think (and hope) that a good drumkit is all I need. and heads, hoops, tuning and production is the main difference in a modern vs. vintage sound. but I don`t really know a lot about these things...

in other words, Is it possible to get my kit to sound like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTZDe71Rhew

or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE

with different heads, maybe hoops and tuning?

and of course playing style and production...:p

sorry `bout difficult question with lots of factors.
 
Aquarian coated studio x or american vintage. They will last twice as long as evans and 3 to 4 times longer than remo, plus they are usually cheaper depending where you get them. Music 123 usually has really good prices and free shipping in the USA as well. The have stores on amazon and on ebay.
 
I started reading about heads and around the forum, and now I`m starting to see the big picture here..

So what I`m thinking, is getting some coated ambassadors both for res and batter. but also some aquarian heads for practice wich I will obviously use the most.. and experiment with different heads and hoops as time goes by as I want to make different kinds of music.

anyways.. this means I have to ask another question.. can I change heads back and forth without destroying the sound/resonance in the heads? and what about removing a res head and use it as a batter head? I assume the edges of my shells are a little bit different at the bottom than on the top.. will this damage the heads? of course if I play a lot on my res head, It will no longer be a good res head.. but I`m thinking only for experimenting with different sounds and saving money here...
 
can I change heads back and forth without destroying the sound/resonance in the heads?

Yes you can. All heads have a lifespan and will stretch out over time, due to being hit with a stick and constantly tuned/tweaked. But for all intents and purposes you can certainly swap between one head and another and back again depending on what sound you're going for.

and what about removing a res head and use it as a batter head?

You can definitely take a head from the reso side and use it for a batter head (except for a snare reso as they are just too thin). But it's worth remembering that a batter head sees a hell of a lot more abuse than the reso head does. They need to be changed more regularly, so as a cost saving measure it's "usually" more desirable to leave the bottom heads as dedicated resos. In this case, constant beating with a stick is a far greater factor in their lifespan than the bearing edges.
 
So what I`m thinking, is getting some coated ambassadors both for res and batter. but also some aquarian heads for practice wich I will obviously use the most...

Why would you buy remo then change to aquarian for practice, the aquarian coated studio x will sound better than the ambassador, the coating will last longer and head itself will last 3 to 4 times longer before starting to go dead plus depending where you get them they will cost less too.
I was a die hard remo user till I tried aquarian and now will never go back as I like the sound better plus the money I save only changing my heads once or twice a year as opposed to changing the remos every month or two.
BTW coated classic clear over coated classic clear is the equivalent to coated ambassador over coated ambassador but the studio x is a classic clear with a small control ring of power dot material on the underside of the outside edge to remove some of the overtones but can easily be pealed off if you find it to be too much.
 
Aquarian coated studio x or american vintage. They will last twice as long as evans and 3 to 4 times longer than remo.
A slightly dubious statement. Everyone has different experiences with different brands of heads. Let's not confuse the life of the head with the life of the coating either.

Also, the Studio X is a premuffled head, and not the equivalent of an Ambassador or G1. That would be the Aquarian Texture Coated head.

I believe the American Vintage head is meant for vintage drums with oversized shells that won't easily fit regular heads. The Modern Vintage head might be more suitable, though I guess either might work.


There is no reason to have separate practice and performance heads. Just pick a brand and run with it. Replace the reso heads about a third as often as you replace batters; don't swap them back and forth.
 
A slightly dubious statement. Everyone has different experiences with different brands of heads. Let's not confuse the life of the head with the life of the coating either.

Also, the Studio X is a premuffled head, and not the equivalent of an Ambassador or G1. That would be the Aquarian Texture Coated head.

.

I wasn't confusing the coating life with the head life. The coating on Aquarian does out last the coating on other heads but the overall life of the head is also much longer as well. With my playing style I only need to change the Aquarian heads every 8 to 10 months at the most, Evans needed to be changed every 4 to 6 months and I could never get more than 2 to 2 1/2 months out of Remos before they started to go dead.

The Classic Clear and the Studio x and the Texture Coated are all the same heads. The Classic Clear is the plain single ply head, the Studio x has the muffling strip made from power dot material on the underside of the head, the Texture Coated has the coating and the Coated Studio x has both the strip and the coating. If you buy either of the Studio x heads and find the muffling is too much you just peel off the strip leaving you with either a Classic Clear or a Texture Coated as I had stated in my second post.
 
thanks for more tips! My local drumshop had a 40% discount on remo heads.. so I went with ambassadors.. but I`m going into a bigger music shop in another city this weekend..

people ask why i want to use some heads for recording and some for practice.. well because most of the time I use my drums, I`m practicing. and I often practice different techniques. I sometimes "do the dave grohl" flip the sticks and beat the hell out of the drums. but mostly play more of a 60s style. but when I`m practicing I really don`t care If the drums sound good. I`m using ear mufflers anyway! but when I`m recording. I want to tune the drums proper and have good suitable heads available. and because I want to properly tune the drums, I`ll might as well change the heads during the tuning process before recording..
 
thanks for more tips! My local drumshop had a 40% discount on remo heads.. so I went with ambassadors.. but I`m going into a bigger music shop in another city this weekend..

people ask why i want to use some heads for recording and some for practice.. well because most of the time I use my drums, I`m practicing. and I often practice different techniques. I sometimes "do the dave grohl" flip the sticks and beat the hell out of the drums. but mostly play more of a 60s style. but when I`m practicing I really don`t care If the drums sound good. I`m using ear mufflers anyway! but when I`m recording. I want to tune the drums proper and have good suitable heads available. and because I want to properly tune the drums, I`ll might as well change the heads during the tuning process before recording..

Then I would recommend the Aquarians for recording as they have a warmer sound and not as plastic sounding attack as the Remos.
 
Then I would recommend the Aquarians for recording as they have a warmer sound and not as plastic sounding attack as the Remos.

Horses for courses I guess mate. My main aversion to both Evans and Aquarian heads is the plastic sound I hear in the attack. Admittedly, my experience with Aquarian heads is far more limited when compared with the other two, but hearing that somewhat "pasticky" sound is the cause of that. I just never bothered with any further experimenting because of it.
 
Horses for courses I guess mate. My main aversion to both Evans and Aquarian heads is the plastic sound I hear in the attack. Admittedly, my experience with Aquarian heads is far more limited when compared with the other two, but hearing that somewhat "pasticky" sound is the cause of that. I just never bothered with any further experimenting because of it.

Funny, out of all 3 brands I find remo to be the most "plasticky" sounding.
 
Funny, out of all 3 brands I find remo to be the most "plasticky" sounding.

I have no doubt about that, brother. If we all heard the same way, we'd all be playin' exactly the same gear, in exactly the same manner. Thank christ there's something for everyone and we can pick and choose to suit ourselves. Variety truely is the spice of life mate. :)
 
I have no doubt about that, brother. If we all heard the same way, we'd all be playin' exactly the same gear, in exactly the same manner. Thank christ there's something for everyone and we can pick and choose to suit ourselves. Variety truely is the spice of life mate. :)

Yeah fo shizzle !!! lol...
 
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