Coated Emperors

DrewTheShoe

Senior Member
Hey guys.

I'm going to upgrade my heads on my toms soon from these Tama stock ones, and I'm pretty sure I'll be pleased with the Coated Emperors.

I'd love to hear all of your opinions on them, as I'm sure some of you have played them more then I have.

Also: if you have any comments/quips about the clear/white or black suede/ebony Emps, feel free to share.

[I'm playing rock, hard rock and mostly prog rock, not too much of a hard hitter but I can get excited sometimes for anyone who'd like to know ;) ]
 
Coated Emps are great! I've got them on my Birch kit and they sound fantastic!! Remo's Emperor and Ambassador heads are those classic "can't miss" drum heads (coated, clear, smooth white, whatevs). They'll sound good on any kind of drum and within any musical genre. I also play mostly rock music of a few different styles and am not a hard hitter either, but need to be at times and my Emps have held up beautifully.

I haven't heard the new black suede Emps for myself yet but I've read a few threads/posts on this forum that gave them very positive reviews. One re-occuring theme though is that nobody at the time had heard these heads on anything but pro-level kits, meaning that the excellent sound quality could primarily be the result of the drums they're put on, and not the heads themselves.

Hope that helps and enjoy your new Emps whenever you get them!!

Mike
 
I also love the remo emperors. They sound great, and they are pretty durable. I've got a Ludwig 3-ply maple kit with coated emperors, and a Premier genista birch kit with clear emperors. Ambassadors are usually my resonant head of choice. I've used a lotta different heads by the other companies, but I keep coming back to Remo emperors when I need a 2-ply head. Enjoy!
 
Coated emperors are a little too thick/heavy for my tastes.

As for the clear/white/white suede debate, I prefer the white suede ambassadors. They aren't quite as durable as the clear or coated counterparts but I have not had any issues with them and they are the perfect blend of clear and coated heads. Warmer tone of the coated and the better sustain of the clear.
 
Coated Emp's are wicked. They don't sound slappy if you tune 'em low, so that's a bonus. I use them for my low toms 12" 14". For my 10" I use a coated ambassador, I find you can get a greater tuning range with the thinner head, you can tune them right up and not choke the 10".

Coated Emp's over clear Ambassadors on my 12" 14".
coated Ambassador over clear Ambassador on my 10"
Ps3 on my kick (nothing inside. except a thin rolled up towel b/w my kick pedal and the front of the batter.

Yamaha Beech customs.
 
I love mine Emps, never been able to get on with coated Ambassadors, I have not been able to get the depth of tone I was looking for. The Emperors are just perfect.

Have tried pinstrips, black dot, fiberskin and some Evans versions but always come back to the Emperors.

I have found some of the coated Ludwig Weatherkings to be good as well so might be worth checking out, but they are harder to get hold of.
 
They can be... as long as you don't get into a batch of them that slipped on by Remo's quality control department.
 
Personally, you can't go wrong with the Coated Emperors for any time of rock/pop. They sound great. Really warm sounding with perfect sustain.
 
It happened to me. I got some that were papery, like they were constructed too loosely. They would not tune either.

There ya go! That's what I'm saying. Now, you can get more and it may never happen again. I've had it happen too many damn times so...

I just came home from a Jason Bittner clinic and he loves Remo to death. I sometimes wonder if Remo manufactures heads "seperatly" for endorsers and the general public.
 
There ya go! That's what I'm saying. Now, you can get more and it may never happen again. I've had it happen too many damn times so...

I just came home from a Jason Bittner clinic and he loves Remo to death. I sometimes wonder if Remo manufactures heads "seperatly" for endorsers and the general public.

That could be...small batch run. But, I say overall QC at remo lags Evans significantly. I use Evans exclusively.
 
Yeah, sad but true. I have used Evans on and off. I have never had an issue other than when their ST snare heads that came out in.... 89 or 90. The heads pulled out while playing. They corrected it after the store sent so many back. I've come to favor Aquarian as of now but Evans put out a good product.
 
Yeah, sad but true. I have used Evans on and off. I have never had an issue other than when their ST snare heads that came out in.... 89 or 90. The heads pulled out while playing. They corrected it after the store sent so many back. I've come to favor Aquarian as of now but Evans put out a good product.

I stick with Evans because I like the drumheads but: I contacted the major drumhead companies about a discount or donation for our deployed chapel tent. Evans contributed enough spares for 3 years! And the coated ec2's gave the pathetic cabria kit some oomph. The emad kick owns....and BTW: the other companies blew me off.

That being said, Aquarian seem to have better qc than remo as well. A guy from Alaska was drumming for a USAF band here. He had a yamaha maple custom kit & snare. All outfitted with crispy-fresh Aquarian drumheads.

The band played R&B stuff like EWF, Chicago and so on. His playing, and the kit sounded great.
 
......and I'm pretty sure I'll be pleased with the Coated Emperors......I'm playing rock, hard rock and mostly prog rock....
probably the most important info. would be what make/model drum kit do you have. I'm running clear Emperors on my Rogers XP-8 shells, for starts. Coated would work well also, though I'm not a big coated head fan. Actually, every drum I've owned since 1980, Emperors could/would work well on.
 
I stick with Evans because I like the drumheads but: I contacted the major drumhead companies about a discount or donation for our deployed chapel tent. Evans contributed enough spares for 3 years! And the coated ec2's gave the pathetic cabria kit some oomph. The emad kick owns....and BTW: the other companies blew me off.

Wow. That's great. I think I'll be trying some Evans in the future after I go thru trying all of the Aquarians that interest me.
 
best heads ever i mean cmon dont you just fall in love with that sound?
 
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