Heads for a 16" kick?

Cacaphony

Member
I recently converted a 16" floor tom into a bass drum, and I'm in the market for new heads. I'm looking for 16" heads that will give me a low, punchy sound without sounding too thin. I play with acoustic guitarists/bassist and we use minimal amplification. We play country and folk influenced indie rock.

Is there a 16" non-bass drum head that is an equivalent to and EMAD or a Superkick? I've used Remo heads consistently, but I'm not opposed to trying something new.

In case you're curious, I removed the leg mounts from an old bass drum and fit them to my floor tom to use it as a kick.
 
It depends what style of music your playing, but the closest thing to those heads in 16" is going to be the Powerstroke 3. I had a clear Powerstroke on my Sonor Jungle bass drum (16") and a Powerstroke Ebony on the reso side (Stock) and it sounded incredible tuned low, and that was WITHOUT any d.i.y. internal or external dampening. I think the bass is a bit small to stuff with dampening - with the aforementioned combination of heads, it won't be necessary.
 
I recently did that with my old 16"x16" floor tom too.

I have a clear Remo Pinstripe on the batter side, and no head on the resonant side, with a small towel thrown in. I use the spurs from my old bass drum, and a plastic aerobic excercise step riser thingy to put the tom-turned-kick on, so the bass pedal will hit the head in the center.

I figure I'll use the tom kick (plus a snare, hi-hats, and a ride) for acoustic gigs and such, and any time I need a really small, low-volume kit.
 
The thing is with a pinstripe is that you'll get loads more resonance because it's a 2-ply head, which is why I'd opt for single ply. Then again, if you do what Drumguy does and remove that reso head and chuck some dampening in, you might get a good sound.

I still think the powerstroke combo kills though.
 
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