Pleasant Surprise w/ Remo

I just got in new Ebony Pinstripes and Clear Diplomats for my Mapex Pro M. Now I usually haven't cared for Pinstripes of any kind on any other kits I've ever played on, but I thought I'd take a chance this time. For those that don't know, Ebony Pinstripes are 1) made of the the unique black film and 2) feature thicker plies [a 10mil and 5mil] compared to regular two-ply heads. I chose Clear Diplomats for the bottoms to bring out the sensitivity and bright resonance that the Pinstripes might dull. The result so far is amazing and the best I've heard my kit sound to date. I've got them tuned up nicely to where they sing out with a sustained clear note but have that full bodied oomph the extra thickness provides. As for the bass drum I chose a Ebony Pinstripe for the batter and a Smooth White Ambassador for the front. The result is a very loud and clear boom that when tuned up creates a nice powerful kick sound that has enough sustain to carry anywhere but has that low-end you can feel. This sounds tremendously better than the EMAD 2 I had on before which had a limited dynamic range and didn't project at all.

I'm very happy with these heads even though I thought I wouldn't be, mainly because of the color. My kit is "Blue Ice" which is a blue to white fade, so I thought the black heads wouldn't look too great. But, I got them for the sound and surprisingly, they look just fine. So, I recommend that everyone should try some of these Ebony Pinstripes even if you think they will look ridiculous, because they sound great. Now, I'm sure kits with bigger drums may benefit more from an Ambassador on the reso side to control sustain more, but feel free to try a Diplomat as well if you want your drums to project nicely. These pinstripes surprised me, and may just surprise you as well. They certainly surpassed any of these bad rumors going around about how muffled/plastic/boxy/dead sounding they could be.

Glad to hear that the ebony pins with dips turned out so nicely for you, I was never swayed by all the negative as well as some positive comments that I had heard about them, for me it was and still is the fact that I just do not prefer a black drum head...I like the coated heads the best and then clear which as far as I am willing to go with. Enjoy your new found sound, that is always great to hear no matter the color of the head!

It's a shame there isn't a smooth white Pinstripe

Cymbalrider said:

I just got in new Ebony Pinstripes and Clear Diplomats for my Mapex Pro M. I'm very happy with these heads even though I thought I wouldn't be, mainly because of the color. My kit is "Blue Ice" which is a blue to white fade, so I thought the black heads wouldn't look too great. But, I got them for the sound and surprisingly, they look just fine.

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Hey, cool, I also have a Pro M in Blue Ice. I love it! Funny story- I worked at a store that was a Mapex dealer and my mgr. ordered this kit to replace a cherry red one that I sold. I hated the finish in the catalog, thought it looked cheesy. He told me what he'd ordered and I was dreading opening the box. When I finally did, I thought "oh, ok, not too bad". And then I grew to love it. Then I quit to go back to school, and 2 & a half years later, a kid who worked there after me had bought the kit and was selling them on Craigslist- the exact kit that I unpacked and set up in the store. Got a really good deal too.

Oh, and not to hijack the thread... I've never like Pin batters 'cause I think it's too much head tone and not enough shell- well, I've heard the shell material & construction only makes about 20% of a drum's tone anyway, the rest coming from head type/tuning, bearing edge, and shell roundness, but I digress. But I did have Ebony ambassadors as reso's on my old Tama Rockstar with 11x12, 12x13, & 16x16 toms, and they sounded fantastic, best I could tell as to how the reso's would affect the drums' tone. They didn't seem to screw it up, anyway. I had them on there for a few years and toward the end, the top ply started to "crack" along the bearing edge of the drum. It wasn't why I was changing them, 'cause I'd only noticed it once I was replacing them.

Cymbalrider said:

It's a shame there isn't a smooth white Pinstripe

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I wonder why not...? I do prefer my smooth white PS3 reso on my Blue Ice finish BD. I didn't like the black reso head that was on it when I bought 'em, so I don't think I'd dig black heads on the rest either, for reso or batter. [I'd already put the white PS3 on my Black Onyx finish Pacific CX BD, so I just switched 'em. ]