Aquarian Modern Vintage?

brady

Platinum Member
Anyone out there have any experience with these heads?
I currently use Fiberskyns, and have for quite some time. I love them for the jazzy stuff, especially how brushes sound on them. However, I am concerned with the 'de-laminating' issues common to these heads. I have had this happen to only one that I have used but I've seen it on many others enough to worry about it.
So does anyone know how the Vintage heads sound compared to the Fiberskyn Diplomats. I plan on buying a new round of heads soon and would like to know where I should be looking. Thanks.
 
I use the Aquarian Modern Vintage (medium) heads for jazz and funk, and they are great. Well made, tune very easily, and give a great warm rounded sound, and more reliable than Remo (for me).

I used to use Remo Coated Ambassadors for this style of music, but a ton of jazz players I know--from university music departments to a variety of professional musicians--all recommended (and use) the Modern Vintage heads to me. The Aquarian Jack DeJohnette heads are also great for jazz work, if that's what you are interested in.

I would say to give them a shot. I really haven't heard of any jazz players complain about these heads in years of playing with and listening to/talking to jazz drummers.

I'll add that many players I know do use Remo or Evans all the time for rock, metal, or other performances, but their default for jazz is Aquarian Modern Vintage.
 
Why not try one on a rack tom and see how you like it? You'll get a pretty good idea of how a whole kit will sound with them without springing for a complete set of heads you may not like.
 
I use the Modern vintage on one of my snare and it's a fantastic head. It really let sing the drum. You dont have that plastic sound and they respond very well under brushes. Very easy to tune and they are really tough head (like any other Aquarian product though).
 
Thanks for the advice all. How do the Vintage heads sound compared to the Fiberskyns though? Are they brighter? Are the closer to the Renaissance in sound? I ask because I wasn't crazy about the one Renaaissance I've heard.
 
I cant really compare but the only thing I can tell you is Modern Vintage is the closest thing to real calf head.

From what I heard on cymbalholic from jazzer using both head was that Remo Fiberskyn sounded dead earlier than Aquarian Modern Vintage (which actually never went out of tone).
 
I'm using a Modern Vintage on one of my snares. It's a nice warm head.

Both the Modern Vintage and the Fiberskyn are touted as being closer to calfskin. I can't compare because I've never played a calfskin head. The one difference I can say there is between the two heads is that the Fiberskyn is smoother out of the box. The Modern Vintage seems to have a similar amount of coating to a single ply coated head (Aquarian Texture Coated or Remo Ambassador).

For me, I like playing brushes on a head that's been worn down a bit - but not as much as a Fiberskyn. The Fiberskyn is a very quiet head for brushes which can be an advantage. But you have to really be aware of how much pressure is needed for the horizontal strokes and accents.

For stick work, I like the Modern Vintage much more than the Fiberskyn. So what I am trying is lightly sanding down the coating on my Modern Vintage and Aquarian Texture Coated heads, mainly on the outer areas toward the rim. That way I get some texture, and a drum head I like the sound of.

I notice that both Steve Smith and Jeff Hamilton (both brush masters) use the Fiberskyn for their snares. I also note that Steve says he changes his snare batter every two weeks. I'm figuring that practice keeps the Fiberskyn he's using sounding fresh and staves off delamination.

I've been toying with the idea of getting an Earthtone head (goatskin). As I get more into brush playing I keep wanting to have that ultimate head. The one that has the perfect surface for brushes as well as good tone for stickwork.

Jim
 
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