Remo clear black dot

drummingman

Gold Member
I have not used one if these heads as a batter head in years, so I don't really remember much about how they sound and feel. What kind of sound will this head give on maple toms when using a clear ambassador on the bottom? Are the heads thin enough to where one does not have to beat the crap out of them to get them to open up?

I've been using clear ambassadors on the tops and bottoms of my toms for many years. I do really like the sound and feel. But I'm looking for just a bit more punch then what I'm getting. So that's why I'm looking into the black dots.
 
If you listen to some of Tony Williams' last recordings, you'll get to hear what they sound like, but he used black dots on both top and bottom, and he favored a very loose tuning sometimes too. Personally, although I like the black dots very much, I think the addition of the center dot sorta' 'flattens' out the sound and maybe limits the range of tuning due to the flatness. But they can be made to work. And it's a look you don't really see much anymore.

The cool thing is Remo has released a clear Powerstroke 3 bass drum head with a black dot. I'm looking forward to trying those out.
 
Dots focus the sound a little bit. Nothing near a die cast compared to a triple flange 2.3mm. Think of maybe a 3.0 triple flange to S-hoop. If I remember right clear amb's and clear controlled sound are the same head except the addition of the dot.
 
I have that combo on my DW kit. They work well on them since the DW's have a very open resonance. They also look good on a 7 piece broken glass finish kit ( Zak Starkey ). They do flatten the sound a little bit ( not a bad thing ) so it would depend on what drums you have, they work and sound very good on DW's. In quite a while when I'm ready to change out the heads on my Legacies I am going to try them out on those. It will be interesting because those are a totally different voice.
 
I like the Dot style heads.
On my traditional sized Classic Maples, the BD top and Clear amb bottom gives a full tone, but it's a little shorter sustain--which is a good thing to some people.
On the deeper shells I've had (9x12, 10x13 etc...), they had more attack in the overall tone of the drum--at least sitting behind the kit.

A Smooth White Black Dot, with a Smooth White bottom has a slightly rounder tone, with a little more (audible) sustain than the Clear versions. It's a little more like coated head.
It's slightly more attack than the Coated Amb top and bottom combo I usually use. I'd say the SWBD/SW bottom seems a little louder too. It could be just certain frequencies are more pronounced than others though.

You could try a Clear Dot too. That dot material has a slightly different tone than the Black Dot. It's not quite as sharp in the initial impact sound--especially when the head is tensioned higher.
 
Thanks guys for the responses! I play a Ludwig Centennial kit. Its a maple kit. My toms are 12x8 and 16x13. I hope to pick up the head combo tonight. Sam Ash in my area has 3 of the heads in stock, I have to order 1. When I put them on I'll let you all know what I think.
 
I got the heads and have them on my kit now. All in all they sound good. I'm still getting used to them as the heads I was playing were more open sounding. But these have a nice full sound. And they are sensitive as well. My floor tom sounds especially killer!

I wonder how the clear black dots on the tops of the toms with clear ambassadors on the bottoms compare to clear emperors on the tops with clear ambassadors on the bottom?
 
If you listen to some of Tony Williams' last recordings, you'll get to hear what they sound like, but he used black dots on both top and bottom, and he favored a very loose tuning sometimes too.

Tony Williams never favored a loose tension. His toms were always cranked into the stratosphere.
 
Dots focus the sound a little bit. Nothing near a die cast compared to a triple flange 2.3mm.

Correct. A dot adds thickness to the center of the head, which tames the fundamental somewhat*, resulting in slightly emphasized attack, which is perceived as more volume/focus. That's why dot heads are considered to be louder.

It's the opposite effect of using a ring, which tames the high-end, emphasizing the fundamental, and is perceived as being punchy and full-sounding (although to a greater degree than the dot tames the fundamental.)

I know, TMI. But that's what the dots do. In the case of Ludwig's silver dots, it's also cosmetic. :)

Bermuda

* To see how that works, strike a wide open drum, a snare for example. Then place your fingertip on the head in the center, and strike again. The fundamental is reduced, and the high-end/attack is more evident. The dot has the same effect, but because it's more spread-out over the head, it's not quite as dramatic as with the finger.
 
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Let me add that dot heads can be punchy and full, depending on a few factors such as lower tuning, use of a ring or other padding that tames the harmonics, the tuning of the reso, and on single-headed toms mic'd from underneath (not inside the drum, but just even with the bottom edge to capture more air and fullness.)

Bermuda
 
How about as a reso head? I have a pearl session studio classic 14” floor tom that sounds great tuned low with coated emps over clear ambs. But it rings forever. I recently put on a evans reso7 and it subdues it somewhat but feels “wrong”. Somehow it feels softer and the tone of the decay is more fundamental than harmonic, which I don’t like. I was thinking of going with coated ambs as a reso but now maybe a clear CS?
 
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