BEST BASS DRUM HEAD?

I have a pdp mx maple. I was thinking evans emad, or aquarian super kick, or maybe a remo powersonic. Please Comment or suggest

before i sold my old starter kit i popped a powerstroke 3 on the BD with the patch and got a nice deep thumping Kick A sound, but it depends, what sound are you looking for?

im looking for very little resonance but i dont want it sounding dead

Everyone has their opinion of what the best head is, and it varies from kick to kick, so I don't think there is a single best one out there...

...that being said, the EMAD is the most ground-covering head because you have adjustable muting options. However, you can always throw a small pillow or towel or stuffed animal between your head and kick pedal in less than a quarter of the time it takes to mess with installing the rings. Plus, they're pretty pricey.

i think you may like to give the aquarian super kick a try

kgrubb said:

i think you may like to give the aquarian super kick a try

Click to expand...

I agree! I have a clear Super Kick 1-ply on my bass drum (20 inch Yamaha birch) and it sounds excellent. The head has a ring of felt glued to the inside, so you get a nice "thump" with pleasing bass overtones that fade away quickly. The best thing about it is that you don't need to put any pillows or blankets in the drum. . . I mention this because it's beome my personal favorite, but all the other heads you listed would be good choices too.

they will all give you a similar sound. i personally like the emad over the other two.

Any of those tuned well, is the right answer to your question.

However, I agree that EMAD works well in most situations.

I like the EMAD single ply but I don't like the quality. To date I've had two of them where the plastic ring that holds the felt strip in place cracked. If you go with the EMAD keep a roll of duct tape handy.

Super Kick2 sounded great on my Pearl Masters but sounds like crap on both my Yamaha kits.

PS3 I have one on one of my kits. I like it,lots of attack but lacks some of the low end thud that I like

Here's how I would look at it if I were in your shoes..

With the EMAD, you get two different dampening rings to choose from, so if one is too much/not enough, you can switch, or even run it without the rings if you like that better..

The SK2, like mentioned before, a felt strip is glued to the inside of the head, so if it's too much, thats 50 bucks wasted.

IMO, the SAFER bet would go with the EMAD. I've used both heads, but not on the same size kick. I ran the EMAD on my 22" luddie and the SK2 on my 24" mapex. To MY ears, they sounded good behind the kit, but nobody listens to you playing drums/the band standing behind your kit. Out in front, they were pretty lifeless. If you plan on micing your kick, they wouldn't be bad choices.

I ended up taking both of them off, and throwing an Evans EQ3 on my mapex and a remo ps3 on my luddie and I couldn't be happier. You really ought to check those out too. They are more focused that I bet you think..

Just my $0.02 (sorry if I rambled)

I have the emad 1 single ply on my 24 inch pdp mxr series bass drum and it is amazing i just need to get my ps3 reso.

I like the plain old Emad single ply too. One time I ripped off the black thing that holds the foam ring. Changed the sound for the worse in my opinion. I like it without any foam in it

Whatever was used on the Aerosmith song "Walk this Way"


Mike

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I'm agreeing with Budiesel here...
The safer route would definitely be to go with the EMAD, because you actually are buying a head with muffling options, as opposed to just a muffled head.
That being said, I took a plunge and went for the SK3.
(It's a coated SK1 with a control dot.)
I couldn't have asked for more, I tuned 'er up right, and BAM!
Deep, fat, slight bit of punch, and just an in-your-face bass sound that I love listening to.

So I would say go with a SuperKick 3, but the safer route would be any of the EMAD's (for reasons previously stated.)

I swear by the Aquarian Super Kicks. 1 or 2.

coated ambassadors, front and back. Put a small towel inside and muffle the front head as required by tilting the drop forward. Muffle the batter using a rolled up t-shirt between the head and kick pedal posts. If absolutely necessary (ie sound guy can't get it mic'd up with a solid reso), bring a spare ported head.