Fiberskyn or Vintage A

Pedro

Pioneer Member
Well, I want to put up something else on my snaredrum....just to try something else. Now I use ambassador heads.

So, I'm doubting Fiberskyn or Vintage A.....I don't have any experience with any of those heads......so pro's contras? What would you choose?
 
I have used the Fiber's on my old maple Ludwig. They sounded killer! Low and would sing forever!
 
I use fybers on my vintage Gretsch... sound great, really authentic.
 
So it makes the sound deeper?

I replaced the Coated Ambassador on my 18 inch bass drum with a Fiberskyn, and noticed that it sounded slightly darker and warmer. It's a very subtle difference in sound, but nonetheless it's there. I haven't used Fiberskyns for snare drum yet, though (I'd imagine they'd be great for jazz). As for the Vintage A's. . . Those are the same thickness as regular Ambassadors (10mil), but they use two plies (one 7mil and one 3mil). The result is a slightly darker and "wetter" sound.
 
Hey I have the Gretsch catalina club jazz set and i'm going to be getting new heads for the drums considering i want to try something more unique than evans genera 1s which sound pretty fine by the way. Anyway i already have the snare and tom heads picked out (Fiberskyn Diplomats with clear ambassadors on the bottom) but i was wondering about the bass drum. I was thinking about Fiberskyn diplomats on both sides but then i thought about fiberskyn powerstroke diplomats and then a different on each side but ahhhhh... i play mostly jazz and blues along with a small mixture of other soft styles and i would like your opinions.
 
I am using Fiberskyns on my Catalina Gretsch Jazz set now on all the batters. I am able to get the snare higher, and yet it has a large amount of low tones with a nice bounce on the head. I do not need to mute the snare as much; its ring is of a lower tone.

The floor and over head toms are lower and I can tune them with more tension to get more bounce off of the heads while keeping a lower tone.

The Bass, however, I am not completely satisfied with. I had a G2 on there from the factory, and although the sound was good, I wore it out in a very short time. But that could have more been the cheap Bass pedal I was using having too much friction and causing me to slam the head with the beater. I am planning on tuning the bass lower and using the TightScrew products. I am still experimenting.
 
I have them on my Renowns after using G2''s for a while, 8,10,12,14,16 and I don't find them to be anything special other than the look. I will go back to G2's soon . I just don't see them being worth the extra cash.
 
FWIW - The main benefit I have had from moving from coated Ambassadors to the Fiberskyn (on the snare) is related to better sounding brushwork. I like the somewhat less scratchy sound of the Fiberskyns and the more even wear. I will probably move to all Fiberskyns, mostly to support brushwork.

Steve
 
Well, I tried the Vintage A coat....And must say it's one of the worst sounding coats evey, I tried it on differant snares (maple and bronze) and it just doesn't work. I don't think it's because it's a 2 ply....I already had good experience with the emperor.

So, not recommended?

Still have to try the fibreskyn though!
 
I like Fiberskyn heads myself and certainly plan on getting some for my Gretsch Catalina Rock set for that swing era sound. I had Fiberskyn Ambassadors on my Mapex Pro M kit, but I think the heads just didn't fit the sound of the drum sizes. The toms are all suspended 10x8, 12x10, 14x11, 16x13 and I think the thick Fiberskyns were a bit much, but the tone was great. The only concern was that I had 22" Powerstroke Fiberskyn heads for both sides of the bass drum. The sound was completely dead and horrible. I think the thickness of the laminated heads plus the powerstroke ring is too much for both sides. I cut the ring out of the reso head and the problem was solved. So if you get a Powerstroke batter, you might want a regular reso. This was on a 22x18 bass, so I would imagine the result would be worse for a 18". For snares though the Fiberskyn Ambassador is a very unique head. The tone is warm, and the center is focused and articulate while the outside is open for rimshots. Don't expect a modern sounding crack out of this head though (think Gene Krupa sound vs. Buddy Rich). Brushes were smooth which felt better, but you may want to play a stiffer brush for unmiked gigs to project more. The good side is that it doesn't wear down, however, Fiberskyns are known to bubble after a while (mainly a result of humidity, and alas sweaty hands). I found though that if you keep the head tuned tight though, the bubbles stay down unlike on toms. Fiberskyns are a break from plastic sounding drumheads and are always worth a try.
 
Last time I made a post on this page was when I was planing on using the TightScrew product on the Bass drum. I have since installed those screws and it made a real difference in the way I can tune the bass drum. I have it on the front bass head, that I think is a G2. I have no idea because it came with the set and it only has the name of the drum company on the head, "Gretsch." Using the TightScrew in the front, I was able to get the head so loose that I can wiggle the retainer clamps on the rim slightly from side to side. You can not do that with regular lugs, because they would unscrew out when you hit the bass drum a few times. Being so loose causes a natural dampening of the drum without using any internal mufflers.

I have also used it on the snare. It is too early to tell what the effects are with the snare.
 
If you play brushes you will love the Fiberskyn heads

I am not sure if there is an advantage using the Fiberskyn heads and brushes. I think the G2s that I had were better with brushes. The brushes, to me, need very responsive quick sound that I do not think the Fiberskyns have. Of course, this is just my personal taste.
 
I have always used Fiberskyns because they really replicate the sound of hide, being mellower and more controlled. They also look very nice. However, I don't like that Fiberskyns tend to delaminate. The plastic fibers that mimic animal protein fibers tend to bubble up and come off.

I am curious about the Vintage heads. Anybody have experience with those?
 
Prepare to lose some overtones if you put a fiberskyn on your snare. If you rely on some ringing or play toward the rim, the sound will noticably change. It is a unique sound and one of the most drastically different sounding heads I've ever put on a snare for better or worse.
 
The Fiberskyn Diplomats aren't so dampened, try one IF you can find them.

I just tried the Rennaissance coat on my birch snare......wow, what a result, just perfect, a little bit drier than ambassador and very warm, and still funky enough for not-classical usage. Just great. The funny thing is that this coat didn't sound so good on the maple drum.
 
I have always used Fiberskyns because they really replicate the sound of hide, being mellower and more controlled. They also look very nice. However, I don't like that Fiberskyns tend to delaminate. The plastic fibers that mimic animal protein fibers tend to bubble up and come off.

I am curious about the Vintage heads. Anybody have experience with those?

I have had the Fiberskyns for a few months now, and am starting to see this "bubbling" a little only on the snare head. I would like to know what eventually happens to the heads. Do they start to peal away till they have a large hole in the head? How many hours of playing does this usually take? I wrote remo about this twice and got no responce.
 
Back
Top