Evans Power Centre Heads

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Pimento

Senior Member
Man, i have to say i am deeply impressed with these heads.

Bough 8, 10, 12, 13 ,14 and 16" heads to put on my toms (gretsch Catalina Ash) and it brought out some thunder in these babies.

Tuned them just above wrinkling and found a nice deep sound that works well for the hard rock/metal that i play, and later tuned the 8 and 10" toms just a little higher to give them just a smidge more tone for certain songs. All in all ive found my new favorite choice in tom heads.

Now i just have to see how they hold up after being driven away in the rain due to a situation leading to hurried gear loading.
 
I find it interesting that you use the power center on your toms. I use it as my go-to snare head for sure, but it would seem to me that having a one-ply head with that thick 5-mil patch in the center would really kill the sound of a tom. Do you like your drums to ring out a lot or do you prefer a dry tom sound?
 
I use the Evans Power Center Reverse Dot heads on most of my snares and find it's a very versatile drum head. I never really knew that they came in all sizes to fit the toms though.

Dennis
 
I have been meaning to try the Power Center's.
I will have to wait until my EC1 Coated heads wear out.
That won't be any time soon by the look and sound of them.
 
You know, listening to the sound samples on Evans' website, I preferred the Power Center heads for toms to any of the "usual suspects," such as the EC2, the G1/G2, etc. I'm glad you like them, Pimento.
 
I have to say, ive had them about a month now, i play my drums an average of 8-12 hours a week, give or take.

I no longer use moon gels on my toms at all, and i have been playing with some different tunings.

To me, on my set, they sound good at a low tuning, about a turn past wrinkling, gives me good tone, my band notices that they cut a little better, and they have awesome attack and articulation.

Im not sure how theyd sound on a "pro" kit but on a mid range kit like mine im definitely impressed.

The biggest difference is on my 16" floor tom, ive tried G1, G2 and EC2 heads, but with the power center i get a real thunderous "boom" out of it. Its really changed how i use this drum.

Ive had a heck of a time getting a good sound out of these drums, and i was looking at getting a maple kit, but the more i use these the more i like the tone, and the more people that hear them, the more compliments i get about the sound :)

I know this sounds like a sales pitch lol, but when i find something that really works ill put it out there 100% haha
 
I tried them and I have to admit they were the closest sounding to the Aquarian studio x I have tried so far but still found the studio x had a lower pitch and warmer sound do to the extra strip of material being on the outside edge removing some of the higher frequencies as apposed to the extra material in the center removing some of the lower ones, plus with the price being $28.90 for a 14" power center and $14.50 for a 14" studio x here in Canada ($19 for the 14" PC and $13.50 for the 14" SX in the USA) and only getting about 3 to 4 months before sounding quite dead as apposed to my usual 8 or 9 I decided to stick with the studio x.
 
tard said:
I tried them and I have to admit they were the closest sounding to the Aquarian studio x I have tried so far but still found the studio x had a lower pitch and warmer sound do to the extra strip of material being on the outside edge removing some of the higher frequencies as apposed to the extra material in the center removing some of the lower ones, plus with the price being $28.90 for a 14" power center and $14.50 for a 14" studio x here in Canada ($19 for the 14" PC and $13.50 for the 14" SX in the USA) and only getting about 3 to 4 months before sounding quite dead as apposed to my usual 8 or 9 I decided to stick with the studio x.
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Which of the Studio X's are you using? Clear? Power Dot (Top or underneath)?

Looking for a brighter tone on my DW 6-10 maple 14". But I need some control, definitely more than the Clear Ambassadors. I have the Evans ST coated now, but that's still a little dull...
 
BigDinSD said:
Which of the Studio X's are you using? Clear? Power Dot (Top or underneath)?

Looking for a brighter tone on my DW 6-10 maple 14". But I need some control, definitely more than the Clear Ambassadors. I have the Evans ST coated now, but that's still a little dull...
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I found the studio x with power dot was good on the larger toms but a bit too much control on the smaller toms so I went with the regular studio x and then some moon jell on the large toms. I like the coated studio x on snares as it gives a nice controlled wet sound without ringing plus I use a studio ring to get a dry sound when needed. I found the coated studio x with power dot very good on snares open but when I put a studio ring on to get a dry sound it was almost choked. The extra dot material was just a bit too much once adding the control ring and with my 2 snare set up I like to be able to add or remove control rings as this gives me the ability to switch between 4 dramatically different sounds very quickly during a gig depending on what the song requires without the hassle of switching snares or moving stands and or mics.I also use classic clears as my reso heads and in the singly ply head series, control wise I find it goes, high frequency, classic clear, studio x, studio x power dot, texture coated, coated studio x and coated studio x power dot, as for 2 ply heads I am not a fan, I find them all too controlled and less dynamic than single ply heads no matter who makes them. Hope this helps, also just for the sake of info I would say the Evans power center is in between the studio x and and the studio x power dot.

PS: I forgot to mention that all my shells including both snares are maple as well and also found the same set up worked great on a pearl 3x13 brass snare that I used as my second snare before finding and replacing it with a rare 12x6 that matched the rest of my kit.
 
tard said:
I found the studio x with power dot was good on the larger toms but a bit too much control on the smaller toms so I went with the regular studio x and then some moon jell on the large toms. I like the coated studio x on snares as it gives a nice controlled wet sound without ringing plus I use a studio ring to get a dry sound when needed. I found the coated studio x with power dot very good on snares open but when I put a studio ring on to get a dry sound it was almost choked. The extra dot material was just a bit too much once adding the control ring and with my 2 snare set up I like to be able to add or remove control rings as this gives me the ability to switch between 4 dramatically different sounds very quickly during a gig depending on what the song requires without the hassle of switching snares or moving stands and or mics.I also use classic clears as my reso heads and in the singly ply head series, control wise I find it goes, high frequency, classic clear, studio x, studio x power dot, texture coated, coated studio x and coated studio x power dot, as for 2 ply heads I am not a fan, I find them all too controlled and less dynamic than single ply heads no matter who makes them. Hope this helps, also just for the sake of info I would say the Evans power center is in between the studio x and and the studio x power dot.

PS: I forgot to mention that all my shells including both snares are maple as well and also found the same set up worked great on a pearl 3x13 brass snare that I used as my second snare before finding and replacing it with a rare 12x6 that matched the rest of my kit.
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Cool. Thanks. Yeah, I'm finding the 2 ply heads do have their applications (my Tama 7 x13 - HD Dry). However, I agree that a single ply really allows the drum to sing openly on my 5.5 x 14 maple.
I'll take a look at the Studio X coated (no power dot). Also considering going back to the Coated Ambassador...full circle I guess.
 
BigDinSD said:
Cool. Thanks. Yeah, I'm finding the 2 ply heads do have their applications (my Tama 7 x13 - HD Dry). However, I agree that a single ply really allows the drum to sing openly on my 5.5 x 14 maple.
I'll take a look at the Studio X coated (no power dot). Also considering going back to the Coated Ambassador...full circle I guess.
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Hey, no problem, I try to be as honest and unbiased as possible and still give other products a try every now and then because if there is something out there that can make my kit sound better to me than it does now then I will want it but for now I will stick with the Aquarians. I should also mention I only get a couple months out of Remo but 8 or 9 from Aquarian before they start to feel unresponsive and dead sounding. BTW: If your an online shopper check out music 123 they seem to have the best prices plus free shipping in the USA. They have a store on ebay and on amazon and I always check both as they sometimes put on package deals for multiple heads. The last one i saw was a 22 superkick batter with a ported regulator front and a double aquarian kickpad for $62 and free shipping, well free in the USA. As for me in Canada I usually order enough for my whole kit, get the free shipping to a buddy in Maine who then takes them out of all the individual boxes and nests them together and ships them in the bass drum head box which saves me quite a bit on the shipping.
 
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I have always like Remo black dot and Ludwig silver dot heads. So I would probably like Evans's "dot" head too. Peace and goodwill.
 
tard said:
I found the studio x with power dot was good on the larger toms but a bit too much control on the smaller toms so I went with the regular studio x and then some moon jell on the large toms. I like the coated studio x on snares as it gives a nice controlled wet sound without ringing plus I use a studio ring to get a dry sound when needed. I found the coated studio x with power dot very good on snares open but when I put a studio ring on to get a dry sound it was almost choked. The extra dot material was just a bit too much once adding the control ring and with my 2 snare set up I like to be able to add or remove control rings as this gives me the ability to switch between 4 dramatically different sounds very quickly during a gig depending on what the song requires without the hassle of switching snares or moving stands and or mics.I also use classic clears as my reso heads and in the singly ply head series, control wise I find it goes, high frequency, classic clear, studio x, studio x power dot, texture coated, coated studio x and coated studio x power dot, as for 2 ply heads I am not a fan, I find them all too controlled and less dynamic than single ply heads no matter who makes them. Hope this helps, also just for the sake of info I would say the Evans power center is in between the studio x and and the studio x power dot.

PS: I forgot to mention that all my shells including both snares are maple as well and also found the same set up worked great on a pearl 3x13 brass snare that I used as my second snare before finding and replacing it with a rare 12x6 that matched the rest of my kit.
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Now I understand your fondness for the Aquarian heads, lol. Studio Xs + moongel would be WAY too much dampening for my tastes! Heck, I felt the single ply coated was too "controlled" (ie muffled).
 
IDDrummer said:
Now I understand your fondness for the Aquarian heads, lol. Studio Xs + moongel would be WAY too much dampening for my tastes! Heck, I felt the single ply coated was too "controlled" (ie muffled).
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Like I said tho, only on the big toms, just the 16 and 18 and again they are radial pros which are known for their extreme resonance and I like about a 2 second decay or so, one thousand one, one thousand two, too much more than that and I find ghost notes can get lost. Even at that I still get sound men wanting to stick pieces of tape on them and you know where II tell them they can stick their tape...lol, JK. Personally I just dont see the sense in deadening a head then adding delay and reverb at the board. Also, I agree with you 100% on the single ply coated, great on snares but too controlled for toms as well as also removing some of the lower frequencies due to the coating being over the entire head, unlike the studio x which only removes some of the higher resonant frequencies because the control ring materiel is on the outside edge of the head.
 
Drumolator said:
I have always like Remo black dot and Ludwig silver dot heads. So I would probably like Evans's "dot" head too. Peace and goodwill.
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Although too controlled for me you may find you like them even more than the Remos, if nothing else they seem to keep their stick response longer. Good luck and regardless of what you choose for heads, Beat them to death...lol
 
Out of the 3 shops in town, nobody sells aquarian heads, and i wont buy heads online then find out i hate them lol.

But for now these work perfectly for me :)
 
Pimento said:
.. and i wont buy heads online then find out i hate them lol.
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I'm curious why there would be a difference between buying locally and online for the reason above. In my experience, you can't return a head if you use it and don't like it. That's a standard policy for all brick and mortar stores. Even when I've gotten defective heads, I've gotten replacements by dealing directly with the manufacturer (Aquarian's great at that BTW).

The only other advantage I can see in buying locally is doing the 'tap test' where you try to get a tone out of a new unmounted head to see if it's dead or not. Other than that, not really a difference in my book except for loyalty to a drum shop to support them.

Jim
 
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