What is old is new again!

Bo Eder

Platinum Member
Hey all,

I had been threatening to do this and now I have. My zeppelin kit now has the coveted Remo Black Dots on them! It is a somewhat different sound, but the look is so old it's NEW! The girls are going to dig me ;)

I know, I couldn't put a black dot on the bass drum. My ear has just grown too accustomed to a good bass drum sound, so I stuck with the PS3's front and back on the bass drum. But with the drum now being completely clear, that means I have to actually wear pants when I play.

The cymbals look a little whacked in terms of size because of the camera angle, but just so you know, my K ride is a 24", and the hi-hats are 17". My one crash is 18". Who's next to try these new fangled black dot heads? You might have to order yours ;)
 

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Gorgeous kit Bo! I've never tried the black dot heads but they are aesthetically pleasing. What kind of sound do you get from them?
 
Gorgeous kit Bo! I've never tried the black dot heads but they are aesthetically pleasing. What kind of sound do you get from them?

If you want to hear a good recording of black dots, check out any later Tony Williams recordings - perhaps the best one is the Live in Tokyo CD. He does a solo prior to Sister Cheryl and it really gives you a good impression of what black dots sound like. They sound a little muffled because the dot is in the center. Ironic that later everyone would discover that the best place to muffle a drum is on the edge, but that was not how they were thinking when they developed the black dots - they were all about the durability, I guess.

My 13 and 16 toms don't sound too different from when I was using coated emperors, but my big 18" floor tom sounds really different - I don't know if I like it yet. But I'm sure it'll grow on me (maybe). But right now, the kit sure does look cool.

And I don't think I could afford to get 2002's just to try. Maybe one day as I've always been a fan of the 2002s, but I never really left Zildjian, and when I got my first K back in the 80s, that's what I judge all rides by.
 
When I first got my Tama Superstars last year I put black dots on the batters and quickly realized that I'd need to get used to them. After two weeks I decided I didn't want to get used to them and went to Ambassadors. Amazing the difference that dot makes it muting the drums. I think I would have liked them on thinner shells with sharper bearing edges, but on those drums ... meh, not so much.

Awesome kit, BTW.
 
Great looking kit as always, though Bonham only did the black dots on his Vistas, both top and bottom. So does Charlie Watts right. But I think I prefer blond kits to have coated heads though.

I have a couple black dots and find they are quite good for resos on some toms, if you don't want too open a sound. They are singly ply, but middle dot makes a difference on the reso side too.

Blond kits are timeless, and nearly everything looks good on them. I think if I went to a 26, I'd try for that kind of setup.
 
Now that's a sweet looking kit !!!​
 
That is a nice kit. I prefer using heads on older drums that could have been used when the drums were new. CS (black dot) heads are cool, looking and sounding. Peace and goodwill.
 
If you want to hear a good recording of black dots, check out any later Tony Williams recordings - perhaps the best one is the Live in Tokyo CD. He does a solo prior to Sister Cheryl and it really gives you a good impression of what black dots sound like. They sound a little muffled because the dot is in the center. Ironic that later everyone would discover that the best place to muffle a drum is on the edge, but that was not how they were thinking when they developed the black dots - they were all about the durability, I guess.

My 13 and 16 toms don't sound too different from when I was using coated emperors, but my big 18" floor tom sounds really different - I don't know if I like it yet. But I'm sure it'll grow on me (maybe). But right now, the kit sure does look cool.

And I don't think I could afford to get 2002's just to try. Maybe one day as I've always been a fan of the 2002s, but I never really left Zildjian, and when I got my first K back in the 80s, that's what I judge all rides by.

I checked that out, they sound pretty cool. Kinda like a mix between a coated and clear head (to me at least). I still need a head for my 16 tom, I might pick one up if I find it in stock.
 
Thanks! The heads 24-hours later are seating nicely and they sounded a little better today. I was able to tune my 18" down a little more as well to get a bigger bottom out of it.
But I had to go back to my white logo front head on the bass drum. I like that look a bit better and without the felt strip (the head is a regular smooth white ambassador), it gives me a bit more ring for projection and actually sounds closer to a Bonham sound now. I did mount it so the logo is a bit askew though. I'm wondering how many people that will just bug the crap out of ;)
 
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