What reso head for a 16" X 16" F Tom

RollingStone000

Silver Member
I'm going to be changing my batter heads on my toms, currently I'm running coated Emps over coated Ambs (FYI these were my first set of heads ever, they've been on for about 6 months). I bought a 16" x 16" floor tom from ebay and it should be arriving tomorrow and I'm going to change out the heads on that as well. I'm going to try out some coated pinstripes on all of the toms (batters), and the resos I have on there still have some life to them. However I was on this forum and read on a post (that I can no longer find) about how 16" floor toms have always had a certain degree of problems when it comes to the sustain on the drum. I'm looking for a shorter sustain from my drums, and it was suggested that they use a 2-ply head like an emperor for the reso to help reduce the sustain. Is this true? Any experience using Emps as a reso head? Any suggestions for another head? Any info would help.

Much obliged.
 
If you tune it right, you won't have any more of a problem than you would with any other drum. I run clear or coated ambassadors over a clear on mine and it sounds great. If you tune it lower than the drum wants to be tuned, it will rumble. I tune it to the point where it is as low as the drum will allow, while still freely resonating (or "singing").

It'll sound pretty dead if you put a coated emperor on the resonant side...but if that's what you're after, try it out.
 
Good to hear. I remember a few months ago reading through parts of that "Drum Tuning Bible" and it mentioned that 2 ply heads could actually add to the sustain, because of the mass of the head taking longer to "slow down" in a sense. Then I read the post about how 2-ply heads can be used to reduce the sustain more. Long story short I stood in the corner and cried a little, due to the confusion.

I've got my tuning down pretty well, so I should be able to shorten/lengthen the sustain that way. I was just wondering about some conflicting info. I guess it all really comes down to trial and error... just wish it didn't cost so much.
 
Good to hear. I remember a few months ago reading through parts of that "Drum Tuning Bible" and it mentioned that 2 ply heads could actually add to the sustain, because of the mass of the head taking longer to "slow down" in a sense. Then I read the post about how 2-ply heads can be used to reduce the sustain more. Long story short I stood in the corner and cried a little, due to the confusion.

I've got my tuning down pretty well, so I should be able to shorten/lengthen the sustain that way. I was just wondering about some conflicting info. I guess it all really comes down to trial and error... just wish it didn't cost so much.

There was a huge thread on this topic, not long ago. Some would say that a 2-ply head sustains longer, other would say the friction inherent in two heads moving against each other necessarily *reduces* sustain....and 'round and 'round it went.

You're right, it's really just up to you to try it out. I find that with new drums, it takes months to get used to them...how they tune and where the sweet spot is. My reference point is always clear ambassadors, on the bottom.
 
I've also found myself frustrated and confused over the debate on whether 2-ply reso heads will muffle the sustain or enhance it! Anyways...

Ambassadors (usually clear) seem to be the standard when it comes to reso heads for toms. I'm in the process or replacing the reso heads on both of my kits (10 toms in total) and I'm using clear Ambs on all of them. They're just 'The Standard' and I believe they're that for a reason. Keep in mind that you're using Pinstripes as a batter head which will also 'deaden' the sustain of the drum a bit.

I have an idea though that may work for you... since you mentioned you wanted a shorter sustain for your drums, why not try using a Powerstroke 3 head for the reso! It's just an Amb with a built in dampening ring and you can get them in clear or coated. That way you don't have to fret over the 1-ply or 2-ply debate for minimizing the sustain. I've used them before as batter heads and they were quite good, so worst case scenario, if you don't like it as a reso you can keep it as a back-up batter head if you break one, or if you want to try them as batters for the whole kit at some point down the road, then you've already got one of them.

Of course, there's aso the Powerstroke 4 which is a 2-ply version of the Powerstroke 3 (basically an Emperor head with a built-in dampening ring), and the Pinstripe which is also 2-ply, but not free-floating 2-ply like the Emp. or P4 and the Pinstripe also has built in muffling but not in the form of a dampening ring (I believe it's a ring-reducing agent of some kind instead, maybe an oil?).

I guess you still can't get away from the 1-ply VS 2-ply thing entirely, but I'd say try the Powerstroke 3 cuz it will definitely shorten the sustain and you can avoid the debate for the most part. Depending on where you buy, you might be able to return it if you don't like it since you won't be putting any marks on it due to it being a reso head.


My $0.02 - All the best,

Mike
 
Thanks for the info guys, I think I'll try the ambassadors and judge accordingly from there.
 
If you want less sustain, go with a diplomat reso. Less mass = less sustain (talking one ply heads here) Diplomats are 7.5 mil while ambassadors are 10 mil. Two ply heads I can't speak intelligently about. They do have more mass than clear ambassadors, so they should sustain longer, but the fact that there are 2 seperate plys might have an effect on the sustain.
 
Yeah I would think 2 ply would sustain longer. There is more stuff moving.
 
If you want less sustain, go with a diplomat reso. Less mass = less sustain (talking one ply heads here) Diplomats are 7.5 mil while ambassadors are 10 mil. Two ply heads I can't speak intelligently about. They do have more mass than clear ambassadors, so they should sustain longer, but the fact that there are 2 seperate plys might have an effect on the sustain.

Damn! I didn't think about the diplomat. I ended up getting an ambassador and and EC2 (they didn't have a pinstripe in 16"). I put them on and did a little bit of loose tuning, doesn't sound great, not as good as my 14"(not yet at least), but it's a whole lot better than the heads that came with the thing. I'll do a thorough tuning and let you cats know how it goes. Good lookin' out guys.
 
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