Coated or Clear? What do you Prefer?

Ex Nihilo

Senior Member
Honestly I prefer clear heads. Just because, when I play on my coated snare drum head, my drum sticks always get dirty and then it turns my cymbals dirty. Clear heads don't do that too me. Any way to prevent this problem? How could I clean, my drum sticks, or my drum heads or both? Also what do you prefer?
-Ex Nihilo
 
Coated for snare, and I switch back & forth on toms.

Bermuda
 
Coated all around.

I don't always do it, but I play with brushes and I don't like the attack of clear drum heads.

That and a brand new set of Coated Emperors looks beast.
 
Any way to prevent this problem?

Never given it a seconds thought to be honest. Who sees them but you?

What snare head are you using? Can't say I've ever experienced abnormal dirt build up due to my snare head. Nothing stays clean forever, but my snare head never causes my cymbals to get dirty....smokey bars, sweaty fingers et al have that covered.

Also what do you prefer?

Always coated on a snare drum and either/or on my toms. Depends on my mood at time of purchase.
 
Coated on snare, give me ghost notes or give me death. Clear 2-ply on toms but have used coated 2-plies.
 
It all depends on the venue, but a coated snare batter is a given.

Dennis
 
lol i didnt like the sound of my snare head before, because i couldnt tune it, so i went with a clear ambassador i had laying around. sounded pretty nice to me. but then i learned to tune and coated heads sound way. what kind of coated heads are you using?

i use black suedes so i dont get any kind of color or dirt stuff, other than the scuffing of the sticks on the heads making them shiny, but i dont really boterh, the head wear feels nice and smooth.
 
I can’t remember what I have on my tama, but it’s coated. I think a genera of some sort.

Like others here, I go back and forth on the toms. I’m doing an experiment as we speak, in fact. I have changed out the first tom and the floor tom with EC2s from Evans, and left the middle tom with a clear G1 head. The difference is obvious, and I can see how folks would like both.

The EC2s warm things up but also muffle a tad, whereas the clear head rings out longer and is louder but produces more of a “bonggg” sound when hit. For recording I am really going to love those EC2s, for live play the louder ones may actually be better but I don’t like their tone as much.
 
I decided, I will still keep a coated for the snare.
-Ex Nihilo

I think it's the most versatile way to go, especially for recording or playing live. Sometimes a clear head will be a bit brighter, but I think you lose some of the tone that way.
 
I'm pretty much a fan of coated heads. I have used clear, but keep coming back. I've never had an issue with dirt...
 
Coated, all the way!
Just ordered a set of Evans G2 Coated for my new kit (12", 14" 16")
Unfortunately I haven't played with Remo Emperor's coated yet...
 
Coated definitely on the snare - can't play brushes without the coating! And then when I go clear on the toms just because I want to see that deep red tone of the wood, I get a bunch of jazz gigs where I should have coated on the toms too!
 
Coated definitely on the snare - can't play brushes without the coating! And then when I go clear on the toms just because I want to see that deep red tone of the wood, I get a bunch of jazz gigs where I should have coated on the toms too!

VERY good point! The Mapex set I'm getting has BYOOTIFUL interior wood, and so I really like the clear heads that come on the kit. Of course, I won't know until i've had it a while if i really like them or not, but either way it'll be fun to see! :)
 
Personally I love the warm tone, look and feel of coated heads. I use em' on everything.

Plus I love the little brown spots in the middle of the heads when they get a bit worn.
 
ive been playing clear tom heads for awhile mostly ec2s on my pdp maple kit but finally decided to give coated emperors a try and the sound is so warm and full i dont think ill be going back to clear...it sounds more full and pure to me
 
i just thought of something too:

the EC2 heads by evans are coated and warm but don't rub off on the sticks. they sound really good. GREAT heads for recording for sure. a nice warm tone without a whole lot of "muffling". i like em!
 
Coated all around, except for the snare resos and the batter on the bass drum. Brushes would be my excuse as well.
 
I generally like Coated on snare. I tried to like clear on toms but I could not dial out the basketball like ping from the sound. So, I use either coated or white suede batters. I am seriously considering going to coated or white suede on the reso side as well
 
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