Clueless about drum heads!

sabian92

Senior Member
I recently bought a Gretsch Catalina Club Rock kit, and while I know how to physically play it, I know next to nothing about maintaining the thing. I attempted to tune it (and yes, I have read the tutorial - maybe I'm just a little slow...) but I still have the stock heads on it. I bought a Pearl Drum Dial to help me tune them to the best I could, too. They're Evans G1 Coated heads on the batter side (not sure on the bass drum) and really crappy reso heads. I'm completely open to what brand of heads I use, I don't have a brand loyalty with them. I don't know what sounds good on my kit though, apart from I know these heads sound bad because of the fact they're stock, and I'm an idiot at tuning them.

I'm looking for a decent set of heads that will let me get down really low for a big thunderous sound (If you aren't familiar, the sizes go: 14” snare, then 13” rack and 16/18” floor with a 24” bass drum, so they're pretty big drums anyway). I'm into a lot of music that involves downtuned instruments too.

I've looked about and I can't even find an 18” floor tom skin in a pack so I don't know what i'm supposed to be buying.

Thanks for all your help.
 
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The G1's that came with it are good heads but i would replace the reso heads right away.
i would also change out the bass drum batter too.

as far as tuning i try and get each lug to have the same tone all around the drum untill i find the tone i want.
 
I currently use Remo Clear Emperors as tom batters and Remo clear Ambassadors as resos.
I use a Remo Powerstroke 3 coated for a snare batter, Evans snare side 300 hazy on the bottom. I use an Aquarian Superkick II as a bass batter. Is your bass drum ported? Porting the bass drum makes a substantial change in the bass sound.
There is no way around it, You have to experiment with tuning and heads until you find your way
I do switch to single ply tom batters from time to time for a higher sound. Double ply heads will give you a deeper sound. Coated heads produce a warmer sound. The combinations that you can use are almost endless! You can buy a pack for your kit and buy an 18" head separately
There are comparison charts on some manufacturers sites so you can judge their heads against other manufacturers for sound type.
 
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Ok, thanks.

I will have a look at Remo. I expect to go through a few different sets of heads to find my sound, but I will definitely consider buying something similar to your set up. Do they take well to being tuned pretty loose?

Edit: Ported? Not sure what that means. If you meant does it have holes in it, I'm pretty sure it does, as the toms and snare do.
 
If you tune a double ply head loose you get a more thumpy sound than that of a single ply head that you currently have on your drums. I tune double ply batter heads slightly tighter than single to get some ring from the drum. Double ply heads make a lower sustained ring than single when tuned medium.
A port is the hole that is put on the bass drum front head to let air out. I use a 3 1/2 inch port on my 22" bass. The best way to port a head is to melt the head with a heated food can. There are threads about this. Also some good You Tube vids!
 
I Have this exact same kit. I have Evans G2 clears on all of the toms and Genera resos. For the bass drum I have and EQ2 with a muffling ring on it and an EMAD reso head. It sounds really punchy. My snare still has stock heads (bought the kit used and the guy never used the snare, but I like the way that it sounds with the G1. I'll buy an Hazy snare side head soon.) with a Rem-O-Ring. Everything sounds great but not quite as punchy as I would like. I think that I'm gonna get some Hydraulics next time around. Hope this helps.
 
My Renowns came with G1 batters and stock resos and I was able to tune those fairly well at first. I wouldnt rush to throw away the resos until you have tried better batter heads. Just might save you some money. I now have G2 over G1 on them and will be putting The new EC2 SST on the toms when the Brown Truck gets here tomorrow. I will let you know how they sound in a day or two.
 
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