Should i buy new heads?

nickadam814

Junior Member
Ok so ive been playing on a kit in which i borrowed from a friend for the past year. The kit is ten years old and sounds god awful (im being nice here). i was wondering if i replaced all the heads would i be able to get a good sound out of the kit. I cant remember the exact brand of the kit but it is a starter kit, a non name brand. I think in my situation i should just put the money towards buying a better kit. i would need snare both heads, high tom both heads, low tom both heads, floor tom both heads, and bass drum both heads. im not sure what this would cost but im been taking drumming pretty serious and i feel i need an intermediate kit to help further develop my skills.
 
If you have the money... then why spend it on heads for a kit that's not yours and that you don't like? Check out the zillion "what kit should i buy" threads.
 
Let's see:
At least $80 for bass heads (both)
About $30 for snare heads (both)
About $28 for high tom heads, $30 for middle tom, $35 for floor tom. These are all the prices for both heads

So about $200 give or take a couple bucks.
 
I would just do batter heads on the toms. Keeps the cost down, and will help immensely. Bass drums tend to be muffled anyway, and the reso heads on the kit will probably keep working for their intended purpose. It's rare-er for those to die.
 
Here's what I'd do..

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-GRID000040

I'm guessing that you're American.

You can get an Attack 4-pc package for 22 bucks and a 5-pc package for 40 bucks, Why 4-piece? Because I would recommend using a Powerstroke 3 or a SuperKick II for the Bass Drum batter. That's 35 to 45 bucks depending on where you buy it. Then all you need to get is a 14 dollar Diplomat or Ambassador (or Evans, Aquarian equivalent) snare side head for your snare drum. That will leave you with an extra Attack snare batter head (I have one of those) that you can use for later.

That is a total of 116 bucks plus tax. You can cut a hole in the bass drum reso yourself. Alternately, you can get 2 4-pc packages too if you want to buy a white/black head with a hole already in it, but that will cost you an extra 25 bucks or so. All these Attack heads are clear 1-ply so they also make for good reso heads. They're really good heads too. It would be worth it to get a pack of studio rings for your toms too. You can get a whole tom/snare pack of rings for about 10 bucks.
 
Should i buy new heads?

Uhh...kinda hard to tell without hearing them.

At a beginning or intermediate level, I'm not convinced that anything other than tuning will help the sound of drums noticeably.
 
Not giving us much to work with but heads can make all the difference.

If its a cheap kit you can play it safe with controlled heads like evans ec2 or remo pinstripes.

On the other hand if you want a new kit, you might be better off saving your $.
 
You borrowed someone's drums. The least you can do is put new heads on them for your friend allowing you to use his/her drums. You only need to change, and properly tune, the batter heads to see what effect the change will make. No own cane speculate accurately what the change will do.
 
You borrowed someone's drums. The least you can do is put new heads on them for your friend allowing you to use his/her drums. You only need to change, and properly tune, the batter heads to see what effect the change will make. No own cane speculate accurately what the change will do.

+1. Even if your buddy said he wasn't using them you should return the kit in better condition than you borrowed them. Buy new batter heads (at the least) and then start looking for an intermediate kit. (Don't put the old heads back on when you return the kit either.)
 
Is there a possibility that you might buy this kit?

Drum heads are a continuing expense. You might change heads about once a year on any kit that you own.

If the existing drum heads are 10 years old then new heads will likely improve the sound.
 
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