Anyone else have problems with Level 360 heads?

Winegums

Winegums

Silver Member
Ever since Evans made the switch to the level 360 technology I've been having major issues with getting the heads to seat, tension and tune. I constantly have to tune my toms and snare drum rather than just minor maintenance tuning, on occasion I find that they've dropped almost 3 or 4 steps down from where they should be. I also notice wrinkles and odd articles on the heads even when fully tuned up that cause rattles and flat sounding toms. The heads do not handle snare beds very well anymore, also wrinkling and not tensioning up properly.

I'm using G2 clear heads on my Mapex Velvetone kit (10,12,14,16) and a ST dry/300 on my 14" Pearl Chad Smith signature snare. Before someone says it, I've double checked my bearing edges and hoops for distortion and flaws but I could not find any problems. The problem started with the pre-release heads that weren't labeled level 360 but still had the new profile and has continued with the 360 labeled heads. I'm confident in my drum tuning and I am sure it is not my lack of ability.

I've stood by Evans drum heads since I started playing 5 years ago but it looks like I'll have to make a switch to a new drum skin company since these heads simply do not do not perform how they used to.
 
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Weird. I have the opposite experience with them. I find they tune up way easier and more even, in fact, they sound more even when occasionally they aren't across the head. I've always had to do little touch ups every once in a while, though... Even pre-L360, drums go out of tune as they are played and stretch as they are on the drum. Nothing a key and 15 seconds doesn't fix.
 
My experiences have been similar to Dr Watso. I think the purpose of the Level 360 design is to limit those problems you are speaking about, so I don't know what to say. This would be a good thread for the evans guys to chime in on.
 
I know that the new profile was supposed to get rid of these problems but it only seems to have made them worse for me. Maybe it's a case of "that's how my drums are"? but I don't think I should have to crank down the head on my 14" my floor tom to get it to perform.
 
It seems, then, that they just aren't working with your kit. Aquarian has had similar tech basically forever, you might want to try some of those and see if they work- Super-2s or Response-2s on toms are their G2 equivalent.
 
Ya idk mapex drums seem to like remos better for whatever reason. I currently have ec2s on my Saturn's and my kit just isn't agreeing with them.
 
I currently have two sets of 360 heads for my vintage circa 1950 Gretsch kit and I just love them!
I have a complete set of J1 Etched jazz heads and a complete set of G1 Coated heads.
I swap then whenever I feel the need and tune with no issues.
 
I'm running G2 coated tops and G1 Clear bottoms on my 8,10,12,14,16. A Genera Dry top and Hazy 300 bottom on my snare and an EMAD2 on my bass batter. When I seated them, I placed my palm and pressed ever so slightly and then tuned them.. That was 2 1/2 months ago and besides them breaking in and dropping a little bit in tune, I haven't touched a drum key on any of them since (they just all sound too freakin' good to mess with).
 
I had an issue at first with the coating wearing off prematurely, but I haven't had any issues since.

Maybe you should check your shells for roundness, bearing edge quality, and take a look at your hoops to make sure nothing's warped or damaged.
 
I tuned up my kit again yesterday and it was fighting with me a bit less. I'll tough it out with these heads and see if they settle down, maybe the L-360 profile is taking longer to break in?

TColumbia37 said:
I had an issue at first with the coating wearing off prematurely, but I haven't had any issues since.

Maybe you should check your shells for roundness, bearing edge quality, and take a look at your hoops to make sure nothing's warped or damaged.
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"Before someone says it, I've double checked my bearing edges and hoops for distortion and flaws but I could not find any problems."
 
I had a 14" G2 360 head that just did didn't seat or tune well, upon inspection I noticed that one side of the mylar had a bulge which caused exactly what you're experiencing, a rattling, bad sounding drum.

Evans replaced it for free, and apart from that instance, my experience with the Level 360 heads is nothing but positive.
 
As an update the heads seem to be settling and sounding better now, but I've never had any heads take this long to stop stretching (almost a month now, 2hr practice daily). I'll continue to update as I go through the life of these heads.
 
thats weird.

i was using L-360 EC2 a few months back and they tuned just fine. i also use L-360 coated G1 on my 13x7 snare. i put that sucker on when i first got the snare, tuned it and never tuned it again. its probably de-tuned a bit since but still sounds good!
 
Just to add to the previous comments, I've been using G1s, G12s, and G14s on toms since last year and have had no problems. Really loving the Heavyweight on my brass snare too. I'm using Aquarian Classic Clear resos on the toms and also have no problems with those- just as easy to seat/tune plus they're actually clear unlike the slightly hazy film used in G1s, Ambassadors, etc.
 
porter said:
Just to add to the previous comments, I've been using G1s, G12s, and G14s on toms since last year and have had no problems. Really loving the Heavyweight on my brass snare too. I'm using Aquarian Classic Clear resos on the toms and also have no problems with those- just as easy to seat/tune plus they're actually clear unlike the slightly hazy film used in G1s, Ambassadors, etc.
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you say heavyweight on brass? which brass snare and which head?

i wanna try out on my brass snare. also what type of tune you have on it? low med or high?
 
The Heavyweight snare head- if I recall, it's two 10mil plies plus a power dot. I'm using it right now on a 13x6" Chrome over Brass Ahead snare with a no-collar Ambassador snare side, Puresound Equalizers, and Pearl Fat Tone hoops. It slays at all tunings though I do need to muffle it quite a bit when it's lower, but I'd also use a different set of wires then.

Previously I had a Black Chrome on there which sounds a little more modern at higher tunings but didn't take the lower one as well (I was also using die-cast hoops at the time).
 
porter said:
The Heavyweight snare head- if I recall, it's two 10mil plies plus a power dot. I'm using it right now on a 13x6" Chrome over Brass Ahead snare with a no-collar Ambassador snare side, Puresound Equalizers, and Pearl Fat Tone hoops. It slays at all tunings though I do need to muffle it quite a bit when it's lower, but I'd also use a different set of wires then.

Previously I had a Black Chrome on there which sounds a little more modern at higher tunings but didn't take the lower one as well (I was also using die-cast hoops at the time).
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Ok cool, I may try this sett up
 
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