Replacing heads on stock starclassic w/b

Ktbartsc

Member
This is my first acoustic set so looking for some advice. I know the stock heads in this kit are not top of the line, so I’d like to order some new ones to play around with and compare sound differences. I was thinking ambassadors for reso heads and coated emperors for batter heads. Would this be a good combo for all the toms, snare and bass drum? I know the bass drum heads are different and I’m mainly just not sure what to do about the snare and bass. I’m not going for any particular sound I just want to get some top of the line heads to start messing around with. Thanks.
 
My 2¢:

Always start with a stock single ply over single ply. Ambassador over Ambassador, G1 over G1, etc. This should be the baseline for reference when you want to know what your kit actually sounds like.

Only when you notice a deficiency, or need to tame a particular sonic facet, do you begin to entertain the notion of control a dot/ring/top.

Unpopular opinion:

Double ply heads (Emperors) are defective by their design. It is not possible to achieve a permanent uniform tension across the surface given the mounting mechanism. I would recommend these heads only for community kits where you want a muted sound and the durability to withstand beginner students and their dent-inducing shenanigans.
 
Don't they still come with Evans G2 over G1? My Starclassic Maple and B/B did iirc. Both kicks love an Emad batter over a coated Ambassador or ported Aquarian Regulator.
 
Don't they still come with Evans G2 over G1? My Starclassic Maple and B/B did iirc. Both kicks love an Emad batter over a coated Ambassador or ported Aquarian Regulator.

I would just stick with these , which is what they come with, until you find what sound “you” want . Nothing wrong with em ??

From Tama’s site, Description of heads that come with the star classics . Did yours not come with these???

EVANS® Heads
Evans® heads are featured on all Starclassic drums (except bass drum front heads). On the rack and floor toms, Genera G2 2-ply clear batter heads and TAMA Power Craft II 1-ply clear bottom heads provide both durability and solid sound. Starclassic bass drums are fitted with Genera EQ4 clear batter heads.
 
Yes, it comes with clear G2 batter and powercraftII reso heads. I watched the popular Portland YouTube review of the kit, and they said the reso heads were not industry standard and recommended replacing them out of the box. I understand that these aren’t “bad” heads by any means, but since I’m going to eventually need new heads anyway, I wanted to get a variety of high quality heads that I can switch out/play around with to get a feel for the sonic differences.
 
I didn't know they changed the reso heads. My SC B/B ended up with coated G2 over clear G1 on the toms. The SC Maple always wears coated G1 over clear G1 on the toms. The only heads neither kit liked was the black Suede Emperors.
 
I’m thinking of sticking with the clear G2 batter heads for now, and just replacing the Power Craft II reso heads with Ambassadors to see the difference.
 
If you're keeping the G2 top heads, I'd recommend an Evans bottom head. G1 seems to be the standard go-to but I really like the EC Reso head.

But if it were me, I'd just tune up and play with the stock heads. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with any of them, and it would help you form a baseline standard sound in your head. That way you're armed with a better idea of what you want when the first set begins to wear.
 
I thought all Starclassic kits came with Evans G1 or G2 over a Genera Reso (Unless Tama has changed that policy in the last 6 months). Those are premium drum heads.

My suggestion: Buy a new 1-ply head from each company (Remo, Evans, Aquarian) and give it a go. If you use your 12" tom to analyze the sounds, the $45 experiment will teach you plenty.
 
I think the stock heads are pretty good (at least were on my B/B). They were clear G2s over Tama branded clear (which I heard are just G1s). I like to experiment a lot though, so I've swapped out a lot of heads just to see what might work better. I've mainly stuck with Evans, just because I've never had an issue with their quality, and there are so many options. Right now I have UV1's on my two rack toms (10" & 12") and G2 coated on my two floors (16" & 18"). The floors ring too much for me with the UV1s, and the rack toms sound a little "pinched" for lack of a better term with G2's compared to the UV1's. I have Genera clear resos on the bottom of all of them. I like the sound I'm getting now quite a bit, but look forward to trying the new UV2s on the 16" and 18".
 
About the stock reso head, maybe you should check first before buying a pack of G1.
Take one off and compare to a G1.
On my former Silverstar, the reso head were really bad quality, much thinner than a G1; they sounded like crap.

On the contrary on an older Rockstar custom, the reso head were Tama Powercraft 2 ; they were very close to G1, in term of thickness, elasticity and sound. The only difference was the heavier skin hoop.
 
So what did you end up doing? I just purchased one. The Tama G2 batters seem ok but the powecraft reso's look cheesy so i will probably replace them soon. Seems a sin to put a coated head on these toms as the inner shell is so stunning..
 
Evans® heads are featured on all Starclassic drums (except bass drum front heads). On the rack and floor toms, Genera G2 2-ply clear batter heads and TAMA Power Craft II 1-ply clear bottom heads provide both durability and solid sound. Starclassic bass drums are fitted with Genera EQ4 clear batter heads.

That Power Craft reso is made by Evans for Tama.
 
Evans® heads are featured on all Starclassic drums (except bass drum front heads). On the rack and floor toms, Genera G2 2-ply clear batter heads and TAMA Power Craft II 1-ply clear bottom heads provide both durability and solid sound. Starclassic bass drums are fitted with Genera EQ4 clear batter heads.

That Power Craft reso is made by Evans for Tama.
Yeah I get it is made by Evans but I highly doubt it is = to a regular G2, Remo does the same thing with a UT version of emperors and amb's. The Powercraft reso looks cheap but maybe it will work out?
 
Sound is what's important. However, if you want to throw away a perfectly good head over aesthetics, you do you. Seems like a silly expenditure when sound has nothing to do with the reasoning.
I only replaced the Premier branded resos on my kit because after 30 years they were a little flappy and the sound was suffering.
 
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