Another new drummer dad ??? Head Replacememt.

Harepy

Member
I recently acquired a 2001 Pearl Export fusion kit for my 8 year old son. It is in very good condition to the point that it doesn't look like its been played alot. We've had the kit for over a month and the stock pearl protone heads don't have much wear and they have kept their tuning very well on both the batter and reso side. The old drummer in me thinks that since they've most likely been on the kit since it was purchased (18+ years) I should probably replace them. So I'm considering at least doing the batters on the entire kit. My only apprehension is that the drums are played 99% of the time with Sound Off muting pads. This will be the norm for a good long while since my son is only 8 and I doubt he'll be gigging for awhile. Am I wasting $$ if I replace the batters on a kit that will be primarily muted for the next few years? I just want to make sure that if I put new batters on now but they rarely get hit, will the length of time they've been on the kit still require that I replace them again down the road even though they've seen little or no actual stick time? Thanks in advance for any responses.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn’t bother if you’re muting them. In my opinion until he starts playing with other musicians or gigging with the kit I wouldn’t bother either. There is a school of thought that says to keep expense down when buying a new kit, just play the cheap stock heads until they physically need to be replaced and spend your money a few months (or years) further down the line.
Regarding your question about the shelf life of heads, I’m not sure of the answer but given that 99% of the time you’re muting the heads anyway, if it was me I wouldn’t be changing the heads and therefore not needing to worry about the answer!
 
I wouldn’t bother if you’re muting them. In my opinion until he starts playing with other musicians or gigging with the kit I wouldn’t bother either. There is a school of thought that says to keep expense down when buying a new kit, just play the cheap stock heads until they physically need to be replaced and spend your money a few months (or years) further down the line.
Regarding your question about the shelf life of heads, I’m not sure of the answer but given that 99% of the time you’re muting the heads anyway, if it was me I wouldn’t be changing the heads and therefore not needing to worry about the answer!

That's what the practical Dad in me is saying. The former drummer in me who is rekindling his love of the skins is telling me that when I'm alone in the house I wanna take the pads off and have them sound as good as possible. If I decide to do it I'm only gonna do the batters; wavering between Evans ec2 SST and Remo pinstripe on the Toms and whichever one I pick I'll probably get the same brand for the snare. Bass I'll be going Evans Gmad. There's a couple decent deals out there where I could do all 5 batters for about $65. Decisions....Decisions.
 
Last edited:
I say re-head it. For the rare occasion you remove the Sound Offs it will sound good.
 
Remo Pinstripes bring out the best in every kit I've tried them on. Highly recommended.
On my toms, I've been a 10 mil wide open clear single ply user for about the last 13 years. Just last week, I got it in my crawl that I want to try pins. I never had a set of pinners on my drums since I returned to drumming in 2003. I used to use the smooth white emps, but never pins. I'm trying them tonight (NYE) for the first time. I am optimistic judging from what they sound like in my studio. Lately when I lay into the single ply heads at gigs...I feel they are not delivering all low end tone my drums can make. A pinner should give me a little more sustain too, which I can't get enough of. More mass means more sustain. I think it will be an improvement.
 
On my toms, I've been a 10 mil wide open clear single ply user for about the last 13 years. Just last week, I got it in my crawl that I want to try pins. I never had a set of pinners on my drums since I returned to drumming in 2003. I used to use the smooth white emps, but never pins. I'm trying them tonight (NYE) for the first time. I am optimistic judging from what they sound like in my studio. Lately when I lay into the single ply heads at gigs...I feel they are not delivering all low end tone my drums can make. A pinner should give me a little more sustain too, which I can't get enough of. More mass means more sustain. I think it will be an improvement.

I love what Pinstripes do for toms. They add heft and warmth to their sound, I find.

I'll be using them tonight, too. Have a great gig, Larry!
 
Please don't say skins. :)

You will get a ridiculous amount of varying opinions on heads.

For me, pound for pound, Aquarian Studio-X's are the best heads on the planet today.
 
I say replace the heads because you want to and it's a fun thing to do and play. I wouldn't put pinstripes on the snare because if you want to use brushes then you'll want the coated surface.
 
A “gig” might come sooner than you think. Maybe a talent show is around the corner? Or a video to show family?

If not, there’s no rush. There’s also no harm either. Whatever heads you buy will last for years if the mutes stay on them.
 
At first I was on the side of leaving the existing heads since they will be muted. But as I'm reading the other responses I'm thinking that they probably won't always be muted. What kid isn't going to want to hear how their drums sound for real? And as others have said, as he progresses and ends up playing with other people, the opportunity to use his own set may arise and for those occasions you want the drums to sound as good as they can. Don't go crazy with the most expensive heads on the market. Stick with a coated snare head and maybe some pinstripes on the toms and bass drum. They'll not only sound good but your son may notice the difference and it will motivate him to really get into it. You never know.
 
Went ahead and ordered some heads after I was able to try a few. Going to go with G2 coated batters on the toms, Remo Powerstroke 3 on the bass, Genera HD Dry on the snare. I was real close to going EC2 clear on the toms but liked the warmth of the G2's better. The G2 clears had too many overtones for me which were not good as my boy's kit is set up in a 12x10 bedroom. Remo pinstripes were a real tone killer, although if he wants that deep thud rock sound from the 70's they would be great. Looking forward to the improvement. I'm sure I'll end up changing the resos down the line with G1 clears on the toms and a hazy 300 on the snare. Thanks for all the input.
 
Back
Top