Black dots?

blinky

Senior Member
So, I'm thinking of Remo CS heads for my new Tama Superstar in mirror chrome. I'm about to changing the original Tama heads, they are not bad but from a 5 year old demo kit and is a bit dented. This kit is for me kind of a tribute to the seventies kits I drooled over in my youth, but in the end I didn't go for a Hayman or Ludwig, new is nice. The black dot heads look the part, but I have not tried them properly and it would be nice with some expert opinions before I order them. I'm into a somewhat open boomy sound, not very fond of two-ply head or moongel. I would love to have the black dots for looks, but I'm not keen on sacrifice the sound. Anyone for or against them, why?
 
Back in the day ,I used black dots over black dots,for years. it's a classic tone.. I was using 12/13/16/18 at the time.That combo might choke a smaller tom.
They are slightly controlled but you could still get a big tone out of them.

I keep telling myself that I'm going to give them another go but I have just been too happy with Vintage Emps to change.
 
YouTube Tony Williams, find his opening solo to "Sister Cheryl", that's a pretty good representation of what black dots top and bottom will sound like.
 
I'm into a somewhat open boomy sound, not very fond of two-ply head or moongel. I would love to have the black dots for looks, but I'm not keen on sacrifice the sound. Anyone for or against them, why?

Against. It sounds like you want an open sound, so go to a singe ply head, top and bottom. Your drums will speak.
Sounds trumps looks, in my books.
 
Definitely a vintage sound and look. I haven't played a drum with a CSBD on it forever, but I don't think of them as super-dead heads. Obviously it's not going to be the same as unmuffled clear Ambassadors. I'd say go for it and bathe in the 70s vibe, even if it's not your favorite sound in the world. I might even get some for my Sonor Phonics, just for fun-- already super punchy drums.

Were you talking about using them on the bottoms, too? I wouldn't do that. No reason to ever use anything but Ambassadors on the bottom.
 
I used them in rock setting with a Maple kit, with ambassadors on bottom. Tuned low are close to a floppier sound, while tuned high was very resonant and ringy. I used a medium tuning which was open and clear on 10, 12 and 16.

Beware, however, for about a month last year, all the black dots were made with a cheaper adhesive, and the dots would fall off. I encountered one of these heads, so i sent Remo an email and let them know. They said they'd ship a replacement asap, but about 4 weeks later i hadn't gotten anything, so i sent another email. they forgot to ship it. I finally got the replacement, and after 5 minutes of playing the dot fell off again. I emailed them again, but never responded.

I know there is still black dots with this issue in circulation, but theres really no way to tell if it's defective or not.
 
Back in the day ,I used black dots over black dots,for years. it's a classic tone.. I was using 12/13/16/18 at the time.That combo might choke a smaller tom.
They are slightly controlled but you could still get a big tone out of them.

I keep telling myself that I'm going to give them another go but I have just been too happy with Vintage Emps to change.

I'm thinking black dots as batter heads only, tom sizes are 12", 14" & 16".
 
side note: your drums will feel bigger. my 12" with the black dot felt pretty big. my new kits 12" has a plain coated G2 and it feels really small.
 
I put dots on my set of Ludwig Octoplus drums years ago. They sounded great although I believe really fit well with those bottomless cans. Got a really pronounced thump with these on the Ludwigs.

After seeing this post, I'm adding a 14" dot to a sampler order I'm placing for about six different types of heads just to see what's out there to improve on what I'm using now. I'm going with 14" samples so I can slap them on my smaller floor and a snare.
 
Thanks everyone,
listened to Tony Williams and watched the videos as well as a clip with Mangini where he used CS heads and it sounded great, and I'm going for it. I'll also try the CS snare batter with black dot underneath.
 
Black dots are all I've been using for almost two years. I think they're great heads that are often overlooked.

I used them back in the early '80s like everyone else until Pinstripes became all the rage, which I briefly used. Then used Emps for the better part of 20 years before going back to single ply and more recently, landing on CS black dots as my head of choice.

They have a harder more percussive feel and a cleaner attack compared to Ambs if not as rich or open sounding. I play on 3 kits regularly and I have black dots on all of them.

I'm not really moved one way or the other on their looks, but if it bothered you, I believe Remo makes a clear dot version.
 
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I'm not really moved one way or the other on their looks, but if it bothered you, I believe Remo makes a clear dot version.

No, the looks are perfect, I just hope the sound will be as well...
 
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