CB700 older maybe 1970's? Should I buy new heads?

[Jimitrader]

Hi I am new to drumming and need some advice. I was given a CB700 drum set that my friend found (he works at the landfill)

I have been playing it for about a year and starting to get ok and am now noticing the actual "tones"of them and seems they are kinda bad sounding..lol

so I updated to a Tama snare with evans and a Aquarian beater head on bass kick (pedal side)

...and my question is should i buy new heads or try an find a better kit.?

new drum shells or new heads for these?

I have a 16" floor tom and 13" tom and not sure how to buy? do I need batter and reso {bottom head) for both?
do you guys always have bottom head? I remember a long time ago drummers would leave the bottom head off?

the two drums mentioned have batter skins on both side? is that normal?

 

[BobC]

Buy new heads. The drums are probably OK, and will sound usable with good heads and proper tuning.

Never look a gift drumset in the mouth. You got them for free. Just upgrade the heads.

 

[Jimitrader]

Buy new heads. The drums are probably OK, and will sound usable with good heads and proper tuning.

Never look a gift drumset in the mouth. You got them for free. Just upgrade the heads.

thanks Bob should i get the bottom ones also? or leave with no head? thnx

 

[tris66]

Do you know how to tune a drum? I'm not being a jerk here I'm asking a sincere question. I don't see any serious dings or dents in those. They should tune up decently enough to not be annoying. I have some pearl orphans of about the same vintage, same color, same heads except they are beat. I can tune them up to a decent, usable state... and I'm a stupid guitar player. My suggestion: if you don't know about tuning go hit YouTube for tuning videos. If you stick new heads on and don't know how to tune they are not going to do you much better than what you have. Leaning to tune can be a challenge, too. A lot of guys who have been drumming a long time agree. Start with your drum with a single head. Single headed drums are easier to tune. That is my opinion. Yes, I prefer double headed drums.

 

[BobC]

thanks Bob should i get the bottom ones also? or leave with no head? thnx

I'd change the bottom heads also. Bottom heads usually last for years in most cases, but those heads have probably been on there for decades!

Leaving a bottom head (aka a resonant head) off, will give you a very dull thud with almost no ring. That sound was hot in the 70's, but most drummers have gone back to top and bottom heads, because toms just generally sound better that way.

 

[harryconway]

Hi I am new to drumming and need some advice. I was given a CB700 drum set that my friend found (he works at the landfill)
I have been playing it for about a year .......

If you've been pounding these heads for a year, I would say YES to putting new heads on your kit. And I would replace the batter AND reso. heads ..... if you can afford it. Like BobC mentioned, those reso. heads are probably a few decades old.

If you go onto Facebook, you'll find two CB-700 forums. Might wanna check those out. There is a bit of a following for these drums. You'll find quite a few YouTube video's on these drums also.

I had some CB-700 toms back in the 70's. These drums were made for quite a few years. They're basic entry level drums. If all the hardware is functional, I'd keep 'em.

 

[Jimitrader]

If you've been pounding these heads for a year, I would say YES to putting new heads on your kit. And I would replace the batter AND reso. heads ..... if you can afford it. Like BobC mentioned, those reso. heads are probably a few decades old.

If you go onto Facebook, you'll find two CB-700 forums. Might wanna check those out. There is a bit of a following for these drums. You'll find quite a few YouTube video's on these drums also.

I had some CB-700 toms back in the 70's. These drums were made for quite a few years. They're basic entry level drums. If all the hardware is functional, I'd keep 'em.

Thank you

 

[Jimitrader]

Do you know how to tune a drum? I'm not being a jerk here I'm asking a sincere question. I don't see any serious dings or dents in those. They should tune up decently enough to not be annoying. I have some pearl orphans of about the same vintage, same color, same heads except they are beat. I can tune them up to a decent, usable state... and I'm a stupid guitar player. My suggestion: if you don't know about tuning go hit YouTube for tuning videos. If you stick new heads on and don't know how to tune they are not going to do you much better than what you have. Leaning to tune can be a challenge, too. A lot of guys who have been drumming a long time agree. Start with your drum with a single head. Single headed drums are easier to tune. That is my opinion. Yes, I prefer double headed drums.

I have watched many drum tuning videos and have re done the snare and bass kick and they sound better...the drums have been tuned by a good player and i keep tabs on the tuning with a drum dial ..usually around 78 psi i think it is. a little tighter for the snare..I am also primarily a guitarist and am thinking like HarryC said they are probably super old and like guitar strings may be kinda worn out..but thats why i am asking cause i dont have alot of money and not sure...you should see the stuff that was inside the bass kick was like a treasure vault..was hillarious an old hand nitted sweater and pillow..lol old 70's type blankets was a crack up

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[doggyd69b]

Hi I am new to drumming and need some advice. I was given a CB700 drum set that my friend found (he works at the landfill)

I have been playing it for about a year and starting to get ok and am now noticing the actual "tones"of them and seems they are kinda bad sounding..lol

so I updated to a Tama snare with evans and a Aquarian beater head on bass kick (pedal side)

...and my question is should i buy new heads or try an find a better kit.?

new drum shells or new heads for these?

I have a 16" floor tom and 13" tom and not sure how to buy? do I need batter and reso {bottom head) for both?
do you guys always have bottom head? I remember a long time ago drummers would leave the bottom head off?

the two drums mentioned have batter skins on both side? is that normal?

Usually when you change OLD heads you might as well change both resonant and batter at the same time. While you are doing that, take the time to clean the inside of the drums, the rims the lugs, everything you can clean as if you were going to eat out of them (meaning cleaning like you care). Invest in a drum dial or similar to help you tune your drums. Of course we all here would love to be able to get the best high end (insert favorite brand here) but you would be surprised to see how good a cheap (free in your case) kit can sound when properly tuned.

My experience is comparing a high end DW that I played some 20 years ago I believe at the time that kit was worth around $5000 or more, with my current kit which I bought about 3 years ago for $300 (so a cheap kit) but tuned properly, and it just sounds glorious, even better than that DW in my opinion (and trust me when you hear a great sounding kit you will never forget it). Is like the snare from Two Princes:

You never forget if you managed to achieve that sound live. ( For something like this you need a snare that can be tuned that high, and a room with proper acoustics and you should be able to pull it of live).

This girl got close to that (with zero effect so maybe with some processing she could have):

That Pork Pie snare sounds awesome too.

 

[toddbishop]

The heads are fine, someone who knows how to tune them should be able to get an acceptable sound out of them. I wouldn't spend any money doing anything except making the drums playable-- like if there's a piece of hardware missing. Get in touch with a teacher who can show you how to tune them and set them up.

 

[BobC]

You can buy perfectly usable bottom reso heads from Drum Factory Direct at a nice price. The heads are likely Chinese, but they are fine for the bottoms of the toms.

 

[Drumolator]

Top and bottom heads matter quite a bit. Peace and goodwill.

 

[Iristone]

You can remove the reso head altogether, but that's a very specific sound like marching quads or Phil Collins. For normal tom sound I'd upgrade bottom heads to at least Remo UT single-ply, or even better Remo Ambassador. My kit is like yours, and it doesn't sound bad with proper heads and tuning.

 

[Jimitrader]

thanks all..i removed bottom heads for now and tuned really good sounds way better!!!

 

[Drumolator]

When you can, put good heads on the bottoms. You may be very surprised at how good they sound. Peace and goodwill.

 

[Iristone]

I see the Pinstripe head on the bottom will likely limit the drum's capacity a great deal. It's a heavy, 2-ply head with muffling, and should only be used as a batter head. The Black Dot head can be used as both batter and reso, though.
Both heads are classic choices on single-headed toms, and will sound great that way. The trick with single-headed toms is to tune them up, not to marching quads high, but rather to Phil Collins high. His kit sounds BIG because he tunes them high, and the concert tom body makes the overall pitch about an octave lower than the drumhead pitch.
Still I'd recommend you to try double-headed, with Pinstripe on top and Black Dot on bottom. This way you can decide which overall tone is better to you, single- or double-headed.

 

[tris66]

thanks all..i removed bottom heads for now and tuned really good sounds way better!!!

Tuning. When the two heads are not tuned to resonate properly together they will sound bad. Just like an out of tune guitar playing a chord. Single headed drums can sound good. They were popular in the 70s.