Did I make a mistake with my kick reso?

JimmyM

JimmyM

Diamond Member
Most of you have seen my set, so I won’t post it again.

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The hell I won’t! But just to see what happens when I put on the stock reso (unported Ludwig black Weather Master from 1983 with a ring and a big obnoxious logo). Now it could be my imagination because I only did it earlier today but it sounds a lot better to me than this one, an Aquarian Classic black with the awesome graphic Markus did for me.

Batter is a coated Emp. I have a couple others I need to try (coated Amb no port and ancient smooth white Amb with 5” port), but I’m thinking that I made a mistake with the Aquarian. I got it thinking that it would be about the same as any other black single ply once the graphics are applied, it didn’t cost extra, and this is making me rethink that decision.

Don’t know much about that Ludwig head, though I guess it’s pretty similar to a PS3, no? But is it the graphics making it not sound as good or did I just get a crappy head and should have ponied up for a PS3?
 
DOES look extremely groovy, but I'd replace the ring with a small , flush-mounted speaker horn.
For that little touch of Alex Van Halen!😆
 
should it say Ludwig by Ampeg?
😁

you want that Graphic on a full "closed" no-hole head.?
(save up) and do it. or stick with the stock-one - the closed one- you have and alternate

Life's too short for going around, with a "hole in" your head 😁
I vote for "full combustion" parade-style me self.
 
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jda said:
should it say Ludwig by Ampeg?
😁

you want that Graphic on a full "closed" no-hole head.?
(save up) and do it. or stick with the stock-one - the closed one- you have and alternate

Life's too short for going around, with a "hole in" your head 😁
I vote for "full combustion" parade-style me self.
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I’m an Ampeg endorser, not a Ludwig endorser ;)

And it’s not so much about the hole as it is the general sound of the head.
 
JimmyM said:
I’m an Ampeg endorser, not a Ludwig endorser ;)

And it’s not so much about the hole as it is the general sound of the head.
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What about the sound don't you like, Jimmy? In what way is the sound unpleasant you? Too many high frequencies? Too short or dry a note?
 
Stroman said:
What about the sound don't you like, Jimmy? In what way is the sound unpleasant you? Too many high frequencies? Too short or dry a note?
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I can’t put my finger on it, Stro. Not exactly sure. I probably need to spend more time with them and maybe wrote this prematurely.
 
JimmyM said:
I can’t put my finger on it, Stro. Not exactly sure.
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Gotcha. Does the Aquarian have a tone control ring similar to a PS3? If not, maybe it's more an issue of comparing different constructions, rather than different brands.

Some experimentation with the other heads you have one hand might help you identify what exactly you aren't liking about the Aquarian.
 
Stroman said:
Gotcha. Does the Aquarian have a tone control ring similar to a PS3? If not, maybe it's more an issue of comparing different constructions, rather than different brands.

Some experimentation with the other heads you have one hand might help you identify what exactly you aren't liking about the Aquarian.
Click to expand...
No ring on the Aquarian.

So after some preliminary research, I think the Ludwig head has a little more low and high end, which may be a result of not needing to muffle it. I got burned out on switching heads for now, but over the next day or two I’m going to experiment a bit, maybe cut a ring out of this black dot head that’s trashed and see if that helps. It’s not far off, but it does cut lows and highs a tad.
 
Btw, I found out that the Ludwig head is more like late 90s. Doesn’t make much of a difference except for historical accuracy.
 
As a novice - I'd pretty much dismissed the head-type debate as being for obsessives and hair-splitters - but I actually got to hit the batter (coated Emperor) and reso (coated Ambassador) on my bass drum with a timpani mallet... Hell's Bells, what a difference! Night and Day!
 
Well that went badly…

I switched and retuned so much that I lost the original sound I had and now my floor tom is resonating with the bass drum. Somehow they got tuned to the same note. So now I’ll be spending the next day or two fixing it. Ordinarily I’d get it done quicker but got a wife with a birthday so you know how that works. But I’ll fix it. Then I’m never touching it again!
 
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