DIfferent bass drum heads and tuning

Herzeleid

Member
Hi guys I posted a post similar to this a few months back about bass drum feeling and how it was an issue. Well recently my Powerstroke Pro broke mysteriously and I was forced to put my stock bass drum head on until I buy a new bass drum head in which I choose the Powerstroke 3 Coated to save up on. When I put the stock head on, it felt and sounded SO much better. I also lowered the bass drum height which also gave a better and less cluster phobic feel. But still to this day, I all sudden still don't like the feeling but of course feels a lot better. I get this weird chunky and thick type feeling whenever I play, and I've tried different tuning ranges and muffling methods. I also have been working on my bass drum foot technique a lot recently since my last post and find it slightly easier and fluent to play faster strokes with good dynamics and precision.

Is it possible that the stock bass drum head is just thicker than usual? Is the Powerstroke 3 head thinner than the Yamaha Stock batter head to my bass drum? Does thickness of the head actually make a difference in terms of feel?
 
Thickness of the head definitely affects the feel. I'm not sure what the PowerStroke Pro is, but the PowerStroke 3 is basically an Ambassador weight head (10 mil?) with a muffle ring installed. So if you like Ambassadors, that will feel normal to you.

I tried the Evans G14 head on a snare drum, and this is one mylar sheet at 14 mil thick, and I hated it. The head was very hard, and didn't seem to give much. I much prefer two sheets at 7 mil put together - which is what demo's emperors are or Evans G2 heads are.

If you went to a Diplomat weight, which I think is 7 mil, you'll get all kinds of great response at the cost of durability.

On my bass drum, I've been totally digging the PowerStroke 4 heads, which is a dual-ply head (7 mil each) with a muffling ring - basically it's an Emperor with a ring built in.
 
The other factor here is that the stock heads probably have heavy weight crimped metal hoops which don't flex as much as the US versions. Gives them a more rigid, tense feel when you play.
 
The other factor here is that the stock heads probably have heavy weight crimped metal hoops which don't flex as much as the US versions. Gives them a more rigid, tense feel when you play.

Yeah I was going to say...The Powerstroke Pro I bought to replace the stock head awhile back was a lot lighter in weight when I compared the two. I guessed either the stock head was thicker or the hoops were steel instead of aluminum. Do you have any idea what Yamaha bass drum heads are? Are they ambassadors or powerstrokes ect.
 
Yamaha stock heads (on cheaper kits) are Remo UT ambassadors and UT PS3's. The tom resos are thinner - probably UT clear diplomats, but I'm not sure.

UT means the Taiwan version with the original film, but a heavy, crimped metal collar.
UK is the Korean version, made with a cheaper film.
USA is the professional, made in USA version with the lighter rims filled with clear 'glue'.
 
The other factor here is that the stock heads probably have heavy weight crimped metal hoops which don't flex as much as the US versions. Gives them a more rigid, tense feel when you play.

It really just feels fat and chunky, and my head is tuned just above wrinkles with a small bath towel that touches both the resonant head and batter but only a little bit of towel.
 
The towel touching the head will definitely affect the feel as well as a very loosely tuned head. The powerstroke pro is a one ply head with a muffling ring built in. (kind of a single ply powersonic without the snap on pillow) I personally never use muffling in my bass drum cause it kills the rebound as well as the tone of the drum. I let my tuning/choice of heads give me the sound I want. I've tried many combinations of heads, port sizes and tunings and they all feel different. The powerstroke 3 is probably either what came on your Yamaha (depending on model starting with the rock tour/tour custom) or thicker if its the cheap Remo UT heads.
 
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