Evans Calftone

I'm curious what the actual weight of these heads are.

The early demos said they were all 12-mil, but now it seems that bass heads are 12-mil and the tom/snare heads are 7-mil.

Does anyone know for sure which it is, or if there are going to be weight options down the road?
 
I asked a guy in a Drum Shop that carries them, ( What are the Calftones like? ) he replies 'bout the same as F......n's....... But i ( Me ) pete ..haven't played them so i can't say either way..
 
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Winston_Wolf said:
I'm curious what the actual weight of these heads are.

The early demos said they were all 12-mil, but now it seems that bass heads are 12-mil and the tom/snare heads are 7-mil.

Does anyone know for sure which it is, or if there are going to be weight options down the road?
Click to expand...

The bass heads are made with a 12mil film base blended with unique materials whereas the tom and snare version is made from a 7mil film base.

paradiddle pete said:
I asked a guy in a Drum Shop that carries them, ( What are the Calftones like? ) he replies 'bout the same as F......n's.. but i haven't played them so i can't say either way..
Click to expand...

Sounds like he can't really make that claim then... ;)

Let me be clear- these do not perform like any other synthetic drumhead available.
 
NO, I'm the one who hasn't played them, that was his claim. I will make no claim as yet..
 
Well, I've spent the evening tuning up and playing one, so here's my thoughts.

So far I've only tried this on my 6.5" Black Magic fitted with single flange hoops and a clear Ambassador snare side. As a point of reference I've used pretty much every type of vintage/calfskin-style drumheads; Fiberskyn, Renaissance, Skyntone, Strata, and Modern Vintage.

Appearance: To my eye very similar to Fiberskyn. It looks like an animal/membrane-type layer bonded to a clear film head. Time will tell if there are de-lamination issues as these heads get played out.

Feel: Again, similar to a Fiberskyn with a smooth texture that reminds me of wrinkled wax paper. With the base film being 7-mil the textured "skin" layer brings the overall thickness up to something like a typical 10-mil head, but stiffer.

Sound: Much like other calfskin-style heads there is a big boost in the midrange and a fairly prominent high end too. On an open sounding brass snare there are a lot of mids and highs, but the overall response is very dry. That dryness gives a lot of sticking clarity and the highs, while strong, don't seem to sustain much. It immediately gave my snare a very dry rudimental/orchestral/military type of sound.

User experience: Because the head is stiffer than a typical one it has a particular feel under the sticks that (once again) reminds me of a Fiberskyn. The Level 360 collar is used on these heads, so the head was really quick to tune up and responded easily to several pitch levels. The general sound quality was consistent in all of the tunings I tried.
 
And after a couple of hours of playing with the head, it's already time for my second impressions. Because of the laminated construction I'm already seeing signs of bubbling in the center. Nothing too severe, but it still caught me a little off guard.
 
Can you post a photo of this. I have been waiting a while to buy these but won't spend 50 dollars if they are having problems after a few hours.
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
Can you post a photo of this. I have been waiting a while to buy these but won't spend 50 dollars if they are having problems after a few hours.
Click to expand...

Here's the best I could get...



If you've played Fiberskyn Diplomats you'll know what to expect. With all due respect to EvansSpecialist, I cannot find a tangible difference on the end user experience between Calftone and Fiberskyn....
 
I was like a click away from ordering 3 tom heads but will not bother. That concerns me for sure. Thanks for taking the time.

It almost looks like the outer ply has stretched and the underneath ply stayed tight.
 
yep doesnt look good at all especially after such a short period. too bad.
on a positive note i love the evans logo on them. they should go with that on all their heads.
 
Can you feel that there is air in those bubble? Can you push them down and move the air around?
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
Can you feel that there is air in those bubble? Can you push them down and move the air around?
Click to expand...

Yes. It's the same kind of de-lamination all Fiberskyns get after they've been played a while. I've usually seen it on toms especially since the (typically) lower tension means the head isn't able to deflect the impact as well. I'm a little surprised this head bubbled up so quickly considering the short playing time and the tension I play my snare at.

But it was good to try something new, even if only for a brief time.
 
Winston_Wolf said:
Here's the best I could get...



If you've played Fiberskyn Diplomats you'll know what to expect. With all due respect to EvansSpecialist, I cannot find a tangible difference on the end user experience between Calftone and Fiberskyn....
Click to expand...

Yeah......after waiting all summer and this issue....i'll pass on those heads for now. Same as Grunter, i was a click away. You get the look, the feel and the pain in the A$$ of genuine calf heads!
 
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Winston_Wolf said:
Yes. It's the same kind of de-lamination all Fiberskyns get after they've been played a while. I've usually seen it on toms especially since the (typically) lower tension means the head isn't able to deflect the impact as well. I'm a little surprised this head bubbled up so quickly considering the short playing time and the tension I play my snare at.

But it was good to try something new, even if only for a brief time.
Click to expand...

I have a set of Fiberskyn 3 FA that I have had on my toms, not a snare, and they look like the day I bought them. None of that bubbling at all. I may save my money and put them back on my toms. Thanks for your work.

And I have to ask if the sound changed after the bubbling took place.
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
I have a set of Fiberskyn 3 FA that I have had on my toms, not a snare, and they look like the day I bought them. None of that bubbling at all. I may save my money and put them back on my toms. Thanks for your work.

And I have to ask if the sound changed after the bubbling took place.
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed a change in the sound, but I also took it off right after practice ended to put the previous snare head back on. Even under tension I was pretty sure it had started to bubble and once I removed it it was clear it had.

I've had some Fiberskyns bubble up on me but I stopped playing them regularly in the early 2000s and switched to Renaissance. I've tried every calf-like head that's been offered, and the only ones I've really had problems with have been Fiberskyns (and now Calftone) because of the de-laminating and Strata because the coating would get sticky and peel off.

Renaissance is a textured film, so there's no coating and no laminations to deal with, and you could get multiple weights/ply layups. Modern Vintage has been the easiest one to work with because they have great tone and the coating never comes off, and once they added two-ply and Super Kick bass versions I was sold.
 
A killjoy that saved this guy 50 bucks for one. We'll give them a chance to fix their problem and try again. Just for yucks I went to the Evans site, and the 14 inch tom batter and the 14 inch snare batter are the same piece. I just wanted to be sure.
 
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