Help choosing bass drum head...

zepplin92

Senior Member
Hey guys I've started looking for a new bass drum head for my Catalina Maple this week, but i have no clue what to look for. I have all remo emperors on my toms and a ambassador on the snare. I am looking for ta vintage tone that sounds huge and not a lot of dampening, i was thinking of an aquarian SKII, but i am still pretty clueless and any advice would be greatly appreciated. The kick is 22x18.
 
Hey guys I've started looking for a new bass drum head for my Catalina Maple this week, but i have no clue what to look for. I have all remo emperors on my toms and a ambassador on the snare. I am looking for ta vintage tone that sounds huge and not a lot of dampening, i was thinking of an aquarian SKII, but i am still pretty clueless and any advice would be greatly appreciated. The kick is 22x18.

Well... I like a fairly open sound as much as the next guy, but I think you'll need some sort of muffling to keep it manageable. Are you still using the stock reso head? I'm a big fan of the Evans EQ heads. On my old Ludwig kit, I had an EQ3 in the batter and an EQ2 on the reso. Nothing inside. It was a really great, open sound that wasn't too overbearing. On my GMS kit, the bass resonates better, so I do need a little bit of muffling to achieve a similar sound. My GMS plays pretty similarly to the Cat Maples I've played, so you might try the EQs.
 
I have an EQ3 for batter and just the Gretsch logo reso head. I have ordered a new Remo Ambassador Coated white head for the reso as I am tired of looking at the black one.
 
Hey guys I've started looking for a new bass drum head for my Catalina Maple this week, but i have no clue what to look for. I have all remo emperors on my toms and a ambassador on the snare. I am looking for ta vintage tone that sounds huge and not a lot of dampening, i was thinking of an aquarian SKII, but i am still pretty clueless and any advice would be greatly appreciated. The kick is 22x18.

Got the same kit mate. I'm running a PS3 batter and PS3 Fiberskyn reso. No muffling and no port (if it's too much though, try some felt strips.....or a small rolled towel b/n the pedal and batter head). Your prayers have been answered, this combination will give you the sound you seek. Buy with confidence!!
 
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Thanks for the replies, a ps3 is another option i have been looking at and will be the fastest because my local music store carries a lot of those. I don't have the money for a reso right now, will i still be able to achieve the open sound sound with the stock reso.
cheers,
 
Thanks for the replies, a ps3 is another option i have been looking at and will be the fastest because my local music store carries a lot of those. I don't have the money for a reso right now, will i still be able to achieve the open sound sound with the stock reso.
cheers,

Stock reso will definitely sound open... :)
 
I just put Remo Ambassador reso and Remo Power Sonic batter on my 22" kick and it sounds fantastic. The Power Sonic was well worth the extra few bucks... It sounds so good it almost sounds like synthetic bass.
 
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