My thoughts on Evans’ UV1 &2 (and why I’m sticking with Remo)

[Pass.of.E.r.a.]

The kit I bought from a well known touring drummer had a G2/G1 clear combo on the toms.

When I got the kit over a year a-go, The heads were already on it for at least half a year and looked and sounded like they were new.

Now they still do (The same goes for the EQ3 on the kick).

As I always loved the tiny holes in a head (I even made them myself on Remo heads later in my life) opposed to the dot, it was a no brainer to get the Genera Dry.

I don’t experience Evans being plastic sounding. On the contrary. I experience that with Remo with their clear and especially ebony heads.

I don’t experience Evans being plastic sounding, the contrary. I have that with Remo clear and especially ebony heads.

This came apperent to me when I received the 12” tom earlier this year. As that one came with an AA Smooth White head.

Three snares still have Remo and each time I play those, Im glad I made the switch.

Gorgeous kit my friend!

Interesting about the life of the G2s, that gives me some hope as I still have those on my maple kit and it sounds fine as it is.

I agree, I don't find the G2s plasticky sounding, I may have worded it poorly, but I was only finding that characteristic on the UV1/2. I'm sure their other stuff sounds great, I just don't have a ton of experience with it. Interesting that you find that with the Remo stuff. I've never played the Ebony stuff (although I think those are supposed to have more attack), but the any clear heads would probably have more click to them compared to coated heads.

Thanks for weighing in!

-Jonathan

 

[Pass.of.E.r.a.]

I'm using UV2s for months now and they don't show any wear until now, a few stick marks, that's it. No flaking, no dents in my tom heads.

In my (semi)professional life as a drum tech I have to use Remo and the coating starts to chip after one show. BUT they sound less plasticky imho and are not bad heads by any means. They still sound good even after the coating wears off.


Pretty sure all three major companies make excellent heads for different occasions.

That's why I bought them too! I wanted my heads to look new, the only problem was how quickly they lost their shape when I took them off the shell. Coating was fine on the UV2s, but the UV1 chipped off pretty easily (not as easily as the coating that Attack uses but that's a story for a different thread).

It's interesting that people keep bringing up Remo's coating flaking/chipping off quickly (not just here, but drummer friends that I talk to in person have said this too). I've never had this problem within the first 6-8 months, so I wonder if maybe its due to the tips on my sticks or technique maybe? I use Vater 3A in the studio and the Rock model live which both have the same barrel tip so there's no sharp point chipping away at it haha.

Had Evans' marketing not been so focused on durability I wouldn't even have mentioned the coating chipping off, but since that's what led me to buy these heads, and it failed so quickly, I felt the need to bring it up. Again for the record, I have nothing against Evans I just don't like these heads and don't have much experience with any of their other products.

-Jonathan

 

[Treverer]

That's why I bought them too! I wanted my heads to look new, the only problem was how quickly they lost their shape when I took them off the shell. Coating was fine on the UV2s, but the UV1 chipped off pretty easily (not as easily as the coating that Attack uses but that's a story for a different thread).

It's interesting that people keep bringing up Remo's coating flaking/chipping off quickly (not just here, but drummer friends that I talk to in person have said this too). I've never had this problem within the first 6-8 months, so I wonder if maybe its due to the tips on my sticks or technique maybe? I use Vater 3A in the studio and the Rock model live which both have the same barrel tip so there's no sharp point chipping away at it haha.
-Jonathan

For me they don't use their shape either, they just hold up.

The drummer I'm working for uses relatively light sticks with a tear drop tip. Everything's miced all the time so there's no need for super hard bashing, just the "regular" intensity of a rock concert.

 

[Stefan Brodsky]

Yay for click-bait titles but it obviously worked so…

So I’ve been using Remo heads for the past 15 years or so and at the beginning of 2020 a trusted friend and gear adviser was really pushing for me to try out some Evans stuff, specifically the UV1 on a new (to me) vintage Supra I had just picked up.

And I loved it.

2020 being the year that it was, I was able to spend far more time in the practice room than normal and really was able to put this head through its paces. Right off the bat what I loved about it was how after a few months of playing it still looked brand new. Compared to an Ambassador I found it to be a touch more “clicky” sounding, like someone had put a high shelf EQ on my snare, which was great for attack but it really didn’t have the low punch that I was used to. It wasn’t a really big deal to me since I could tune it down a little bit to compensate for it and the supra still sounded dope.

A little while later, the first remote session of the year comes through so that means time to replace the heads, and I figured this would be a great time to also try the UV2s on my toms. This is when my first red flag appeared. When I took the head off my snare (which at this point had been on for maybe 4 months) it was indented to the point of looking like it was several years old. Not just little stick marks, but like the centre 4” or so was noticeably lower than the rest of the head. I figured that maybe it just looked exaggerated because the head still looked new aside from that which was weird, so I’d just have to start putting a date on the head so I could know when to change it.

The UV2s had the same clicky quality that the UV1 had, but I found them really easy to tune (Tama Bubinga kit) and again, by compensating and tuning them a bit lower they sounded fantastic.

Next month’s session I opted to leave the tom heads and only replace the snare head (these are pretty expensive after all), and to no one’s great surprise I found the same denting/pitting issue with the head that I took off. This session was only for 1 song and including sound check/recording I only played the head for about 3 hours (video of the actual takes used can be found HERE) and much to my dismay there were TONS of noticeable stick dents on the head. I didn’t have my snare tuned particularly low or anything, and I wasn’t hitting harder than normal, but the denting was immediate. I figured that maybe it was just a one-off bad head since I didn’t have problems to that extent before, but then after the same thing happened on my next two sessions so I don’t think it was a one-off event sadly. I even had the same issue with the head deforming with the tom heads (on the kit for possibly 2 months) so I really feel that it’s just a problem with the UVs.

Fast forward to yesterday and out of curiosity I dug out my old Remo Coated Emperors (used for about a year including several sessions and a ton of live shows) and CS Dot (basically looked brand new, barely hit) just tapping them when they weren’t mounted to anything, they had WAY more tone/resonance/life in them than the UV1/2s that sounded like they were several years old. I put them on the kit and honestly they sounded just as good and maybe even a bit better, which was incredible considering how much older these heads are. This was kind of a crystallising moment to me. Not only do I prefer the sonic difference of Remo Emps over Evans’ UVs but I really believe Remo has way better durability, even if they mark up a bit more. It’s worth mentioning I haven’t found the same durability issues with the set of Clear G2s I have on my other kit, so I think it’s just a UV issue.

All in all I used two sets of UV2s (10/12/16) and 5 UV1s on a variety of snare drums including my Tama Warlord Bubinga Snare, and my 2 Vintage Supras.

Sorry for the absurd length of this post, hopefully you guys find some value in it! I’d be happy to answer any questions that anyone has about them.


TL;DR:
The Evans UV1&2 series lose their life way too quickly for their price point, and are prone to denting like off-brand drum heads.

-Jono

I recently replaced a UV1 batter on my Tama Stewart Copeland signature snare after about six months or so of at least 3x/week practice during the current pandemic. Felt like it was wearing out, as I couldn't quite get the stick bounce I wanted, and in this instance, went back to a Coated Ambassador. Prior to the UV1, I had an Evans G1, which was fine, but eventually wore out. Though all is currently good with the Remo Ambassador, I will say this re Evans, I do have a '56 Calfskin on my other snare, which is a Pearl Masters Maple, and I love it. The first one of those I had started to bubble up in the hitting zone. Contacted Evans and was sent a newer one, as earlier versions a few years back had some flaws. Evans was aware of this, and I think this head took some uncessary heat in the drummer forums as a result. This one has been perfect, and it's about a year and a half old.

 

[roncadillac]

I recently replaced a UV1 batter on my Tama Stewart Copeland signature snare after about six months or so of at least 3x/week practice during the current pandemic. Felt like it was wearing out, as I couldn't quite get the stick bounce I wanted, and in this instance, went back to a Coated Ambassador. Prior to the UV1, I had an Evans G1, which was fine, but eventually wore out. Though all is currently good with the Remo Ambassador, I will say this re Evans, I do have a '56 Calfskin on my other snare, which is a Pearl Masters Maple, and I love it. The first one of those I had started to bubble up in the hitting zone. Contacted Evans and was sent a newer one, as earlier versions a few years back had some flaws. Evans was aware of this, and I think this head took some uncessary heat in the drummer forums as a result. This one has been perfect, and it's about a year and a half old.

Very happy to hear that about the calftones. I loved them and dealt with the issues but got tired of it. I may have to give them a whirl again if Evans has improved the 'coating'.

 

[rebonn]

To me, Remos have a fuller, richer sound than comparable Evans heads, which in comparison tend to have a sort of “plasticky” sound. And the difference isn’t even all that subtle. That’s why I‘ve always played Remos.

This has been my experience as well for the Evans on toms, "Plasticky". Although I've been using the Evans Genera Dry on snares for ever. Go figure.

 

[NouveauCliche]

The Evans UV1&2 series lose their life way too quickly for their price point, and are prone to denting like off-brand drum heads.

-Jono

Just as a counter point - I've found the exact opposite to be true. I've had mine for months and played tons of live streams and made several videos, etc. etc. and they still sound and look good as new. I've had them tuned low and now they are medium high and still sing like new.

So...I guess just try them for yourself - but I've very happy with them....I do think there is a moderate amount of that clicky sound that OP mentions - but I find that I like the little bit of attack at higher tunings.

For lower tunings the EC2 is king.

Regarding Remo: I really only the CS dot and for a very specific thing. I've never, ever had good luck with any of their heads on toms or bass drums. I always find that they have a thin sound with overtones that I can never seem to tune out. I've heard them sound fantastic on recordings - but I've never gotten that sound. The other exception is the renaissance - which I loved on my cherry bop kit tuned really high - that was a beautiful clear tone....but it's very situational.

 

[Pass.of.E.r.a.]

Just as a counter point - I've found the exact opposite to be true. I've had mine for months and played tons of live streams and made several videos, etc. etc. and they still sound and look good as new. I've had them tuned low and now they are medium high and still sing like new.

So...I guess just try them for yourself - but I've very happy with them....I do think there is a moderate amount of that clicky sound that OP mentions - but I find that I like the little bit of attack at higher tunings.

For lower tunings the EC2 is king.

Regarding Remo: I really only the CS dot and for a very specific thing. I've never, ever had good luck with any of their heads on toms or bass drums. I always find that they have a thin sound with overtones that I can never seem to tune out. I've heard them sound fantastic on recordings - but I've never gotten that sound. The other exception is the renaissance - which I loved on my cherry bop kit tuned really high - that was a beautiful clear tone....but it's very situational.

Interesting! I'm sure part of it is how we play our kits. I did try them out. Quite a bit actually. (I am the OP )

I've never cared for the pinstripe/EC2 sound personally, but if I'm ever looking for that I'll be sure to give them a try.

CS dots are amazing. Unfortunate about the toms and and kick sounding thin. Every kit has it's own sweet spot and sometimes it doesn't work with the head.

-Jonathan