pinstripe or powerstroke 3 BD head?

CKDrums

Junior Member
would a remo pinstripe coated head be better than a powerstroke 3 coated bass drum head? i have an 18" starclassic birch bass. im leaning towards the powerstroke. has anybody had success with either of these? any opinions?
 
DON'T go with pinstripe. I found it hard to tune and you get nothing from it. not much punch. its not loud. its not any thing. so if you turn it up just i tiny bit it sounds incredibly plastic. and little to high it sounds like a freaking bongo drum -_-

go with ps3 if you dont want a plastic sound.
 
Yeah, definitely go with a "real" bass head on this. Powerstroke 3 or Powerstroke 4 is the real question, and that just depends whether you want punch or boom. I use two P3s on my Tama birch bass drum (though it's 22").
 
By now you've gotten the idea that you should use a PS3 if all you have to choose from is these two heads. But don't discount some other great heads, such as an Evans EMAD or GMAD or EQ3, or the Aquarian SuperKick. All great heads if you can get them.
 
Of the two, go Powerstroke, But I personally would get an Evans Gmad. Punch, boom, low end... great kick head!
 
Powerstroke 3, however there is a caveat. The muffling ring that Remo puts on a Powerstroke 3 bass drum head is 2" wide. It's the same width on an 18" as it is on a 24". For an 18" I find it to be WAY too much muffling for my tastes. I cut the ring in half width-wise (so the ring is 1" wide all the way around) and that's is perfect for me. I wish Remo would gradually increase the muffling ring width as the heads get bigger, but sadly, they do not.

If the Powerstroke 3 "out of the box" is too dead for you, try my trick of cutting the muffling ring width, maybe a 1/4" at a time until you find what suits you best.
 
would a remo pinstripe coated head be better than a powerstroke 3 coated bass drum head? i have an 18" starclassic birch bass. im leaning towards the powerstroke. has anybody had success with either of these? any opinions?
P3 batter and reso makes a great combo. I was just playing my buddy's Gretsch 18x14 the other day, and that's what he had on it. But ..... it's really all about what sound YOU want. Powerstroke3, Superkick I and Superkick II are probably the 3 heads I use most, on my bass drums.
 
Powerstroke 3, however there is a caveat. The muffling ring that Remo puts on a Powerstroke 3 bass drum head is 2" wide. It's the same width on an 18" as it is on a 24". For an 18" I find it to be WAY too much muffling for my tastes. I cut the ring in half width-wise (so the ring is 1" wide all the way around) and that's is perfect for me. I wish Remo would gradually increase the muffling ring width as the heads get bigger, but sadly, they do not.
That would cost Remo a penny a foot extra. I’ve used a PS3 on an 18 x 16 8000 Tour Custom, and I didn’t think it sounded too muffled, but not saying you’re wrong about your tastes or anything ;)
 
I agree with the PS3 for bass drum for groove gigs, but of course I didn’t mind it when Gadd used that pinstripe batter head for awhile….CEA4CB61-B3D5-4BB5-B9A6-0830571D76E2.jpeg
 
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I've tried a coated PS3 on an 18" Slingerland BD (round-over edges), and found that I had to cut some of the muffle-ring away. In hindsight, I should have tried the smooth white PS3, as it sounds more open. I ended up throwing a coated ambassador on there, using a rolled up towel against the batter for muffling. That sounded best to me. I sent this one down the road a few years ago.

I'm currently using a 20" Gretsch Catalina Club bass (between the Renown and Catalina, it's the only 14" depth bass available. This has a 45, and a counter-cut, I think. I tried a coated pinstripe and had the same experience as cDark3r: Dead and flat throughout it's tuning range. Could be a bad head, though. A clear pinstripe might fair better, but I just went with a smooth white PS3. This head worked well for me on my 20" Tempus bass drum, and sounds great on my Catalina, as well.
 
I think "you'll know" which head you like-----everywhere on the kit!
top bottom and err under!
You'll know!
 
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