Question on Heads

6axepunk

New Member
Hey! New member here. I play drums, but I wouldn't call myself a drummer. "Huh?" you say? Well, what I mean by that is whenever I've played drums it's always been some other person's drum kit. I've never owned one until now. My kit needs new batters, badly. But, how do I choose heads? I need heads that are versatile. I need to be able to cover just about any music style, but I'm sticking mostly to classic rock and modern country. I'd like them to not be REAL loud, why? I want them to sound good for recording in a studio, and not be overwhelming in a club, which is where this kit will be mostly used. I've watched a couple of YouTube vids on the subject, and will continue to watch more, but I want to get it right. Heads are kind of expensive, and if I get heads I'm not pleased with it'll be an expensive mistake.
Oh, also - should I change out the reso's, too? What about kick? Peace, and thanks for any direction.
BTW, the kit is a Made in Taiwan Mapex Mars Pro Series, 6 piece. I tried to post some pics here, but I guess they're too large?
 
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My standard advice...

For your next set, go with a quality stock single ply. Ambassador/G1, etc. Coated vs clear don't really matter unless you use brushes, just choose whichever fits your genre and is most aesthetically pleasing to you. Buy some moon gel.

Tune up and play. Listen to the toms. This is what your drums sound like in a completely unencumbered state. This is the most tone you'll ever achieve and should serve as your mental baseline for what your drums actually sound like. Anything else from here on in is going to achieve its shape by subtracting sound.

Put some moon gel in the center of your toms and play. This is what a control "dot" head sounds like.
Pull the gel from the center and distribute a few bits of gel around the circumference about an inch from the edge . This is what a control "ring" head sounds like.
Put moon gel in both positions. This is what a control-top head sounds like, as a control top is ultimately an apparatus consisting of both a ring and a dot.

If you find you develop a preference for a particular one of these sounds, or play a genre where you find yourself using one of these configurations more often than not, consider getting a set of heads with the apparatus built in for the sake of convenience.

Last but not least, avoid "gimmick" heads. Oil filled, synthetic calf skin, etc. These heads have very specific sonic profiles and use cases.
 
On all my Mapex toms, and there have been many, I always put clear Evans G2's on top and clear G1's on the bottom. Yes, the bottom heads matter quite a bit. On the bass drum I like Evans EQ3 on back (clear) and front (black). On the snare top, a coated G1 is good; a UV1 or UV 2 works too. Good luck. Peace and goodwill.
 
My baseline recommendation for all non-jazz players is a two-ply batter with one-ply resonant. Depending on availability/cost/brand preference that would be an Aquarian Response 2 over Classic Clear, Remo Emperor over Ambassador, or Evans G2 over G1.
 
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