Really digging my new Clear Remo Emperors

Road Bull

Road Bull

Silver Member
So I was a bit nervous throwing some new heads on my Ludwigs. I have been rocking the tried and true Coated White Emperor heads over Clear Ambassadors. But I wanted to see how the Clears might open the drums up a bit.

For what I am doing, I like the change a lot. Many of the places my band plays, we have little to no PA support, so I like my drums to sing as much as possible. I suppose no surprises here. The coated seem a bit softer or warmer overall. And the clear heads seem to open up just a little bit more and have slightly more presence in the attack. Granted, these are large drums. 14x10, 16x16, 26x14, so, I suppose it might be hard to see how they could NOT have attack when played hard.

But they feel pretty good too! I don't tune for too much for optimum near field sound. I like them a bit higher and don't mind if they ring a bit. I really like the relationship that The Remo Emp/Amb have with these beautiful sounding drums.

I might be interested in checking out some black dot heads somewhere down the line, but I am very happy with the way things sound now.
 

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I liked clear Emperors on some of my old kits that had more toms. The definition was good for more melodic fills.

I'm a Coated Vintage Emperor over Coated Ambassador guy. To me ,it is just the classic tone. 26/14/16/18 just screams for them ,IMO . However,I am thinking about CS over CS for the next head change on my other kit.


I love your kit .
 
Thanks man. Cool. I haven't tried the vintage Emperors yet. That might be on my to do list. So you are thinking about going Tony Williams style? Isn't that what he uses?
 
Yep....but I can't really call him an influence . I am but a simple caveman. I used CS over CS ,for a bit, when I was a kid. I have just been feeling nostalgic for that sound.

I have been planning this for a while. I just don't use that kit often and the heads don't have a mark on them. I'm not going to change them until they NEED them.
 
Bull said:
Yep....but I can't really call him an influence . I am but a simple caveman. I used CS over CS ,for a bit, when I was a kid. I have just been feeling nostalgic for that sound.

I have been planning this for a while. I just don't use that kit often and the heads don't have a mark on them. I'm not going to change them until they NEED them.
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I hear you. If it aint broke, don't fix it.

I am just glad to have found a perfect combination of Ludwig Classic Maples, Remo Emp/Amb, and tuning that make me very happy.

btw, What kind of bass drum case are you using/ I have been using a Protection Racket soft case and really dig it for what I do. I was just wondering what, if any hard cases people use for the 26x14" kicks.
 
Just noticed that this thread is totally full of bull(s).

That's all...carry on.
 
That kit is seriously insane. Love the pics!

I'm still doing CA's over CA's. They sing really well, and fat (but still clean) on my Mach lug kits. I dig Clear Emps over Clear Amb though.
The Classic lug kit is a little more open, and CS heads work on them pretty well. The 13 just needs to be tuned lower than I really like to get enough length on it.
A 14 would be easy though. 10x14 has THE sound.

I've used an Enduro for ages, but wondering if I should use a soft case, just for the sake of less weight. The Enduro is easy, and indestructible and I don't worry about the drum, but it's pretty heavy. Just getting old hahaha!
 
Thanks Karl. I am really digging the kit myself. Thanks for all the good advice I got from you guys when I was putting it together. My smaller size drum kits just don't feel the same now.

I was wondering because I saw a band who's drummer was using a huge (I think marching drum) case. I have been doing very well with a Protection Racket 26x14" case. It is a bit tight with the curved spurs pushed in, but it makes it. It is super handy because it has a handle to carry one handed if you are so inclined, and two recessed fold-type handles at the top to carry it easily through doors and whatnot. I was just wondering what type of cases you all use. Granted, I am not all over the place and I am the main person moving my gear in and out of the van.

Also, I would have to imagine that the Elite spurs would be more conducive to packing things away easier than curved spurs. It's not that big a deal, but they fight a bit when I am trying to squeeze them into my soft case.
 
Lots of different combos in here but it seems the trend is either clear over clear or coated over coated. I bought my Ludwigs back in the spring and immediately put coated emperors on the batter side but used a set of clear Evans G1s I had on my old kit as resos until I could get some $ together and update. I got my coated Ambassadors in today and only had time to put the 13" on but noticed an immediate "clean-up" of the sound from that drum. It gave me the warmer tone I was looking for as well. I read somewhere the other day that one coated and one clear head almost cancel each other out in terms of what each type of head has to offer. Not sure how true that statement is but I am really going to like this combo I do believe. It seems to be at home on big Ludwig drums.
 
Coated Emperors over Coated Ambassadors are a solid choice. I think, beyond just sounding plain good, they also sound like what so many of us have in our mind as the classic rock and roll sound.

I was playing with my tuning a bit yesterday. I removed the front felt strip from the bass drum. Now I just have the batter side felt strip and nothing else. It sounds awesome. It's not as ringy as I imagined it might be. Sounds nice and open. I have been trying to tune my drums to sound great live, and not just sound good "near field", as in, behind my kit. I want them to be open, and a bit more ringy than what I had previously been comfortable with. So far, so good. I think the benefit is much more noticeable when playing live with a band.
 
I have felt strips on both heads and nothing inside. It seems to work well for recording purposes. I think it sounds better to my ear with only one strip but the mic doesn't like it as much.
 
Road Bull said:
Thanks man. Cool. I haven't tried the vintage Emperors yet. That might be on my to do list. So you are thinking about going Tony Williams style? Isn't that what he uses?
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I'm not playing Ludwigs, but I'm a big fan of the coated and clear Vintage Emperor batter heads. Man, they make drums really "boom." Big drums like yours would LOVE them.
 
SgtThump said:
I'm not playing Ludwigs, but I'm a big fan of the coated and clear Vintage Emperor batter heads. Man, they make drums really "boom." Big drums like yours would LOVE them.
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I might have to give those a go next time. They sound interesting.
 
Bull said:
I am thinking about CS over CS for the next head change on my other kit.
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Try the clear dots, as opposed to the black dots. Less of a 'thunk', and a bit 'rounder'.
 
Clear Emps for live sound with little to no PA support are a winner, IMO. I'm in the same boat. For a TINY bit more "liveliness" and sensitivity I prefer the Vintage Clear Emperors as well. Home run with those!
 
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