Remo's coating... Did they make changes recently?

[SgtThump]

I love the sound of coated Remo's, but like several others on here, the coating was wearing off very, very quickly. I know this sounds made up, but I've put many new coated Remo heads on my drums the past several years and 99% of the time, the coating would wear away where the stick hits within MINUTES of playing. Yes, MINUTES.

Jump forward to this last batch. I just bought a set of coated Vintage Emperors and am shocked at how nice the coating still looks after WEEKS of playing.

The new set does have the new logos. I'm seriously wondering if they made some big changes that makes this coating last TONS longer? Maybe the batches I had before were bad, not sure.

But man, this is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Stroman]

I love the sound of coated Remo's, but like several others on here, the coating was wearing off very, very quickly. I know this sounds made up, but I've put many new coated Remo heads on my drums the past several years and 99% of the time, the coating would wear away where the stick hits within MINUTES of playing. Yes, MINUTES.

Jump forward to this last batch. I just bought a set of coated Vintage Emperors and am shocked at how nice the coating still looks after WEEKS of playing.

The new set does have the new logos. I'm seriously wondering if they made some big changes that makes this coating last TONS longer? Maybe the batches I had before were bad, not sure.

But man, this is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad you like them! I have no idea if they've made changes or not, but I never had too much of a problem with the coating wearing off, anyway.

If it has been improved, all the better!

 

[mikyok]

I noticed the coating on Remos got really bad around 06/07, snare heads would last about 3 weeks. I'm not a heavy hitter either.

I'm finding they're a mixed bag at the moment. Had a set of coated Emperors on my Ludwig for months and they sounded amazing and kept that played in sound. Ambassadors are rubbish for keeping coating but are great for studio snare heads.

Unfortunately I put a vintage coated Emperor on my 402 and the coating started coming off in minutes which is a bit of a head scratcher as it's heavier than a bog standard Emp.

Evans coated heads are the most durable. G1 coateds are good all round heads.

 

[Bull]

I have had that problem with regular Coated Emperors and Coated CS but never with Vintage Emps,which I have been using for several years.

 

[JosephDAqui]

I was making this same point with band members. I have a round badge Gretsch snare that I use ALL the time, with a coated emp from the early 90's, it has NOT worn at all and I hit really hard. In comparison, I have a newer Musashi snare with a coated emp that I bought early last year. After a few weeks of playing there are several spots where the coating is gone.

I was thinking of sending pics and a small description like this to Remo (now i think I will), what is going on with them?

 

[SgtThump]

It really does seem to be inconsistent, given everyone else's experience too. I'm not sure how it could be that inconsistent, to be honest.

I wonder if it could have to do with sticks, cymbal cleaner, etc... Other things like that not directly related to the coating itself. Hm...

 

[Bull]

Could it be something to do with the drying process? I think Vintage Emperors are a different mylar,as well.

 

[opentune]

I was making this same point with band members. I have a round badge Gretsch snare that I use ALL the time, with a coated emp from the early 90's, it has NOT worn at all and I hit really hard.

So, you have not changed your snare head for 20 years?!
Or you have a head you bought in early 90's that you are only using now?
either one is kind of amazing.

 

[JosephDAqui]

So, you have not changed your snare head for 20 years?!
Or you have a head you bought in early 90's that you are only using now?
either one is kind of amazing.

It's true, I have not changed this head since the early 90's. I keep waiting for it to break but it won't - this sometimes keeps me on edge at gigs and I certainly have to have a backup with me.

It really is amazing, i guess they truly made better things better back then.

 

[opentune]

but Joseph.... what about how stretched or dished out the head might be, after playing and tuning for 20 years? It has been in tension a long, long time.

I'm sure there is some worn in nuance or attribute about its sound that you like.

 

[SEA]

The last couple of Controlled Sound heads I use have lost a section of the coating here I hit within 10 minutes of playing. This latest head I put on has had the dot come loose after about an hour of playing, and I'm not a particularly hard hitter. Great heads, but this is a slight bummer.

 

[Midnite Zephyr]

Those vintage Emps sound interesting. I might try them next time. I just changed out the 2 y.o. coated Emps on my tom batters with new coated Emps. They were still in pretty good shape. No dents, no salsa bowls. The coating was a little worn off, especially the 13 and the 12. The 16 floor Tom not so much. The fresh heads sound so much better though. That great tone is back. It's a learning experience. The old heads were OK, but lost that warmth you get from a fresh head.

 

[gdmoore28]

This must be an intermittent problem. Like a previous poster, I got some Ambassador and Emperor heads prior to 2010 that had problems with the coating chipping off. Since that change of heads it has never happened again.

All the major manufacturers should have representatives watching these forums so they can address problems like this.

GeeDeeEmm

 

[Curly Haired Drummer]

The last couple of Controlled Sound heads I use have lost a section of the coating here I hit within 10 minutes of playing. This latest head I put on has had the dot come loose after about an hour of playing, and I'm not a particularly hard hitter. Great heads, but this is a slight bummer.

Tell me about it! The sound from my CSX was great, especially on my new steel black panther, but the coating came off pretty quick, and the adhesive on the dot came loose, but was still stuck on, so it was off-centre. I'm noticing these inconsistencies a lot from Remo, and I've found the Evans coating on my heavyweight (which i replaced my CSX with) way more durable. I may be making a switch to Evans soon, unless Remo raises the bar again.

 

[DW-Doug]

I bought a Remo in the fall and it's loosing coating already, and I don't drum all that much. Ok, heavier and more now than at first. But still, seems pretty quick for coating to be going.

Frankly, the head has not impressed me much sound wise too, unless it's my snares. It is an old Rogers. But I'd try an Evans at this point. and used Remo a long time for main snare. Toms too, and those heads are very old.

Ok, I just want new DW drums, lol. Well... I do.