So, Remo UX heads are thin.

Soupy

Silver Member
How thin? Roughly Diplomat thin. I just measured the thickness of a Mapex Remo UX head, the stock head from my 10" Mydentity tom. There's a small spot where the coating had chipped off, and since the head was due for a replacement, I sliced up the head and measured it with a cheap pair of digital calipers. The coated section measured .009 inches thick, and the section with the coating worn off was .0075-.008 inches thick. So 7.5 to 8 mil thick, about what a Diplomat is, and definitely less than the 10 mil an Abassador/G1 measures.

So it's no wonder those UX heads dent so easily. The UX heads on my toms and matching snare are chock full of dents in the middle; snare and rack toms the most, not really as much the floor toms. On the other hand, I just swapped out a 2+ year old real Remo Ambassador on my Acrolite, and that head was in great shape. Sure, it's dirty, and the coating was worn smooth in the middle, but not dented like the moon, and no chips in the coating. The only reason I had for replacing the head was that I wanted to switch to a G2 on that drum.

So yeah, stock heads suck. Boo to crappy heads on nice drums.

Now to ponder Evans or Aquarian...
 
I don't understand why companies request these garbage heads for their kits either. You'd think they'd want good heads more than saving a couple of bucks profit.

Don't disregard Remo just because they make these, though... so does Evans. Their actual heads are the same quality as the other guys.
 
I left my new Black Panther snare at a friends place a couple of months ago and within 4 days he had managed to dent the ux head it had about 5mm or more, completely taking the coating off the central inches. I replaced it with an Evans g1 and that's much better sounding, can't say I have let my friend rip at it though, so I can't speak for the difference in durability.

As for why they put them on their kits, cheaper, end of story. for example $999 is much more appealing than 1049, even though you'd be adding more $ for better/more durable heads.
 
Do you mean the UT heads? Utter trash?
 
The UX and UT and whatever else aren't their *real* heads, you'd notice a marked quality difference with an Ambassador, G1, or really any head that's not made of bargain plastic.

I can't name any kits that are $999, though, and the $1000 line for pricing is an issue that I could see mattering if there were a lot of kits at that price.

Putting these crap heads on their drums is honestly something I find disrespectful to the customers who wouldn't know any better.
 
There are quite a few areas other than just the heads where manufacturers try to economize or "cheapen" in the construction of their beginners and intermediate kits. From the basic wood used in the shells to the hardware they install on the drums.

Evans also has their economy heads that are seen on many less expensive kits. I believe they say something like "heads made by Evans", talk about coatings that chip.

Dennis
 
There are quite a few areas other than just the heads where manufacturers try to economize or "cheapen" in the construction of their beginners and intermediate kits. From the basic wood used in the shells to the hardware they install on the drums.

I certainly understand that but heads are so easy to replace unlike lower-quality wood (especially on inner plies) and unlike hardware (really only an issue on really low-end whereas these heads propagate through even $1000+ kits).
 
I bought a low-end Sonor kit a while back just because I wanted the cute little 16 inch kick drum. The kit came with UX heads, and they lasted for about 2 seconds of normal playing before they were just covered with dents. Absolute garbage.

Then again, it was a low-end kit. The shells are pretty good, and the mounting hardware seems okay, but the rims are thin junk metal, and the heads are absolutely unplayable in a real-world situation.

But I knew there’d be areas of cheapness when I bought the kit. I mean, it was cheeeeeeeap!

I don’t think you can even buy any UX heads around here, and that’s no surprise because, really, who would want them? But I’m fine with Sonor using them as stock heads on their low-end product. If you’re going to cheap out somewhere, stock heads are the best place to do it, because all heads are inherently disposable. (About those rims though...)
 
I feel ya man. My drum set came with those and they are shit when on the batter side. They don't sound to bad as reso heads tho. Tried those with Coated Ambassadors on the batter and they sound great
 
They put cheap heads on for a reason---they know that anyone who knows what they are doing will replace them with their own preference anyway when they buy them, and noobs will want something to come with their shiny new drums!
 
I have found one great use for these heads. I have an old 5x12 wood snare that I've converted into a drumset timbale, and a Remo UT head turns out to be great for a bright, ringy tone. And if I dent or break it, no big!
 
How thin? Roughly Diplomat thin. I just measured the thickness of a Mapex Remo UX head, the stock head from my 10" Mydentity tom. There's a small spot where the coating had chipped off, and since the head was due for a replacement, I sliced up the head and measured it with a cheap pair of digital calipers. The coated section measured .009 inches thick, and the section with the coating worn off was .0075-.008 inches thick. So 7.5 to 8 mil thick, about what a Diplomat is, and definitely less than the 10 mil an Abassador/G1 measures. So it's no wonder those UX heads dent so easily. The UX heads on my toms and matching snare are chock full of dents in the middle; snare and rack toms the most, not really as much the floor toms. On the other hand, I just swapped out a 2+ year old real Remo Ambassador on my Acrolite, and that head was in great shape. Sure, it's dirty, and the coating was worn smooth in the middle, but not dented like the moon, and no chips in the coating. The only reason I had for replacing the head was that I wanted to switch to a G2 on that drum. So yeah, stock heads suck. Boo to crappy heads on nice drums. Now to ponder Evans or Aquarian...

ah so thats why my drums that i just bought (second hand) sounds super wierd. its remo UX, really wierd dry sound like a fucking cheap drums.. my drum is sonor eXtreme.. i heard the demo with better heads and sounds really good tho, might buy a new one huh?

also.. like u said itssuper thin, do u think if i buy the BATTER only instead of both batter reso (based on my budget), will it sounds better? i mean like GOOD.
 
...it's also a guaranteed eventual purchase of new heads, thereby supporting allied industries. ;)
 
I'd rather that drum manufacturers leave the heads off and reduce the price, Either that or put good heads on straight away.
I would give my vote for a drum kit in kit personally. A bit like the Ludwig Signet. Just good shells, hardware, hoops, screws, bolt, lugs in separate bags, and no stock heads.
I’m sure you could cut the cost of high end kits and it would let people chose their heads and shell pack more easily. And it would gain storage room for the factories.
 
like u said itssuper thin, do u think if i buy the BATTER only instead of both batter reso (based on my budget), will it sounds better? i mean like GOOD.
Not only are they thinner .... they're constructed differently, also. If you can only afford to change out the batter heads, that's better than nothing. Changing the reso's also, would be best.
 
Yes, they are thinner and like harryconway says, they are designed differently. They are much shallower than normal heads, meaning if you put the UX/UC/UT heads on a drum and then put a normal head on a drum, the normal head will come down farther on the drum.
 
I think only high-end kits come with quality heads. Or at least Pearl does (Masters and up come with Ambassadors and/or Emperors). The Vision kit i bought in 2012 had Pearl heads and looked like Pinstripes. I assume Remo made this, but were inferior to the 'real' Pinstripes. Believe the heads also said Remo UT or something like that in a really small print. They felt like a thinner version.

I understand it's about reducing the cost of a new kit (slapping on a knock-off version or the quality heads does make a difference pricewise), but i would want my product to sound as good as possible when it leaves the factory.
 
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