Coated Diplomats top and bottom on all my vintage Ludwig kits' snares and toms. Bass drums get a smooth white Ambassador or a coated Ambassador. That's the closest weights/styles to the original Ludwig Weathermaster heads that would have come on the drums when they were brand new. Lots of people prefer Ambassadors on the snares and toms and then go with an Emperor on the bass drum batter head and an Ambassador for the front head. I will re-use old heads in good shape as much as possible. I use them for the resonant heads. Bass drum muffling comes via a felt strip mounted slightly off-center and running vertically either on the front head or the batter head or both (rarely).

The general rule for determining the right heads has to do with two things:

-Bearing edge profile

-Size of the drum shell

A rounded bearing edge creates the warm sound, but a head that's too thick won't react with that type of edge very well. It will create a duller sound. Thin heads will resonate better when played lightly. If you hit thin heads too much, though, they will overload. Thus, modern players of vintage drums often prefer a little more whackability! ;)

The size of the drum shell coincides with the weight. The larger the diameter of the drum, the greater the need for more a heavier weight head. Some people who play really big kits will occasionally use light heads for the upper toms and then gradually increase the weights as the diameters increase. Big floor toms like 15", 16", 18" and 20" toms would get Emperors or something similar.

That's just one school of thought and a general rule that I was taught, though. Your own ears will be the final judge. Experimentation!

and one other thing...

-The type of material the drum is made from!

* and probably a bunch of other junk. What do I know? heh heh!Party

I prefer coated ambassadors to coated emperors on my 12 and 14 toms. Vice versa for my 13 and 16 toms. Clear ambassador resonant heads all around. Coated ambassadors, emperors and even Fibreskyns for the 22" bass drum. EMAD for the 20" bass drum.

...just my preferences, after much experimentation...

I was interested in doing this for the very reason O-Lugs suggests. I went with coated Dips top and bottom for the 12" rack and 14" floor toms on my old Whitehall kit and used it live for the first time with them this weekend. For the gigs I use that set with I work mostly with brushes or Hot Rods. I thought they sounded great and so did a fellow drummer in the audience. I had tuned 'em wide open, reso heads a hair lower than batters.

I haven't tried them but they get good reviews here on the forum. They're also less expensive than the major brands, which is helpful if you want to experiment. I'm told that they also have a generous collar, which helps them fit on the older oversized drums.

A note of caution: "medium" Ludwig Weathermasters are about the same weight as Diplomats, and "heavy" Luddies are about the same weight as Ambassadors. (You'd think the mediums would be akin to Ambassadors, but it ain't so.)

My Club Dates are wearing Aquarian American Vintage heads, medium weight, on the toms. I love them. They sound a bit like Ambassadors, but warmer. The bass has an old Ludwig silver dot on the batter and a new stock Ludwig script logo head on the reso, with just a felt strip for muffling. I'd always been a two-ply guy when it came to bass batters, but this setup sounds gorgeous.

I just put coasted ambassadors all around my 60's club date top and bottom.

I notice the bass drum metal part of the head is maybe a little too large for my 20" bass.

Anyone else with that issue?

Drums in pic

the original heads are far the best, due to manufacture of original materials..verses to much stretch of today’s plasticity

Coated Dilomats are what I prefer on my 3-ply Ludwig drums. I also use coated Ambassadors on bass drums and other drums, too, occasionally. For one thing, Ambassadors are readily available in most music stores across the country, so if you're on the road and need to get one, then you can usually find one. Diplomats are easy to find if you need a 14" size but they are usually special-order when you want to do the whole kit. I just prefer them because they are thinner and thus conform to the rounder edges better, making it easier to get a nice tone. Plus, they sing at low volumes and are awesome for brushwork -most of my gigs required this type of playing.

*EDIT - Yeah, IF you can get some NOS Weathermaster heads or ones that are in good shape, then they are the best by far!!