For slightly used heads, troll ebay. I have seen sets for way cheap, used by studio or tour group for a show or two, and then replaced. Not all sets may include all the correct sizes I need at the time, but will need the for another set later.

I would agree that cheap heads may cause you to loose sonically what you might have gained in restoring any kit. Having said that, I am going to take a shot at Adams Percussion heads for the reso's on a kit I am restoring this week for a friend's son. List price on a 12" is $8.99 and dealer cost is next to nothing. I'll see how they work out and report back. I cannot find them on line though.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Remo Encore heads. The 14" are usually available for around $7-8 as an Ambassador clone. They are the same material as Remo's California made line , with just slightly different hoops. There are even really good pinstripes, which I use on a lot of my inexpensive refurbs for bass and some tom batters.

In fact, I did some side by side comparisons, with Remo, Remo Encore and Evans, in as close a comparative formulation as I could do, on the exact same 12" toms. I did the hitting and 2 others did the blind listening. On that particular drum the Encores were judged #1 by both listeners. They are a really good buy in heads.

I agree , though , that putting gently used heads on a kit ---especially the resos, is the best way. People are very partial to their own choice in heads and you can bend over backwards and spend a lot to make a kit sound as good as you can , sell it and have the buyer strip all the heads and replace them. I have one customer, who likes "used ambassadors", so I sold him a snare and put this gently used ambassador on---it had a good layer of stick rash but no dents----probably been played for about a month. Nope; he swapped it out---apparently he had a head that had the correct usage on it???

Are they still making those? I can't find anyone selling them right now.

Well, I haven't purchased any for a while, so I can't say for sure. The last time I ordered some from Remo, I ordered a bunch, in order to have them when I needed them but I do recall that it took them a while to fill the order. The bass drum heads were back ordered for about 2 months. I will check and let you know.

According to the current published catalogue from my distributor, the answer is yes. Encores are an odd duck. I don't think the Remo website mentions them. They probably don't want anyone using them because they are too cheap and the performance too good, relative to the cost. My distributor lists them separately in the catalogue, far away from Remo. There is no mention of Remo in fact. They are just sold as Encore. Perhaps they buy them direct from Taiwan and not through Remo, I don't really know. They come in Diplomat, Ambassador,Pinstripe and Powerstroke 3.

But I will check further.

I didn't see anyone mention the place where I have been ordering heads, drumfactory direct.

They have very good prices on Evans heads.

Example, EQ3 22" head $38.95 at Musicians Friend, only $28.34 at drumfactory direct.

Orders over $99 ship for free.

I have no affiliation with them, I am only a customer.

Yes indeed!! They have great prices on Evans heads adn everything they sell. Nice to deal with too. My son is a D'Addarrio dealer and used to get a VERY nice break on Evans heads. But they raised the % on him last year and it's quite a bit more on everything than it was. With his discount now it's about the same price as DrumFactoryDirect. He's a guitar builder/repair/restoration guy and because he's not a high volume dealer on strings and things he got whacked with the increase. Kinda sucks but it is what it is as they say.

Another happy DrumFactoryDirect customer.

Creighton

I remember calculating drumheads price at $10 per head any size and $25 for bass heads at K&K music in sacramento. Prices were actually about 7.50 to 13.50. In the end it all evened out. You made some extra money on 6"-13" and lost some on 14"-18"

And sticks were all $5.00 EXCEPT pro mark oak and Vic Firth signature models.

Those were the days.