You could go to a fiberskyn 3 if you want darker tones. They come in ambassador and diplomat and also powerstroke 3 weights. I dig them tuned up to a medium tight for toms.

Gary

JSdrums:

I understand what you mean when you say you are looking for Something "deeper, darker." On my big ole Star kit, I use Remo Black Chrome on all of my drums except my main snare and bass. Even my popcorn snare and 12 inch piccolo with snares off. I have always like a deep resonating tom sound and these heads seem to work. Who knows? In a month, I may try something different. I like to think "outside the box" and may try something else. Best of luck in your quest, sir!!!

Brian

I

For a sound just slightly darker than AMbys, you could try Amby X, or Evans Gplus/G12.

Best get just one 12" first next time ;)

I would describe Ludwig Heavy Coated heads almost exactly as a "deeper, darker" Coated Ambassador. Not "completely different," but certainly a different flavor. They're not ubiquitous by any stretch of the imagination, but they're worth special ordering, IMO.

You can't go wrong with coated Ambassador. They sound great on drums! Simple, classic, perfect!

Emperor Strikes Back thus Emperors go on the Back or Bottom of the drum as they Strike Back or resonant well. I see what you did there. ;)

After watching many Carlie Watts videos, I put Remo Control Sound Reverse Dots on a set of vintage drums and I am very happy with that as an alternative sound. Drums are open but more deep punch at a similar tension. I bought one 12 to test and was happy so I completed the set. Clear thin reso on bottom with these.

Before this I also tried Muffling rings, Moongels, Emperors. I now how two similar but different sounding kits.

My two cents

Maybe, just maybe...... Its pricey but how about treating yourself to a set of modern Calf Skin heads? Could be interesting. Theres a few small companies around the globe doing it these days.

I went with the Emperors and got just about what I was looking for. Those CS reverse coated may wind up on there in the future, sounds interesting! Switching heads and getting different sounds has to be one of the top things I like about the instrument!

Yeah, Remo Emperors (or Aquarian Response 2's, or Evans G2) would probably make you happier than Pinstripes or Performance II's, but you said you were pleased with the sound of your Ambassadors and just wanted to try something different.

Thing is, from where you are now, which is a single-ply head, the only way to go is varying levels of increased muffling.

The big 3 (or is it big 2.5?) all have (in order of brightness) single 10 mil heads, followed by two 7 mil ply heads, followed by two 10 mil ply heads, followed by two 7 mil ply heads with a ring of adhesive around the outer perimeter (the Pinstripe and Performance II).

These all come in the usual variety of coated or clear, with the big 2 offering different textures and colors of mylar. Also you can get drums with "power dots," which is a second layer of film attached via adhesive and provides a certain amount of damping; I am not sure how much in relation to the 2-ply and edge-sealed 2-ply heads.

For ultimate thudsville, Evans has its oil-filled heads.

If you're already at the top of the overtone totem pole, there's nowhere to go but down. Anything thicker than an Ambassador is just going to sound deader than what you have.

My personal taste is for Pinstripes, which is less common in the vintage drum world, but I like the way they sound and I get compliments on the sound of my kit from other musicians. Some purists think that Pinstripes don't let vintage drums properly sing, but vintage drums usually came with felt dampers that were intended to do what my Pinstripes do except Pinstripes do it without making the head response feel weird.

One thing you might try that would sound different, perhaps with more overtones, is using clear Ambassadors (or their equivalents in Aquarian or Evans).