That may be a tossup. My intuition is to put the heavier or warmer/darker heads on the batter side. In this case, I believe the Renaissance Ambassador, while the same thickness as the regular coated Ambassador, has a heavier coating, or at least a coating that is supposed to impart a warmer sound. In this situation, I'd put the liveliest head on the reso side. So, Renaissance batter, regular coated reso. Of course, you could be pleasantly surprised by doing the opposite. Experimenting with heads is such a hassle, but it's an invaluable learning experience.

I might be wrong, I but my impression was that Renaissance heads were actually a bit lighter than coated Ambassadors. They're marketed as being warmer-sounding, so you'd expect them to have a heavier coating, but from what I can tell they're actually not coated heads -- the plastic itself is "textured."

I had a Renaissance come with a tom I picked up recently, and it seemed lighter than a standard coated Ambassador. I doubt it makes much difference in the end, but given that they're technically not coated heads, they may be just a touch lighter.

Either way, I agree with Leedwig: experimentation is the name of the game! Try 'em on both sides and see what you like. As you know, trying out new heads can be a drag, but when you find the configuration you love, it's magic.

Let us know your results!

So Section2, do the Renaissance heads have a hazy appearance instead of a white texture coating? Your description of them is making me curious about trying some of them. I don't think I've ever played any.

Thanks a lot!!! Just what I need - another round of expensive, time-consuming head experimentation!!! :)

Yeah, they've got a hazy, yellowish appearance. They're translucent and feel a bit lighter to me. I haven't finished rewrapping the drum, so I haven't had a chance to lay into that head and see how it feels. If you experiment with them, let me know how it goes!

I've never played a Super Classic, but just about the best drum sound I've ever heard came from Michael Shrieve's champagne sparkle Super Classic set during his drum solo at Woodstock. Not sure which heads he was using, but if I had a Super Classic, those would be the heads I'd choose. :)

I'd have to guess either coated Ambassadors or Emperors. I'm leaning more toward Ambassador.

That's one of the biggest challenges for drummers I think, especially if you don't have the luxury to have your own sound guy or drum tech, which I'm guessing most of us don't. When my guitar player gets to a gig and he isn't pleased with the sound of his guitar, he fixes it easily with the tone controls on the amp and guitar. When you set up to play and your drums, which sounded so good in the rehearsal space, don't sound the way you want, there's often not much you can do. Most of the situations I play in don't afford me the option to really tweak my tuning. It all depends on the venue and the stage, whether you're miced or unmiced. Sometimes my kit sounds sub-par, other times it sounds great. I think different stages actually make my drums FEEL different when I play them, which may sound crazy. Not to mention, the audience out front usually hears something completely different than what you hear. Then sometimes a sound man may have his own idea of how your drums should sound out front. For instance, I play my drums wide open and it bugs the heck out of almost every sound man. What they may describe as "ringy" or "too many overtones" I would describe as resonant. At a recent gig the sound man actually said to me:

"Hey man. Do you really tune your bass drum like that on purpose? Cause if it was me, I'd tune it totally different."

Then, after my set, a good drumming buddy who knows a lot about gear and sound and so on, came up to me and says "Man. Something about your kick drum tonight sounded so good!"

So, with drums, there are just sooooo many variables that you're up against in a live setting. I usually just go by what sounds good in my rehearsal space. It's not realistic for me to change heads and tuning for a particular gig.

Don't sweat the small stuff, a damn good snare, ride, and hats seem to make a kit sound good almost everywhere.

That's a very good point. A couple of years after I traded up from my luan beginner's kit to my beloved round badge Gretsch (a nice change, I can tell you! :)), I played a gig with some other bands. Someone else was in charge of bringing the drums, and lo -- it was my old luan set! They were horrible drums. But I brought my snare and my cymbals. Between that and the effects of miking the toms and bass, I'm sure it sounded great out front. (The physical drums, that is. The drumming itself may have been less than stellar. :))

Gone has nailed it again. Depending on the venue & what I'm playing, I'll use the same kit with anything from a 13 X 3 Piccolo to a 15 X 8 concert snare. I use the same process for ride & hats.