Thanks for that post SlingerLynn. I have never tried an Aquarian head either but I'm going to on my next snare change thanks to your post. I'm not cheap but frugal and hate wasting money. Great tip!

-Doug

Here's my :2Cents:

Like many of us, I was a Remo guy for decades. While I did use Evans heads, I use them more now, thanks to he Level 360 concept. These were the only heads that would fit my 1994 Slingerland kit. And, yes, the Evans logo is getting a bit out of hand in regards to size! But, so is Remo! What ever happened to the nice size Remo logo from the 70's? Why do the manufactures feel that their logos need to be so big?!!

-Mark

That is true! I get the Aquarian resonant bass drum heads in video gloss white and use my wife's fingernail polish remover and remove the logo. I know some forum members and a local drummer friend of mine have used acetone to remove logos from coated heads. I don't know if I'd try that on a coated Evans head, though. I've heard their coating is water-based. While that seems a little ridiculous, the coated G2 that is on the floor tom I mentioned in my previous post feels sticky when I rest my hand on it. So, who knows.

If you decide to try Aquarian, please PM me and let me know how you like them.

Lynn

You're very welcome! I hope you like them. They have a huge selection of heads...and you may have to order what you want because no one carries the full line. Check their website out, they have a comparison chart of what the Remo or Evans equivalent of their heads are...to give you an idea of what you'll like.

I agree, when I buy a coated head, I expect/hope to play a head with coating on it for a while...not one with a clear spot in the center after a few weeks. I will say this, I had one Aquarian head that the coating flaked off pretty quickly on, but that was only one out of dozens over the years. Also, if you have a problem, call Aquarian, Roy Burns loves to hear feedback and has even sent me a new set of heads before when I had wrinkling issues with a set of Super 2s (the only issue I've ever had in 14 years of using Aquarian).

When you try them, please PM me and let me know whether you like them or not.

Lynn

Yes, I love the small crown logo! Aquarian's old logo was fairly plain, just a small rectangle with AQUARIAN and the model written inside, but it was small and neat. Everything has gotten huge lately...except Aquarian's American and Modern Vintage heads.

I haven't tried the Level 360 heads. How does the coating hold up?

Lynn

Remo guy here. I tried aquarian early on and didn't like the feel of them. They seemed cheap to me. I'm sure they have changed but I'm sticking with what I know and trust.

With regards to coating, Ive had some Remos last forever- the coating gets ground into the Mylar it seems- and others where is started flaking off pretty early, exposing the clear head.

I think the vintage style Remos have a smaller logo. It is a bit large but they want to be seen in those YouTube videos...

Bass drums is an area where I experiment with heads and I have used the aquarian super kick and been happy with it. I run Evans eq3 resonant heads on the blue kit. The be bop kit has some fiber skin heads. And I've run pin stripes as batters and currently run a powerstroke 3 Batter. My red kit has a coated emperor Batter.

At one time I only used Aquarian heads. They moved their production out of the USA and I switched to Remos (Coated Ambassador batters on toms, coated Emperor on snare).

Evans tom heads have too attack for my taste.

However, their emad resonant and batter bass head combos sound the best for my 24-in kicks and I've tried powerstrokes and superkicks. I usually don't use the foam ring on the batter head because it falls out and sounds better without it.

Until something "really" revolutionary shows up.... Vintage A's (which are coated of course).. for all batters on the snare's and toms....

"Whatever" for each of those reso's as long as uniform.

For me, Emad batter's on 22" and 24 " kicks seem so easy to set up and do draw lots of positive comments...

Cheers

John

I'm kinda surprised so many of you put Emads on your kick drums, coated Ambassadors or Emporers with a felt strip is the only way to go with vintage gear.

I've used Evans for years. In fact, my Rogers kit has been wearing the same Evans heads for about 18 years now (granted, they were hardly ever played for about a decade). G2 clear batters and G1 clear resos on the toms, G1 coated on the snare (and Remo Diplomat snare side). On the kick I use an EQ3 batter (completely disagree that vintage kits have to use vintage heads), and I just switched from a white Ambassador with mic port on the reso side to a black Aquarian with no mic port. The Aquarian could use a felt strip or something to dampen it; it's a little too ringy.

I'm old school and like the way vintage kick drums respond to thinner heads with minimal muffling. I've used an Emad and some of the other pre muffled kick heads, but I find that they make the kick sound too modern. I prefer that nice open sound. I do put a small port hole on the resonant side, mainly to keep peace with the sound guys.

Speaking of "revolutionary," have you tried the new Evans UV1 heads? The coating is attached to the drum head with some UV system that Evans is touting as revolutionary. I bought UV1 heads for my 12/16/20 Rogers kit and the matching wood Dyna and I was really surprised with how much I liked the heads. I've always had ambassadors on the Rogers kit, but the UV1 seems much more durable than the ambassadors ever did.

The UV1's don't peel/flake off either, and there are no stick marks, so they stay nice and white no matter how long you've used them. I've always loved Remo, but I was quite surprised by these new heads from Evans. Maybe it's me being a young'n still willing to try new stuff against what's considered the best, but I recommend giving the heads a shot for sure. Plus, I like the logo Evans has on the UV1, not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as Remo, but it's much more simplistic than their ugly oval logo. I think it looks good on my Dynasonic.

Dig it: http://uv1.evansdrumheads.com/

Luke