Thanks Mastro

I haven't ventured into calf land before, but as far as Ebay goes, between the price + shipping on the heads I've seen and the fact they are used, I may as well buy new ones. Now, granted, I don't watch them all the time, but that is what I have noticed so far.

I'm thinking that if I ever go calf, that I would try to tuck my own.

I've read your threads on the subject and it is inspiring....

Thanks, man !!

No problem. I've still been meaning to get a new calf head for my snare and do a thread on tucking it. I've been sidetracked with getting a new version of Cubase, a new computer and made a mixer, which when powered with my Summit compressors is the (near) completion of something I've been working on since about 1990.

If you keep your ear to the track you can find calf kick heads cheap, right now 22" are like $60 -75 plus shipping, which I agree is probably better put towards new. If you could pull it all off for $60 or so it might be a good way.

The thing about the calf is partly how it sounds but even more how it makes you feel when you play. As you can tell I'm sold on them. Since I started this musical journey I've constantly been morphing and this is just where I am now. Five years from now I might be convincing everybody to buy Peavey solid state amps!

Has anyone every tried those Earthtones? Goat i think

http://www.earthtoneheads.com/

Yes, I've been using them on my snare for a few years.

I don't like them, as I've mentioned here before for many reasons and won't buy them again because:

* goat sucks compared to calf - it doesn't sound right

* they are on metal hoops you can't retuck - 2 of these heads I have are so low the rim only sticks up 1/16".

* the company, when I talked with them had never tried their products or, from what I gathered, been in the same room as a set of drums (!).

They are better than plastic though, and I have liked the sound with brushes.

I'm using the ultra-cheap (that's my nickname! :) ) Columbia heads from eBay and I love them on my floor toms. They sound great. Maybe I was lucky and got the only two they ever sold that were good, I don't know. They cost around 1/2 of what plastic heads cost, but you need to get wood hoops, I used ones from Jeff Stern and from old heads.

When I called last year to speak about a 'lost' order, a young girl answered the phone. She took the info and then screamed out "DAD! IT'S ABOUT THE DRUMHEADS!" Then a presumably older girl got on the phone and was a bit more professional. She took the info and answered a question or two. Never spoke with 'dad'. Interesting phone call.

Here's what I understand:

Earthtone got into this to supply banjo heads. They get the heads from a company in Brazil, already on hoops. It looks like they bought an old machine from Remo. The heads I have (I bought 3) were very different from each other. To their defense, I did get a free replacement for one I bought that had pin holes (that they should really never have sold).

Earthtone goes through the heads and selects thinner ones and sells them for snare bottoms. They are not slunk and they never had heard of slunk when I talked to them.

I just ordered a pair of snare batters from Columbia. Two for about $35. Always buy heads at least 4" bigger than the drum. I ordered 18" heads for my 14" snares. They sell a pair of 28" heads (would do a 24" kick) for $54 + shipping. They are cheap to ship 'cause they are very light and come in a roll. They don't sell slunkski's.

The Columbia website sells heads in lots of 50, they're ridiculously cheap and they come from (oddly) Columbia, so I keep watching CNN expecting to see Anderson Cooper talking about them getting busted for cocaine smuggling!

Like a custom suit is (should be) better than off-the-shelf, being able to tuck the head for the drum is crucial. I'd tuck a head differently in Hawaii than I would in Tucson. I don't mean that I'd wear a cowboy hat instead of a hula skirt while I was tucking it (heck, I'd wear both - and nothing else!) but if it's going to be muggy, I'd tuck it tighter. It affects how much rim will be protruding in the end.