That is way cool, how much would you charge to do one for me?

Can I ask where you obtained the Columbia Skin (and cost, if you wish to divulge that)? I recently acquired a 13" vintage snare that really should have calfskin heads. Your pictures make it look like tucking heads is something I would enjoy trying. Thanks

lucky - thanks but I'm not really in the business of that... I don't consider myself that good at it. It's not that hard to do if you don't mind doing stuff with your hands.

GG Vintage - these are the ones I got:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Two-New-18-Dia-Natural-Calf-Skin-Heads-1st-Quality_W0QQitemZ250444816369QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a4fac9ff1

Columbia heads are, for sure, cheap heads. Rebeats and Jeff Stern have the good stuff. But I just tried the snare and it's got the sound. Is it as good as a primo calf head? Common sense will tell you it couldn't be. Is it preferable to a plastic head? My ear says yes. This head was pretty thin, like a Remo Diplomat. It's a bit too rough. Maybe I was wrong putting the hair side facing out? I did a speil here: http://musicmusicmusic.cn/calfsnareheadpg1.html I'm going to try sanding it a bit today. It sounds really good with a small soft cloth muffling part of it - it has a sweet "CHUCK" sound. Here's what I've found: with plastic, there's always a bit of the sound that sounds actually horrible but it doesn't matter much when the band gets going. With calf there absolutely nothing in the sound that hurts my ear.

MastroSnare: the tucking tool your using is that the one you made out of a spoon???

This is great, I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on trying to tuck a skin or two.

I'm seeing skins at their website.... how about the hoops ?

What are the differences in a flesh hoop and others?

Can I use old flesh hoops to re-tuck a new skin on?

Yeah kev, me too, the price of new ones is a little scarry. It looks kind of easy, did you put any type of glue on it? You mentioned natural hide glue but no pics of applying it.

Yes, using an old Russian technique:

http://musicmusicmusic.cn/calfheadspg3.html

I got some new flesh hoops from Jeff Stern and I got others from old broken calf heads - just soak the head and it comes right off. I got a few by taking 15" flesh hoops and cutting them down. There's lots of 15" ones from marching drums out there cheap 'cause nobody wants them. I don't like metal hoops because they introduce a foreign harmonic, they aren't as easy to custom-size to a drum and they don't become "one" with the wood and the skin like wood does. It's a preference thing. Metal hoops will not warp like wood ones can. I have one or two on my set and it's not that big a deal.

I didn't add any.

There is natural hide glue in a head. That is in part what keeps the head on the hoop. When the head gets wet it activates it. I did think of adding some because this last head felt like it had next to none. When you soak a head it will get sticky. If you soak it too long, and especially if you use hot water, you can deplete the natural hide glue that is in a head.

I have a dog who has not so good teeth, so I soak his doggie chews in water to soften them, and they get real sticky - the hide glue is coming out. That is, in part, what keeps those dog chews rolled up, and also because they dry like that. Those same two principles happen in a drum head.

I played the head today - I love the stick sound. I sanded it lightly with 220 grit and then after some playing it's starting to sound better with brushes. A lot of heads sound weird with brushes until you play them for a few gigs.

I also like that I made the collar on the last head real small so the rims stick way up sort of like Gretsch ones. I love the feel of that for rim shots.

I sanded the edges of the wood hoop before I put the head on and I think next time I will leave them more right angled (less sanding) as that will hold the head better I think. When I sanded the head I didn't sand the outside 1/2" or so, kinda like organic pinstripes.

The shipping from the Columbia folks was insane fast. I ordered it one day (they're in New Jersey) and the next day it was in Honolulu and the day after that it was at my house. It's taken me 10 days to get a CD from Kauai!

So far I've got 4 heads from them and they've all been good. Maybe I've just been lucky. The heads are a bit more "open" in the surface than some brand name heads I've had. I suspect they are from the belly or sides of the cattle. The floor tom heads I did sound very good but vary in tuning more than the other heads I have. So please don't blame me if you get some and they suck!

One of my dogs went up to my Supra and started licking the head while it was drying... IT'S BACON! I have no doubt that he would eat it.

MastroSnare, Brother I have gone to school with you on the calf heads, should i call you professor, also will you take a pic of the tucking tool again, and what to do on making one??? now thanks to you and ludwig-dude, i have another freakn project!!, but i really do thank the both of you!!!!D' DrummerClapping Happy2