"Back in the day" most drummers used felt strips to muffle their kick drums. Usually these would be placed on the batter side but you would also find them on the redo side. A lot of guys here still do the same thing. I generally do not simply because I have never liked the looks of a felt strip and I kinda don't care for messing with them when installing a head. Many of the newer model reso heads do include a dampening ring. In most cases this ring is an additional piece of plastic substrate (like a permanently installed Aquarian Studio Ring) and not a foam piece. All the major manufacturers have one or more versions of this.

I recently put an SK2 on my 20" late 60s Slingerland. When I put it on, it has a large hole in the reso head. I was able to tune it to get a decent boom, but it really came alive when I put a new reso (white Aquarian Classic Clear) head with no hole on it.

I have used Aquarian exclusively for about 10 years. I have found that I really like the Response 2 (like a G2 or Emperor), the Studio X (single ply with a thin ring adhered to the underside to control ring) and the vintage series heads on toms. The Performance 2 is great on a kit that will be mic'd all the time - they don't ring much at all and are very punchy and make small drums sound bigger than what they are.

They have an arsenal of different snare heads. I use the TC (texcture coated - same as coated G1 or Ambassador) on most of my snares, but have used the TCPD (texture coated with power dot) and the Focus X with Power Dot (it's like a Powerstroke 3). I have also used the Force 1 bass drum head, which is also like a Powerstroke 3).

Also, I have had heads on the snare of my practice kit (which typically gets 3+ hours of use almost every week) last about a year before a fair amount of coating wore off. Check out their website, they have a lot of heads to choose from.

I hope some of this helps you!

Lynn

About 10 years ago I put the Aquarian SKII on a Tama Rockstar set I had at the time. Bought the bass pack with the reso side with a precut hole. Put nothing inside at all. One of the best bass drum sounds I ever obtained!! Several sound men complimented the sound as well. They couldnt believe the sound I was getting out of a Rockstar!!