Ambassador/ambassador with a felt strip on each head for that authentic sound....

Thanks LD. Do you tune res. and bat. to same pitch or res. a little higher?

I'm just looking for a recommended starting point.

I usually tune both heads the same for maximum resonance on the toms, same for the bass drum.

^^^I would agree that's the authentic vintage setup....but one alternative that I've found works well for my Ludwig 20" bass drum, for both sound and feel, is this:

Batter = coated Emperor unmuffled

Resonant = coated Ambassador with felt strip -of center, running vertically

batter head is tuned very loose and resonant head is slightly tighter

I'm a coated Emp on the bass reso, too. I have both (with Ludwig logos) and the Emp has a nicer tone.

Thanks for the input.

MCJNIC, are you saying you have Emperor on the Res and batter? Do you use felt on that set up?

Nope. It gives it a nice deep and open sound. If I'm playing live, the reso swaps to Amb for more sustain.