Try an Ambassador or Emperor as these are most likely what the drum was tuned to from the plant. Or maybe a Ludwig snare head. Call Lud and ask them what they suggest? Or email them. That would be where I would start. I have and MIJ 5.5 with an Emperor that has the sound I imagine you seek. Tuned low, it sounds woody and deep, tuned higher, it has some boom, but a dryer sound. Granted, it's not in the same league, but the sound is what you seek, and this may be it. And mine is a single ply that has survived 30ish years to boot! :2Cents:

Depth does not actually change the pitch, it makes it louder.

Although, it helps for resonance and other things, ect.

So, a 15" snare drum would sound much more deep and scary.

But there's always thicker heads, like a Skyntone from Remo.

Not really for hard hitters though. So be careful with them.

One thing might be that your reso head is a bit too tight as well. For a deep sound that bottom head will need to flex and resonate. Although I agree with Jonni's head suggestions - take the heads you currently have on the drum and just tune all the lugs equally (top and bottom) to a level one step down from your usual tuning. Play this and see if that is acceptable to your ears- If it`s not what you like then just begin to slightly tune up one lug at a time, just a quarter turn- until it seems to go into a resonant spot. It might be a slightly uneven tuning the drum needs to ring out.

The other thing is what you hear from above the drum and what the sound man hears from his spot are two different things. You might not only loosen up the tuning a bit, but also loosen the wires slightly, and try putting a cheap REMO O-ring dampener on that batter head- it will lower the pitch and focus the attack of the drum. I have found that those O-rings are really useful little items- help the drums sound musical and controlled, lowering the pitch and just modifying the sound for different rooms.

I bought a set of them for 10$ 10,12,13,14,16 and since then have used those as stencils to cut out many more of them from old heads- useful items. [IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/base_media.jpg[/IMG]

Osaka took the words out of my mouth :D

The absolute BEST tuning method for rocking drums in my opinion is this:

Take the head completley off, repostion it, and tighten the tension rods with your fingers as tight as you can until you can't turn them anymore. Then, one by one, give each lug 1 1/2 turns while pushing down on the head to stretch it and break it in. after that, take a tissue, fold it into a small square, and patch a bit of duct tape on top of it. This will give you resonance, without the dead thump of Dampening Rings. Mike portnoy uses this method, and his drums sound amazing, i'm sure you'll agree.