[COLOR="DarkRed"]Yup...those come up now and again...single-ply vertical-grain luan Japanese shells...they are sort of amazing in some respects, no ?

I mean, as you said, how in the h#ll did that drum survive 50 years ??? I am glad your shell is still in OK shape...Man, I have seen a lotta those sorta shells where the walls of them, in between the rings, are so dang warped because of the lug tensions on 'em that they are beyond salvation.....

New heads might help. A better solution is a recut of the batter edges, to something sharper so there is less contact of the head to the re-ring....it'll allow the head to vibrate a bit more and choke less. But I understand if this isn't viable for you.

You know...Attack heads aren't a bad choice actually. I DO know some players who use 'em and they actually like the openness and liveliness of them.

I was gonna suggest Evans J1 Etched. They are also very lively and open. I think a lively head which might up the resonance of the drum a bit would actually compensate a little for the lack of volume of many '60's MIJ kits....so you are on the right track.

Either the Attacks or J1's are a worthy option.....[/COLOR]

I had all Attack (top and bottom) heads on my new'ish import kit and hated them. These drums have 45 degree bearing edges and the grain runs horizontal on these shells (at least the inner and outer plys) so they are not like a vintage import kit.

That said, I swapped the batters out for Remo coated ambassadors and the sound was much improved.

The Attack batters just made the drums sound thin and too plastic for my taste. The Remo's warmed them up quite a bit and didn't suck the "ring" out of the toms.

That's my take on them anyhow.

:2Cents: I only have one Attack head - on my 18" Slingerland kick.

I only have it cos it was $6 at a music store bargain basement. It's been fine to serve the basic purpose, but doesn't really give me the sound I want. I'd kinda like a Fiberskyn - I think it would be warmer and rounder than the Attack. idk if I'd call the attack 'plastic' , but it's just not as warm as I'd like.

Not to start anything, but the Fiberskyns I've tried have been less than inspiring. I have the amb versions. They are all very very very plasticy sounding and absolutely unresponsive. I've tried them at differing tensions and on different shells. For instance, I tried the 14 on a Luddy floor and a Luddy snare. Both sucked in the sound department. Actually, that's not entirely true. The floor wasn't all that bad. But, the snare was horrible at loose, medium, and tight tensionings. The bass heads KILL the reso and warmth of the bass drum. I love the looks, but it really isn't worth it to me. I may pick up the dip versions and try those on a bass. The12, 13, and 16 kill the toms. So, I guess out of all that I've tried (and that's quite a few) in the amb weight, only one was decent - the 14 - and only on the floor. I realize the reso head makes a difference. I have gone down that road - ad nauseam. Why the 14 and not the 16? Smaller diameter and less air to move. It seems to handle the balance adequately. Still not stellar, though.

If I could suggest:

I've also played several (read most) of the lines from Attack. I have not liked many. They make one bass head that was nice when I played loud rock, but other than that, no go.

NOTE: all heads discussed here are coated.

Remo amb and Ludwig WM heads do quite well. They blend very well with the amb as the batter and the WM as the reso. The reason - the amb is slightly thicker (only by a hair or three) and the WM is about the perfect thickness to allow extended resoance of the heads and shell. You don't want a thin reso because it will actually kill resonance. Seems wrong, but it's correct. You also don't want a head too thick because you would have to push too much air to get it going. The WM seems to be about the perfect thickness to work with the Remo amb heads. They actually work better than twin amb setup. Odd...but true.

Calf does a nice job, too.

Interesting... I must try this.

Well, it's not that a recut is not viable, it's that something is nagging at me telling me not to mess with these. For some reason, I just can't bring myself do it. These drums where built, like all pre-68, to accept a different kind of head. All those single ply heads. Look at what is on them, old Soundmaster single ply heads. I really am thinking it might better suit these drums to have something like Fiberskin, or some of those faux calf skin type heads. I am not familiar with all those look and feel alike animal skin heads. Look at the pre-68 Ludwigs. No one will recut those edges, and then they put a certain type of head on, and they sound great, usually a single ply. Now, this little red rocket, the RK knock off, has 45* edges, factory, and using the proper snare combo heads, it sounds amazing, really. LOUD and PROUD it is. Tunes anyway you like. But all of the blue ones have different thickness shells, and varying edges. The bass is really thick, the tom is quite a bit thinner, and I re-worked the edge on it, it really just neads a new pair of heads and it is ready, the floor tom has 3aply/rings, and the pre-68 Ludwig style edges. I really don't want to mess with it, because I know when it has the proper heads, it will sound huge. So it the bass that I am most perplexed over. I think I will try the Attack. WTH, it's only like 18.00 from SamAsh.com.

I've found Aquarian heads to be a nice option to help the sound of "inferior" drums or those drums with "issues". They seem to have a natural warmth to them that Evans and Remo seem to be lacking....I can't really explain it, you just have to try them. My latest thing I'm using is the texture coated series. Much warmer sounding than Ambassadors and G1's I've found. Although, I may be switching those out in the near future for their vintage series......anyway you look at it you can't go wrong. Check out their website for head options and check out youtube for sound/video clips.....people test these and post them all the time on there. It will give you a basic representation of how they sound, but its best to try them in person side by side with other brands...you will hear a difference.

If you haven't already ordered the bass drum head, you might try to get one that has the 'tone ridge.' I think its the same type of construction as a Remo PS3, and those sound awesome on the Japanese bass drum I have.

I use Attack clear medium heads as resos on my rack and floor tom. They sound good to my ears and were very easy to tune up. As for batter heads, I'm using emporers and ambs. Seems like rack toms like ambs, and floor toms like emporers.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Just as a quick aside, I wouldn't concern myself with negative market repercussions of altering a '60's MIJ drum edge. I know what you mean when you say 'who would do that to a '60's Luddy ?'...but...apples and oranges, here.

The Fiberskyns and the Emperor coateds (and the Aquarian coateds as well, IMHO) are all good heads for a lot of kits...but they will all be too heavy for a thin-ply MIJ vintage set. You need something thinner. I love all of those heads, but they just aren't a good choice on your kit if what you wanna do is increase the volume or liveliness of the kit.

Evans J1's......maybe Remo Diplomat coateds....maybe even Evans G1 coateds....

Tell us what you think of the Attack bass head when you get 'er rigged up.

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