As you said, everyone has a different idea of what sounds good on an old MIJ set. I endorse Evans heads, so I recommend the G1s, but Evans has an abundance of choices. Go to their website and listen to sound samples. I experiment constantly with heads. I like tom heads that give me a warm, fat response, so Ambassadors and G1s generally don't work; they sound too sharp, but they work great on snare drums. Then again, just to prove that all drums are different, my '67 Ludwig toms sounded great with Ambassadors when I got them.

Lately, I've been liking Evans' UV-1 heads on toms. They're on my DW set and sound absolutely amazing. Try one of Evans' reso heads on the bottoms of your toms.

I would steer clear of Evans' Calftone heads. Let's just say that someone I know very well and trust implicitly, recommended I NOT try them! Some jazz guys think they sound like calf, but you can get that kind of sound with other choices that hold up better.

Experiment with heads until you find what works for YOU. What we like really doesn't matter in the long run. It's what you like that counts.

It seems like no one has mentioned bass drum heads. I like a clear Evans EMAD on the batter side, and one of their pre-muffled heads on the front.

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Thanks for the tip on the Evans sight. I'll have to get there sometime today and check out the samples for sure. As I admitted before, I cannot hear much of a difference in some sound comparisons of different heads, but it's probably me, as I'm still developing a drummers ear, so to speak. I might have to try a G1 on my snare though.

I haven't checked out the UV1's yet, but I'll definitely give them a look. Your endorsement means a lot.

Ouch! That's really a shame. But I'm not completely surprised either, given the reviews I've seen. From everything I've read, they seem like they would give me the sound I'm after, and they definitely have a killer vintage look as well. I'm surprised that Evans hasn't fixed the poor durability problem with these heads yet, or even discontinued them by now if they can't. What a shame.

Well said, thank you!:)

I am thoroughly satisfied with my bass drum set-up, which is the Evans EQ4 on the batter side and the Calftone on the front. I get a very nice warm thud with a very small towel inside.

And of course, the Calftone just looks so darn nice in the front.

Finding the right sound is a process, and for me, it's almost never ending. Every drum is different, and if you have multiple sets by multiple manufacturers as many of us here do, it takes a lot of experimentation to achieve your sound-the one in your head. I'm most fussy about toms. Whatever heads I use have to allow the toms to ring at their fullest potential, although I always muffle the floor toms a bit to focus the sound. I once tried Aquarian heads on some toms and they choked the natural ring of the drum so badly on a gig, I changed both batter heads while on break and tossed them into the dumpster out back! I always carry spare heads on gigs.

The problem with experimentation is, it can get costly. My local music store (the one I have been patronizing for like 35 years), always has a stash of slightly used heads, or brand new heads that someone didn't want on a drumset bought at the store. I scored a complete set of heads not long ago for $15. I can easily try heads out for little $$, which is nice, and because I have a deal with Evans, I can try out new model heads at a lower cost.

If you're really into the Calftone heads, buy a couple for your toms and see how you feel about them. You're not gigging the drums, so play them at home and see how they work for you. If there were problems in the past, I'm sure Evans has addressed them. I would try the UV-1s though. They sound great, and were highly recommended by my artist relations rep at Evans.

I've tried and like the Remo Vintage Ambassador's.

They're 10.5 mil (1x7.5 mil, 1x3mil)

The Vintage Emperor's are 15mil (2x7.5)

It's all about trying something different/experimenting to figure out what's good for what you want to hear. So much more I'd like to try.

Well, I know you've all been anxiously awaiting my drumhead decision!:)

After checking out as many drumheads as my head could handle, I decided I would go with the Calftones to get that warm, fat vintage kind of sound, not to mention that lovely vintage look. I'm starting off with only 1 for now and it will likely go on the snare to replace the rather remarkable sounding original Norma snare head. Honestly, it does sound nice. At 14 inches, I can try it on both the snare and the floor tom because they are the same size. I'm only doing one for now to see how it will hold up and to check out the sound of them. I don't for-see any real problems as I am so far, a light to medium hitter.

I am a freak on tuning and sound, which I guess comes from my time as a guitar player, where sound and tuning is critical. So as DrumBob said, I have a sound in my head, and I probably won't rest until I hit it.

Thanks to all for the input, and please keep it coming, it's great to hear everyone's opinions on this subject and its a lot of fun as well! Keep on Pl

I just received my Calftone drum head today from Sweetwater. Super quick shipping!(how do they do that?Mind Blowi)

I have it on my floor tom right now, and so far it is everything I had hoped for. It has that great vintage-style look to it, but more importantly, I love the sound. It has a nice warm thump to it. It is warmer and less sharp than the G1 I replaced it with. On the G1 I was using a full square Wambooka Performance Pad laid completely on the head for resonation control, which sort of deadened the sound quite a bit, but on the Calftone, I am only using the small circle, and not even completely on the head. So the drum head is really alive and almost completely free of any resonance control. I actually think it sounds pretty great without any res control, and I'm sure if I added a Calftone head to the resonance side, it wouldn't need anything at all, and that sound would have to be killer.

If this drum head holds-up and doesn't bubble or delaminate like I've read about in many reviews, I'll be hooking the whole kit up with these for sure.

Just a follow-up to my last post.

After a couple of weeks of steady practice, the Calftone on my floor tom has shown no issues such as delamination. It looks great. Maybe they fixed the problems with this head?

So since it looked and sounded great, I just switched my rack tom to a Calftone, and wow, I love it. Definitely the sound I was hoping for - warm, well rounded with some nice sustain. No res control needed. It's just right.

Now I guess I'll do the snare next, although the G1 has a nice crack to it.