Good question and I don't have many answers but....... the 13" RK shell I'm doing over is a original duco paint drum. I have a old Remo PS that's snug on the bare shell. And yesterday I trial fit a new Evans G2 on the same shell with a piece of wrap in place also. Seems the Evans G2 I have has a little more wiggle room than the old Remo. I bought Evans heads for the whole kit and they all fit nicely.

That sounds like good 'anecdotal' research to me. I wish I would have read that before I sent it back to Precision to have the trim the wrap -- ah well.

The Aquarians are SOLD as heads that have a larger diameter. I had the same snug fit with them as the Remos, so I assumed it was the wrap...

I'll try some Evans in the near future...

I have a 1966 Gretsch round badge

never really had any problems getting Ambassadors on them ...they are slightly snug....but they go on

Evans go on about the same....I tried G1s on them recently and got a similar result as the Remos

I know there was a time when Gretsch constructed their shells ever so slightly larger just so the Perma-Tone heads would be the ideal choice for players of Gretsch

but I have not run into any problems

I have only tried Remo and Evans on them though

Aquarian American Vintage heads are slightly larger than their other heads. The Aquarian Modern Vintage heads are the same size as other Aquarian heads.

I have the Aquarian heads on the RB, and the Leedy Slingerland snare. They both fit...but I thought the Evans story was kind of interesting.

So....

Not all drums are exactly the 7/8's diameter we're led to believe. Every drum is a bit off from that figure, some more, some less. So head fit will vary. Plus taking into the mix new wrap (which is thicker) vs old wrap (thin acetate) effects head fit.

I've found Evan's heads are slightly over-sized. REMO heads lately seem to be getting smaller. I've compared an old REMO head (20 yo) with a new one, there is a difference in the width of the U channel, the newer being wider, so it would create a smaller inner diameter.

Try a REMO crimp-lock head instead of the U Channel.

JR -- The "crimp lock" head is new. I think Attack uses that as a technique, but I didn't know Remo did...and if they do, is it called a special name??

No they call them crimp lock heads too, they've had them for years, it's just most drum shops only buy/order the U Channel heads.

Just did a search of the remo site, and a general search. The only crimplock heads for drumset are Emperor Renaissance heads. The others are for marching or conga.

But I think those might make good snare batters... I don't know if the surface has much texture...

Who might have a line on these?