I am going to replace the heads on my 1973 Slingerland Modern Combo. The 3 toms and the snare. What brand do you guys like, Remo, Evans or Other? They all make different ones, thick-thin-coated-uncoated I am confused. I am looking to acheive a mellower sound that is not too sharp. Help2
Replacing Drum Heads
Remo white coated ambassadorstop and bottom for the toms, snare drum Remo ambassador white coated for the top, and hazy for the bottom head, bass drum, if the slingerland front logo head is good use it, if not a remo emperor smooth white on front and a remo powerstroke 3 for the batter head.
Remo, Evans, and Aquarian all make good heads. Personally, I use models from all three because each maker has a few specialty models with no equivalents in the other companies' product lines. In instances where there's a similar head from all three manufacturers, I tend to prefer Evans and Aquarian over Remo. I've just had better luck with their quality control.
My recommendations are similar to vintagemore2000's, but there's no single correct answer. You could ask 10 different people and get 10 different good answers.
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[*] Tom batter: Single-ply coated. I like the Evans G Plus Coated, but the Evans G1 Coated, Aquarian Texture Coated, and Remo Coated Ambassador are all good options. Ludwig's coated medium heads are also very good, but something just seems wrong about putting a Ludwig head on a Slingerland drum.
[*] Tom resonant: Single-ply, clear or coated, medium weight. Options include Evans Genera Resonant, Evans G1, Remo Ambassador, Aquarian Texture Coated, or Aquarian Classic Clear.
[*] Snare batter: There are TONS of options. I prefer the basic single-ply coated. (If you're a heavy hitter, you'll likely want a two-ply head and/or a reinforcing dot.) If you like a wide open sound with some ring to it, the same options as the tom heads work well: Evans G Plus, Evans G1 Coated, Aquarian Texture Coated, or Remo Ambassasor. If you like a little less ring, the Evans Genera coated head is a good choice. It's the same as the G1, but with a thin underlay around the outer edge to dampen the head just a bit.
[*] Snare side: I prefer medium-weight (3 mil) heads like the Evans Hazy 300, Remo Hazy Ambassador, or Aquarian Classic Clear Snare Side. My personal favorite, though, is the Ludwig C1114 Xtra Thin snare side.
[*] Bass batter: I like a few of the pre-muffled heads on the market. I like the sound of the Evans EMAD, but I know some people don't like its damping mechanism. A lot of people seem to swear by Aquarian Super-Kick heads, but I haven't tried one yet. Remo Powerstroke 3's are a popular option, too.
[*] Bass resonant: I'd stick with the original if it's in decent shape. Just something to be said for keeping a classic kit classic. If you need to replace it, though, a single ply medium-weight coated head would look right at home. Evans G1 Coated, Remo Coated Ambassador, or Aquarian Texture Coated. If you want something that lends itself to a shorter thump, the Evans EMAD resonant or Aquarian Regulator are options.
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Thanks a bunch guys, very helpful.
i am a skin head guy. i'm not a skinhead but Mother Nature seems to want to make me one. since i am also a farmer , i can assure you she is not on my side.
i've used calf, goat and deer heads for a lot of years and have found unique applications for each individual head and thickness of head.
i also have a lot of Dresdner sized snaredrums and metric sized toms and basses because i have a lot of European drums.
so , i have tested a lot of heads . Remo makes their heads out of Mylar , mainly but there are other materials used(Kevlar). most heads are mylar , though and it doesn't matter whether they are Evans, Aquarian, Remo, Stabil or whoever the sound of the head is created by the natural resonance of the material used , moderated by the thickness and /or the damping provided by design or construction
all of the drum head mfg. make dozens of formulations, playing off all of the possible parameters,they have come a long way ----the same can be done with skin heads(boar, goat,cow, calf, bull, deer----even moose and bear----double ply , centre spot, split. there isn't really a lot of difference between plastic and skin anymore . i could blindfold 100 people(including drum geeks and a few overblown self styled drum gurus) and load a plastic head onto a drum and load a natural skin head onto the same drum and get almost 100% agreement in reverse accuracy, regarding which was skin and which was plastic.-----the real advantage of skin heads is in playing the heads ; not listening to them. if you contact me and give me some idea of your preferances , i will direct you to the correct style of head, to choose. my referance point is Remo, because I have a collection of custom heads on the same shells and can cross reference easily with variable res. heads. but if you want Evans or Aquarian, it won't be that hard to go that way-----they all have guage and formulation info. available.
50% of your drum (at least) are the heads. ---otherwise Rims or Arbiter Flats kits wouldn't sound like drums-----all the stuff about bearing edges, shell formulation,hardware,stand, snare wires;--- colour the sound of the drum but they don't create it. it's a little like a painter choosing the colour blue but then altering the intensity with more pigment and changing the hue with the addition of a different pigment(yellow for instance).
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