FYI Here are two!

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html (The Drum Tuning Bible)

http://www.drumdojo.com/magazine/edition/Tuning-Drums.htm

That's exactly how I tune my drums. I use coated Remo ambassadors on top and bottom and tune both heads to the same pitch, with each drum a fourth apart. I kind of try to mimic Joe Morello's sound, or maybe that of Mitch Mitchell. Head selection is key. In my experience, you're not going to get a great vintage sound using modern, clear, super thick, two-ply heads with oil in them or lots of muffling. I'd go with thinner heads, maybe even diplomats. I've heard the new Remo Vintage Ambassadors are great, but haven't tried them. I've also found that using smaller sticks helps approximate a more "vintage" sound. If you can splurge, there's always calfskin heads, but my budget isn't allowing that.

Oh, and as what method I use? Tons of practice and trial and error. Find a great drum sound you love on record, then try to replicate it. Tuning drums is really time consuming, especially when you are trying to get a specific sound, but it's worth the effort. I've spent many a Sunday afternoon just sitting in the floor with my toms and a drum key tuning and retuning.

jonnistix- Thanks for the links. Cant wait to get into them.

Leedwig- yeah thats the sound. I just put new ambassador clear on bottom and smooth diplomats on batter side. I heard there are 3 stages where toms are most resonant. I guess I'm looking for the highest. Any idea what note would be for th 13"? or where you have yours?

I can find the fourth down from there.

Thanks!

Kudos to Ludwig-Dude for stoking the dank embers of my failing memory. He reminded me of a very important point about these old Ludwig kits. You need to use thinner heads and they need to be tensioned tighter than modern drums. I had forgotten this over the years. Also, Leedwig is correct.

I found through much experimentation (read - LOTS) that the Remo amb batter and Ludwig Medium reso work the best for me. That Ludwig Medium is slightly thinner than the amb and slightly thicker than the dip. It just fits it nicely. If you go too thin, it will kill the resonance of the drum. There are other threads devoted to this wave physics phenom.

I tension these drums a bit higher than a modern kit and they sing nicely.

I also use 7a sticks ... and others in that range. It just feels right on the kits.

I have headed a couple of kits with calf and will absolutely praise the feel and sound. If you can afford them, get them. They will change your approach to that particular kit. I have two kits I keep calf on and I keep mylar on the others. Unreal difference. Every time I sit behind a kit with calf, I play differently. There's just something that touches the depths. It will pull out of you things you haven't thought about playing in years. Unreal.

I second MCJNIC's recommendation on the Ludwig Medium. I had my kit outfitted with all Ludwig Medium coated heads for a while and they sounded really good. Right now I have all Remo, but I can't say for sure which I like better. Very comparable in my opinion.

As for a specific note, if you have a guitar handy, and it's tuned to a standard tuning, my 13" tom is closest to plucking the open D string (the third largest string) with the FT being close to an A (the second largest string). The bass sounds like it's almost exactly tuned to the D below that - I think that's a fifth lower than the FT. So, D - A - D, from top down (easy to remember huh?) I think having the bass drum tuned about a fifth lower gives a nice, musical sounding kit. I play a 22, 13, 16 kit and I think this tuning sounds great.

The only muffling I use is one felt strip on both bass drum heads. The bass drum is still plenty resonant though. And the toms just sing. With higher tunings, you need to make sure the heads are in tune with themselves, with even tension at each lug point, or you'll get some nasty ringy overtones.

Good luck. Hope my insight helps. Oh, and with new heads, my drums usually take some time to really come into their own. After maybe 6 - 8 hours of good playing, it seems like the drums really start to sound better. I guess the heads maybe take some time to form to and really settle into the bearing edge. I also treat my bearing edges (usually whenever I change a head) with a light coat of Mr. Zogs Sex Was (used for surfboards) to help things along. And it smells really good!

The rounded bearing edges mean you have to tune them a little bit higher to get a good sound. Modern drums have a sharper edge, which means you can tune them JAW, and they'll usually sound good...

Is Mr. Zogs sex wax like the stuff they sell at the grocery store for canning? The name escapes me right now.

Parrafin!

Yes. I believe it's a mixture of paraffin and beeswax. It's sold in little round cakes, about the size and shape of a hockey puck.