I always recommend getting the type of heads that most closely resemble the ones available at the time the drums were built. Ludwig snare drums and tom toms, came equipped with 7.5 mil. coated heads. Remo coated Diplomats fit the bill. Ludwig bass drums came with 10 mil. coated (or smooth) white heads. Remo coated Ambassadors work great.

The best way to muffle the bass drum (if at all) is to add a felt strip to front and/or the batter head -old school style!

However, keep in mind that you will go through Diplomats quickly if you are a hard-hitter. You could also consider using Ambassadors all around and then an Emperor on the bass drum batter with an Ambassador front (or the original logo head if you have it).

:2Cents:

What should I put on the reso side?

You would get the best resonance chamber by matching head to head and tensioning them the same (i.e. Amb/Amb on each tom). The resonant side needs to be the same thickness to maximize vibration. Thickness of the head will of course hit a point where sound waves begin to be inhibited. This can be calculated in relation to the depth and width (i.e. volume) of the chamber and can be demonstrated by A/B'ing identical heads on a 8 inch tom and a 16 inch floor. A floor tom will resonate more freely with a thicker head on the top and bottom whereas a much smaller tom (read much less volume) will actually resonate less. This all has to do with lower frequencies having much larger wave lengths which travel further. Most drummers will refute this and fall into the "thin reso heads are better" group. That simply is not true. A good thickness for a reso head all the way around the kit is about 10mil. This is based on averages. Most drums are within this width and this depth, blah blah blah. So, without having to crunch numbers, you would want to avoid Diplomats as Reso's UNLESS you use Diplomats as a batter. That would be the only exception to that rule because it would follow the same head/same tensioning category. This is based on maximizing resonance. If you don't like those long tones, then all this gets thrown out the window and you just skin the whole kit with Hydraulic heads and rock out like it's 1974. Keep on Pl Hope this helps.

So, what are you thoughts about coated batters and clear resonants? Would it be better to have coated resonants to match the weight of the batters? Or, would the muffling of the coating outweigh the mass-matching benefit? Just curious, because you obviously have an opinion on this topic. :)

Yes, I would agree with the statement about using Diplomats on both ends of the drums -based upon the weight of the heads that Ludwig used back in those days.

I also agree that larger drums and lower tensions work "better" with a thicker head. This is also the point at which things start to get subjective, though. In fact, by trying different combinations of weights and textures of drumheads, you will get lots of slightly different variants of sound that can only be interpreted individually.

Often, vintage drums had good, but not always "great" bearing edges. A thin head like a Diplomat conformed to these bearing edges better and created a better head-to-edge connection.

Another thing is that sometimes, vintage drums that are wrapped are slightly "over-sized" and not all brands of drumheads are as forgiving when it comes to fitting over the shell. Remo tends to have a slightly wider diameter and a slightly deeper shoulder. That really helps when it comes to getting the most authentic vintage sound. Ludwig's original Weathermaster heads were slightly over-sized in comparison to some others, too.

Plus, Diplomats, Ambassadors and Emperors are readily available and aren't going to disappear when the next fad comes along.:2Cents:+:2Cents::p

Oddly enough, I really don't have an opinion on this. Fact is, I actually don't follow this. All of this tripe is just wave propagation theory. It's something I'm intimately familiar with and have studied for many years. That's all there is to that. Yes, I've done the calculations on this and yes it does make a difference. BUT...as most all drummers have noted, the sound and feel of drumheads is subjective. That's the human variable. When that variable is added to any equation, the outcome is unpredictable and the entire process is invalidated. I posted this stuff to give a baseline upon which one can begin to make choices. Myself, I use three different brand heads on a kit (Evans, Aquarian, and Remo). I also use combinations of thick and thin and clear and frosted and coated. It all depends on the drum, the room, the kit, and the music. In other words - there ain't no standard for me. I'm my own worst enemy where science and art meet. My degree is in science and yet I'm a musician. Go figure. I'm teaching History and Math this year. Looking to teach science again next year. Here's hoping.

Thanks I'm open to more opinion's but I think I'm almost to the point where I know what I will use.

Or....you could go for pinstripes for it to be more like 1978....Laughing H