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Thread: Evans Hydraulic Heads

  1. #1

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    Default Evans Hydraulic Heads

    So some of you may remember that I bought a 12" and 14" evans hydraulic heads for my toms from ebay for about £6 for both which i think we will all agree was a complete steal? anyway, I finally got them on my kit last night and heres what I found:

    Firstly, they are so easy to tune, I think evans actually says this on their site but it was as easy to me as tuning a guitar which is great.

    Secondly, when I had my EC2s over EC resos i always got a better sound by tuning the reso head a minor third above the batter rather than tuning both heads to the same pitch but when I did this with the hydraulic heads a got a real flat sound with hardly any resonance at all which is probably where the idea comes from that they give that 'classic 70s sound'. So i tuned both heads to the same pitch and I coudn't believe how much the drums sing when compared to the EC2s, so the questions are -

    1. Do you think it is just that my ear got used to hearing the old flat worn out EC2 head (they were about 8 months old and are used constantly) which meant that the new heads sounded great?

    2. Do you think I was just killing too many overtones with ECs batter and reso and now the drum is being able to breath a bit?

    3. Could it be that the drums I have (the drums, the wood, the bearing edge etc) actually just sound better with more open heads? If so maybe I should look into trying G2s or even G1s?

    Any thoughts much appreciated.
    Mike.

    "If men are from Mars, and Women are from venus then drummers... are from Pluto!" - Hughie (as played by the amazing Billy Connolly) taken from the film 'Still Crazy'.

    "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering" - Brandon Lee

    http://www.jerzeystreetband.com
    http://www.myspace.com/jerzeystband
    http://www.facebook.com/jerzeystreetband

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Well you didn't leave much thought left for us to work with here. LOL.

    To summarize, you will find that many different head combinations will result in very different tonal combinations. You are wise to experiment with every type of head. The problem lies in the expense and the time to swap out each head, tune it and then play it long enough to enjoy the new tones.

    But as your ears get more accustomed to different tones from different drums with different heads, you start to lock in on how you expect your kit to sound.

    It's a long never ending journey to say the least.

    Enjoy!
    Signature here

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Cheers Bish - this is my problem really, I have been playing for years but have never had any lessons and only really started taking the drumming seriously about 2 years ago. I have never had the money to buy what I want when it comes to heads so this is the beginning of it all I guess.
    Mike.

    "If men are from Mars, and Women are from venus then drummers... are from Pluto!" - Hughie (as played by the amazing Billy Connolly) taken from the film 'Still Crazy'.

    "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering" - Brandon Lee

    http://www.jerzeystreetband.com
    http://www.myspace.com/jerzeystband
    http://www.facebook.com/jerzeystreetband

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Yes to all. The varying degree of plys used on reso heads will allow you to control the amount of resonace you think sounds good. If you think you're getting too much resonace and sustain try a 1 ply clear reso head which will give you a short attack and quick decay. The oil between the plys in the hydraulic heads is the dampening solution for the batter and works best in my opinion with 1 ply clear reso heads.

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Welll, my opinion would be that you replaced old heads with new ones which will have a fresher sound regardless of type. The Hydraulics are not designed to be as open as the EC2s so if they are resonating more than your old heads, it seems logical that is due to the others simply being old. Also your tuning choices would have an effect.

    On EVAN's scale, the Hydraulics are at the short end on the sustain scale, designed and marketed to have a short sustain. My suggestion to you is to try a 2-ply clear or coated head over clear single-ply next go round. Hear what your drums sound like with that open combo. You can dampen as needed by adding moon gel. Find your optimum tone (listen from the audience side of the kit) and see how open you really like your drums to sound. Future head selection can then be based on your findings. For an even more open sound, try the EVANS G-Plus or REMO Ambassador X coated heads. They sound wonderful but you may lose some articulation when playing faster passages.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Some great advice there guys, thank you, I kinda knew Hydraulics were at the 'shorter sustain' side of things which is where the confusion set in when they sounded more open. So as a general rule does more ply mean more resonance? until you start adding oil, and in built 'zero rings' etc?
    Mike.

    "If men are from Mars, and Women are from venus then drummers... are from Pluto!" - Hughie (as played by the amazing Billy Connolly) taken from the film 'Still Crazy'.

    "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering" - Brandon Lee

    http://www.jerzeystreetband.com
    http://www.myspace.com/jerzeystband
    http://www.facebook.com/jerzeystreetband

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Yes, more mass that vibrates, more resonace.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    That's why I sugessted the thicker G-Plus or Ambaasador X. They are thick single ply...yummy resonance but some potential loss of articulation from my experience. Playing fast 16th notes on a single drum tends to sound a bit like a tympani roll rather than staccato notes.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    Thanks again guys, yeah xsabers I really think I will try the g2s over g1s and I think I'll get the coated G2s to add a bit more warmth, alot of the drummers I love and the drummers who are in bands in similar genres to my band have coated heads so I think thats the way to go, at least then I am closer to trying most of the heads that evans produces even though there are way more combinations to try.
    Mike.

    "If men are from Mars, and Women are from venus then drummers... are from Pluto!" - Hughie (as played by the amazing Billy Connolly) taken from the film 'Still Crazy'.

    "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering" - Brandon Lee

    http://www.jerzeystreetband.com
    http://www.myspace.com/jerzeystband
    http://www.facebook.com/jerzeystreetband

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Evans Hydraulic Heads

    I find the Evan Hydraulic kind of thuddy. Great for country! (70's and 80's country)

    all the best...

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