Coated Heads

[13drummer]

Right so my kit is starting to look like she needs new heads. I'm sick and tired of my clear tom heads and I'm very likely to buy all coated heads, including snare. I have an extra bass head already so thats out of the way.

I was wondering what the best, or among the best, coated heads are to use.
Remo, Evans, etc?






13

[kay-gee]

Stick with Remo. All around best sounding heads and the most available.

all the best...

[Kjbakke2]

agreed remo for the win
except for the emad single ply bass head
its super durable
and i love the sound of it

i like an emperor for my snare because they are two ply i hit really hard and they really take a beating
but ambassadors are good too

and you may want to go with controlled sounds for the toms
i really love my clear pinstripes though

but yah remo is the way to go
they are just much more durable and more sonically pleasing to me

[pastor_bob]

If you want an open, but warm sound, go with Remo Ambassadors.

[totti]

I agreed Remo still da best...

And anyway I want to change mine soon...with Remo Ambassador^^...

-cheers-

[13drummer]

Now for a deeper sound, which is best?

[Kjbakke2]

whats your definition of deeper??

[backtodrum]

Although I have Remo heads on my kit with the exception of my snare drums. My 402 has a Remo coated Emporer and my maple hooped PDP LX snare has an Aquarian vintage coated. Over all I am a Remo user, but I have to say that the Aquarian coating is holding up hands down better than the Remo. So when it comes to coated heads I am seriously considering a change. Both heads were put on at about the same time and I play each I would say about equally.

[Beave]

I have used alot of the remo and evans heads, however i just played on a kit with some coated evans ec2 heads and they sound better than any head ive heard. That will be my next set for sure. They have a nice sound to them, i have evans hydraulic on my kit now and they are very deep, the ec2 werent as deep but had a smoother yet still deep tone to them.

[koopa]

this is a tough decision for me to as I like both Remo and Evans. I've had Evans G1's on my vintage ludwig toms and they are fantastic. I also like some evans coated heads on snares too but I usually go with a coated emperor. I'd say give the Evans a try on your toms.

Oh and btw are you familiar with Remo's SMOOTH WHITE (NON-COATED) drum heads? I have them on my natural finish Pearl MMX toms and love them. They are a half way point between the sound of clear heads and the sound of coated white heads.

http://www.remo.com/portal/products/...oth_white.html


One of the main deciding factors should be....how deep do I want my toms to sound? Because typically you won't get as much depth out of a coated head as a clear head but you will get more warmth. Are you looking for that low / full tom sound that works really well for hard rock / metal / r&b / hip hop / etc.

On the other hand, if your playing music that requires more intricate expression of tone like jazz, latin music, some rock / some funk, etc. then go with a coated head or a smooth white.

[pastor_bob]

13, if I have it all straight in my head, I believe the clear heads are the most open, while the coated heads will warm up the tone. Having said that, and I will use Remo heads for comparison, but this should also apply to any manufacturer's heads.

The Ambassadors are single ply and will be very open (the Diplomat is thinner and would be ever more open as a batter, but they are typically used as a reso head). The Emperors are a 2 ply head, and that will deepen thier tone some, and yet the tone should still be more open than the Pinstripe heads which would control the overtones and deepen the tone (giving that '70's "fat" sound. Of course the hydraulic heads would give an even deeper "thud" sound to the drums.

I honestly did not know that Evans EC heads came with coating, and I really don't know if Remo Pinstripes come with coating, but coating of heads with always warm up whatever tone is there without the coating.

I hope this helps, and if I am off anywhere guys, please correct any mistake that I made.

[Beave]

here is a link the the coasted EC2 heads.

[koopa]

13, if I have it all straight in my head, I believe the clear heads are the most open, while the coated heads will warm up the tone. Having said that, and I will use Remo heads for comparison, but this should also apply to any manufacturer's heads.

The Ambassadors are single ply and will be very open (the Diplomat is thinner and would be ever more open as a batter, but they are typically used as a reso head). The Emperors are a 2 ply head, and that will deepen thier tone some, and yet the tone should still be more open than the Pinstripe heads which would control the overtones and deepen the tone (giving that '70's "fat" sound. Of course the hydraulic heads would give an even deeper "thud" sound to the drums.

I honestly did not know that Evans EC heads came with coating, and I really don't know if Remo Pinstripes come with coating, but coating of heads with always warm up whatever tone is there without the coating.

I hope this helps, and if I am off anywhere guys, please correct any mistake that I made.

I had hydraulic heads on my DW kit for a long time
They were interesting to say the least.
I mainly liked them because they were blue hydraulic and looked great with the drum kits finish as long as they were new and not covered in stick marks.

I heard Evans EC Coated heads on a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau Kit and they sounded impressive. Reminded me of a Pearl Reference drum kit but with less projection. Speaking of which, if I ever sell one of my MMX's, the Reference line is where I'm headed next.



ALL REMO COATED HEADS - Including pinstripe

[backtodrum]

13, if I have it all straight in my head, I believe the clear heads are the most open, while the coated heads will warm up the tone. Having said that, and I will use Remo heads for comparison, but this should also apply to any manufacturer's heads.

The Ambassadors are single ply and will be very open (the Diplomat is thinner and would be ever more open as a batter, but they are typically used as a reso head). The Emperors are a 2 ply head, and that will deepen thier tone some, and yet the tone should still be more open than the Pinstripe heads which would control the overtones and deepen the tone (giving that '70's "fat" sound. Of course the hydraulic heads would give an even deeper "thud" sound to the drums.

I honestly did not know that Evans EC heads came with coating, and I really don't know if Remo Pinstripes come with coating, but coating of heads with always warm up whatever tone is there without the coating.

I hope this helps, and if I am off anywhere guys, please correct any mistake that I made.

PB you are correct in your head analysis and the other drum head manufactures other than Remo offer similar products. The hydraulic heads are marketed by Evans and were real popular in the seventies. They sounded real good on the concert tom era drums (single headed). They are entirely to thick and dead sounding for my taste now. If you are familiar with the Eagle's recordings in the seventies, that is what they sound like on concert tom drums. Another sound bite would be Phil Collin's single headed Greatch drums that he still plays today. Steve Gadd playing the Hustle is also a good sound bite to refelct on the sound made famous by evans hydraulic heads and concert toms.

[backtodrum]

I don't know that Phil collins uses Even's heads. But I am pretty sure he still uses the concert tom Kit that he has for year's! That's his sound, I would hate it if he changed now!

[pastor_bob]

I like Phil Collins, and his sound. As I have understood more things, I just assumed that his sound was just EQed to what you hear on the recordings. What you say makes sense though, because it really is a fat sound!

[13drummer]

I'm going for more of an alternative/metal tom sound. I'm not much of a pinstripe person, but hey, I could change. The drummer for the band, Breaking Benjamin(thats right RD, I brought em' back), has the best tom sound I've ever heard. Here's a link to their myspace. http://www.myspace.com/breakingbenjamin

The songs "Breath" and "So Cold" have great tom sound. Drummer's name is Chad Szeliga if you wannt check him out.

[backtodrum]

Sorry 13, my computer sound system sounds like an old AM car radio so I can't determine what his tom sound is, wether it is heads or recording EQ that is making them the best tom sound that you have heard. I'll wait until I get home to give it a listen on my home computer to see if I can help.

[13drummer]

Alright thanks.

[Yom]

If you're going for a deep, low, warm tom sound then I definitely recommend the Evans Hydraulics.

They come in clear (well, blue) or coated Black.

[funkymcstain]

i was a coated ambassador user forever, tried evans g1s a couple years ago and love em. they seem to have more focus, and are just a little less open than the ambs. but more open than coated emperors. they sound like a mix of the two.
the coating is definatly more durable than the remos. i also have an evans j1 on a maple pearl snare i bought just to try and really like it. it is just as advertised...a great jazz head.

i'm just not a fan of most self muffling 2 ply heads (or muffled at all). to me pinstripes, hydraulics, ec2 are just overkill on a nice kit. they can however improve a cheap beginner kit. i have to say i liked the ec2s on an accrylic kit i played recently.

[backtodrum]

I am going to have to give them a try if you say they are in between the Ambassador and the Emporer. are the clear G1's the same way as those stated above?

[funkymcstain]

i havnt tried the clear g1 as a batter. i imagine it is more open.

[koopa]

i was a coated ambassador user forever, tried evans g1s a couple years ago and love em. they seem to have more focus, and are just a little less open than the ambs. but more open than coated emperors. they sound like a mix of the two.
the coating is definatly more durable than the remos. i also have an evans j1 on a maple pearl snare i bought just to try and really like it. it is just as advertised...a great jazz head.

i'm just not a fan of most self muffling 2 ply heads (or muffled at all). to me pinstripes, hydraulics, ec2 are just overkill on a nice kit. they can however improve a cheap beginner kit. i have to say i liked the ec2s on an accrylic kit i played recently.

I've got evans g1 coated heads on my vintage ludwig and they sound just as funky is describing. nice heads....
btw I just checked and I have remo clear ambassadors on the bottom side of the ludwig toms. I'm a bit surprised myself that I went with a slightly thicker head on the bottom but these drums sound amazingly tonal. they may lack a bit of projection but the tone can't be beat.