Remo vs Evans

[luv4congas]

Just getting some of my congas ready for the rainy season so I'm trying different synthetic heads. Right now I have one drum with a Remo Nuskyn F4S1 and one with for the first time an Evans. The Remo sounds great, crisp slaps with little over tones, feel and sounds very close to real skin. The Evans, well .... feels thinner than the remo, it has something called a tri center that supposed to remove overtones but i can here overtone coming from the Evans even when i hit the other drums. As I was tuning it per the instructions the side were collapsing leaving small dent along one side. I think for the rest I'll go with the Remos.
L4C

[PHROGGE]

Remo Nu Skins....Hip Hip Hooray....

[Gretschhead]

I had some evans on a set of LP Classics, I also had alot of overtone ringing problems. I've used Nuskyn before aswell and I agree it seemed thicker and better quality, but the slick feel was a turn off to me. Remo Fiberskyns are the only synthetic I like.

[Jski90]

Remo all the way.

[bongobro]

L4C, I have a NuSkyn on my Poncho Sanchez tumba and, like Gretschhead, I've noticed the "slick" feel when I'm playin'. It doesn't bother me too much since I don't play the tumba as often as I do the quinto and conga in my church set. I do like the sound it makes--very deep, very "ballsy" (pardon my French), and it anchors the two CPs (with the LP "hand picked" skin heads) with its bass...

I have played FiberSkyns on bongos and congas (and you may remember my review on them elsewhere). They actually seem a bit slicker than the NuSkyns, but on the bongos they really crack (the sound, not the head! ) when I've slapped them or tightened them up with my thumb for higher notes. They sound awesome!

Must admit the only Evans conga heads I've played are the ones on the LP Compact bongos and congas. They feel okay but they seem to be extremely sensitive to even slight tuning changes; the ones I've played always seem to be about two notes higher than what I like, but that's because they were display units at Guitar Center. I don't really think the GC I hang out at has a guy who really knows how to tune congas and bongos, but if they were properly tuned, I would like them a lot better!

I'd say it's a toss-up...ya pays your money and you takes your chance...

[luv4congas]

Bongobro,
It's good to hear you got your new heads for your CP's. Hand Picks......wow! How do they sound? Are you happy? Whats cool is you'll probably never see another CP conga with hand picks on them.......... Coooool!
L4C

[Jerry Bembe]

I personally do not care for the Evans heads but this is a personal taste thing.

I love all of the REMO conga heads but they have specific uses. (again just my opinion)

Fiberskyn has a crisper sharper attack
Nuskyn has a fuller tone with a warm bass tone
Skyndeep is somewhat in the middle

Ideally I would use:

Fiberskyn for 9" - 11 3/4" congas
Nuskyn for 11 3/4" and larger
Skyndeep is an all purpose head

I have heard Nuskyn sound good on smaller drums and Fiberskyn on 12 1/2" Tumbas can work too. Often I need to tune these heads to be a perfect match for the drum by dampening the head.

Enjoy Drumming

[danoboy]

Hey, Guys,
Newbie here.

This thread may have the answer to my question about conga sound. I had a set of LP Classic which sound OK (don't have the best technique, so part is on my end).

Why is it that I can go to the church congas (I think also LP, don't know the model) and my tone sounds a lot nicer (richer)? Is there a head that does have that effect? (maybe thinner).

Thanks!
Dan

[Little Scotty]

I've had bad experiences with Evans heads; the perforations blow out. They are not suitable for serious playing. When it comes to synth heads, I prefer Remo "tucked" Nuskyn (for use with my LP Originals 11",11.75, 12.5") I really like the FiberSkyn and use them on Bongo, however the coating is beginning to peel away..they are notorious for that. All it takes is a tiny scratch on the coating, and it's all over..too bad as the heads are less than a year old. Remo is aware of this, hence the Skyndeep version; you can get close to the FS sound without the peeling. The SkynDeep (to my ears/hands) are just barely OK for a Quinto (kinda thin sounding) and way too thin for Conga and Tumba, even worse on a larger Super-Tumba. They howl and create wild overtones and it's worse when amplified at a club. I still use the stock LP Hand Picked heads..mostly for recording. My wood drums are Toca Traditional, One 10", One 11" Two 11.75" and Two 12.5". All with the stock Toca heads. These are decent sounding drums right out of the box, for the price; Four bolt side-plates and the shells have a nice belly. I own a set of 3 Toca Custom Deluxe as well, and well...they are for sale.

Enjoy.
LS