Mitch,Have you ever had an issue with the black plastic receiver ring separating from the head? Some fellow drummers in my area have complained of this...Just curious...Cheers
Hmmm no I haven't had that experience. I imagine the manufacturer would replace it if that happened....but who really knows what anyone's gonna do? :)
I'll take this opportunity to add - the power-stroke3's are darn fine too, and have the bonus of being coated if you like that, which I do...
Mitch
I'm addicted to these Emad batter heads [pic]. Don't need nothing else in or on the BD unless you're going for that 70s thud. There's a round foam dampener ring you can install or remove to taste/situation. Actually the head comes with a thick and a thin foam ring. Sometimes I stick a bed-sheet in there if I really want to kill it.Mitch
I find it strange that guys would use these kind of heads on vintage kits. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a vintage kit. I've bought kits with these sort of heads and found they make the kick sound too modern. That's why I use coated Ambassadors or Emporers, they bring out the natural tone of the drum. These new heads with all the pre-muffling, just diminish that tone. I want that sound I hear on old recirdings.
"That sound" heard on "old recordings" ranges from a wide open boom to a completely muffled thud. Different people own vintage kits for different purposes - look, sound, history....
Mitch
Thanks very much guys for your trusted and interesting points of wisdom here and i respect each and every reply you made.I knew this was a loaded question when i posted it but man...have i ever learned a lot from your answers.I`m old school from the 60`s and appreciate the ambassadors for original heads,but also understand what you`re saying a bout modern muffling heads on vintage bass drums.Guess this will be one of those "it`s all in the ear of the beholder" things...anyway,thanks to all for your opinions and advice and i`m a better muffled drummer for it.
Best,
Wayne
A couple of times I've picked up MIJ 20" bass drums with both factory heads. They're very thin. You get the drum home and clamp on a pedal and it can be sorta mind-blowing. So I'd like to try diplomats front and back on the Club Dates for fun sometime.
Unfortunately it's not like you can just go buy a whack of bass drum heads to try out......:)
Mitch
Mitch I use the Evans EQ series bass heads. Sort of the same as the EMAD except the muffle ring is clear. Seems they keep morphing into new designs. I have a EQ2 and EQ3. Looks like they are on EQ4 now. Think they only come in clear. I thought it was a interesting idea. So I tried them and like them quite a bit. JR has a good point about the vintage sound vs modern. I never thought about that aspect. I do plan to use coated Ambassadors and felt strips on my Rogers kit. I used to get a nice discount on the Evans stuff. So it was the logical choice at the time. I look forward to trying a full set of Remo's again though.
My red kit (20") I use felt on both sides. Batter is an emperor with a high strip horizontally so as to not totally kill the head. Resonant is the original ambassador-ish (seems a bit thinner) logo head I had to cut a hole in. I have a strip also up high behind the logo.
My black kit uses fiberskin heads and I run a high strip on the resonant side but the Batter is wide open. It is also on a riser so the beater hits on center. I like to be able to let it ring if I want to by bouncing the beater and can also choke it burying the beater. That little 18 is unbelievable!
Forgot to mention no pillows or other discarded bedding in these drums. Also no hole in the 18" resonant head. It does have a small vintage style Yamaha logo vinyl sticker.
"That sound" heard on "old recordings" ranges from a wide open boom to a completely muffled thud. Different people own vintage kits for different purposes - look, sound, history.... Mitch
I believe that was a trick McCartney came up with, putting towels over the snare and toms and pillows in the kick. That started in the Beatles later years. It really didn't matter what kind of drums Ringo played in those days, all that muffling killed the natural tone of the drums. Now listen to recordings before say 1966, totally different, the drums were wide open. That little muffling technique carried over into the 70's with many bands, I suppose it made the engineers life much easier not having to deal with unwanted overtones, but it basically made all drums sound the same.
I believe that was a trick McCartney came up with, putting towels over the snare and toms and pillows in the kick. That started in the Beatles later years. It really didn't matter what kind of drums Ringo played in those days, all that muffling killed the natural tone of the drums. Now listen to recordings before say 1966, totally different, the drums were wide open. That little muffling technique carried over into the 70's with many bands, I suppose it made the engineers life much easier not having to deal with unwanted overtones, but it basically made all drums sound the same.
Yes I agree the general kick sound was more consistently boomy in the 60s. Very nice and I like it too.
Sorry for the earlier terse reply, however I don't feel I'm defeating the purpose of having 60s Ludwigs by using the Emad; without the foam ring[s] it isn't really dampened at all. I have two of them, 20" & 22", they're not cheap :) so I have held onto them through a whole bunch of MIJ kits and now Ludwigs. In every case they have made the kicks sing, not at all like the modern kicks I've played in clubs or jam spaces...that's been my experience.
Mitch
No problem, to each his own, I do agree that those kind of heads can make a cheaper kick sound good. I just prefer the feel and sound of coated Ambassadors or Emporers.
