It seems I am always late to a party. Well...on to other things.

It depends on the kick.

I have 5 kits, all of them Ludwig (well, one of them is a WFL). All of them have 14x22 kicks.

My Vistalite gets an Aquarian SKII batter and a Remo clear Ambassador reso with a 5" port at the 4:00 position.

My stainless steel gets a smooth white Ambassador batter with a felt strip down the side and a ebony Embassador reso with a 5" port at the 4:00 position.

My '67 Classic (white interior) gets a clear Emperor batter with a felt strip down the side and a smooth white Ambassador reso with a 5" port at the 4:00 position.

My '68 Classic (clear interior w/ re-rings) gets a smooth white Emperor batter with felt strip down the side and a smooth white Ambassador reso with a 5" port at the 4:00 position.

My '56 WFL gets a smooth white Remo Emperor batter with a felt strip down the side and a smooth white Aquarian reso (no port) as a reso.

Whew.

Might be a bit pointless, but I'm with Levee Breaker; Don't like muffled heads, felt strips, or pillows; one plies front and back with a rolled up tea towel between the pedal towers, so I can adjust the amount of muffling.

My method: Evans EMAD2 on batter side, smooth white Powerstroke 3 on reso side with a Remo Muff'l ring under it. Nothing inside the drum.

Just finished a couple of festivals this weekend: one in an arena and the other outdoors. I probably saw a dozen different drum kits from the following manufacturers:

DW

Craviotto

Tama

Spaun

Risen

Ludwig

All of them had ports in the front head and all had some variation on the Evans pillow. In most cases the pillow did not touch the batter head and only lightly touched the reso. I saw mostly EMAD, Powerstroke and Superkick II batters in both clear and coated styles. Various different reso heads including two or three Fiberskyn's. The only exception was one drummer that used a second kick to the side that was a 12" x 28" for one song. He had Fiberskyn's front and back with no port. He had some felt taped to the outside of the batter and used a soft "bomber" style beater. He used it effectively for one song.

Every kick drum I heard sounded great. The various engineers dealt with them differently and came up with various different sounds that worked with their respective sounds. There were two bands that used a house rental kit and were at the mercy of the festival engineer. They were the least stellar, but I am certain the engineer would have been in big trouble if there were no port. He had maybe five minutes to get the entire drum kit sound together.

Whatever heads and muffling tactics, it's a two-man process for me.

I kick, and VTM2000 listens from the reso side....

And vice-versa....

Somewhere in the next 30 minutes we come to a conclusion, and there she stays

TRASHY GARAGE ROCK? READ ON: Whether its my slingy 24"s or my Lud Rock duo 20"s, I've been going for "Bonhamesque" bass sound with a nod to jazz such as The Bad Plus, Benevento, Billy Martin etc.. This achieves a powerful, room filling, dick shakin, boogie woogie, rock n roll sound. It's got thump, dirty thunder, and a bit of trashy paper. I use either Coated Ambassadors, batter and reso unported with felt strips (real wool mind you, slug perc.) and no other muffling OR the batter may be a Coated Powerstroke3 (with felt only on reso of course). The reso may be a fiberskyn type ambassador (i have a remo legacy which is pre-fiberskyn). I have ported an ambassador and still used a felt strip (and tried the ported head with no felt, not too good) and that gets a similar tone and sustain as unported heads and maintains a good feel, not too tight, not too much play. A blend of the best characteristics of ported/unported holes: the sound of unported with playability of ported....and no ***** ass complaining from lousy sound techs. However the unported sound/method has been makeing a comeback in the rock venues.

I am not a fan of Aquarian SKs or emads or any severely pre dampened head. The superkicks deliver just "one sound" with almost no regard to how you tune it. I've pepsi challenged the sk1 vs sk2 on the same drum and found minimal to no sound difference. But, if that is the sound you want, then Aquarian gives you a great guarantee. Although one time I did hear/play a Coated Sk2 (they DO exist!) and it wasnt bad. I wouldn't buy it, but gave it a gentleman's nod. Emads eventually develop a "buzz" from the foam not seating in the ring properly or if the plastic ring cracks...eww.Lame

But then again I don't want a clean, precise, attacky sound. I think the trashy garage rock sound you mentioned works with the above.

Having recorded in the mid 60's and played all through them and more on 14x20's i always used coated ambassadors with a felt strip on each head 3 inches in from bearing edge i use tape to hold the felt tight till the head is on and tight then tune them up much tighter than you think they should be more so on the front head then adjust the batter till you get just the sound you want....they mic up just fine with NO holes in them...and they sound killer..

For years I just played various heads for batters and various ported heads on the front, mostly for look, along with a big blanket inside. But then I discovered the Remo muffle ring (don't remember the exact name of this product) with the plastic sleeve and the inserted foam - actually has a sleeve that goes on the shell edge - replacing the head's contact with the edge. Eventually I retired this as I discovered it muffled too much, and not to mention, that plastic sleeve cracked up and broke apart.

Then I discovered the Aquarian Superkick I. I have since stuck with this and have been very happy with it.

However, it was about 2 years ago - my world changed again - when I bought an MIJ from a guy on CL. It is a thin 3 ply with rerings and is 15x20, yes 15, not 14. I thought that was the big difference, but then I experimented with another MIJ kick I have had since '86 - which is a 14x20.

The big difference - was the wooden hoops. This was a huge discovery for me.[SIZE="4"] I since have used this exact head setup for all my kits since then:

Batter: Aquarian SKI

Reso: Evans smooth white EQ3 or EQ4.

Muffling: nothing but a piece of carpet sitting inside the shell - about 18 inches long, not touching either head.

Not to mention - going with wood hoops on everything here on out.....which is indeed an added cost, but it is also significant added sound quality and improved looks. I hate metal hoops now. [/SIZE]

John

From the Master:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga8Q12mKYxI[/ame]

This is how I've ben tuning bass drums for decades. Works every time. Great sounding drum consistently using this method.

John