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New Drumset Stock Drum Heads

Frankster81 - Sun, 10/10/2010 - 18:09 | 971 views

I have bought one drumset in my life time (and I only finished putting it together last February - I had to buy it piece by piece since I am not working) and it's my understanding that many drumsets come with inexpensive drum heads. I have a traditional Ludwig 5-piece set. Before I finished buying the last pieces for the kit (the bass and floor tom) I did buy a pair of stand mounted small toms to at least practice my fills. Those came with Evans G1 batter heads and the resonance heads only have the Ludwig brand name marked on them. The rest of the kit has all heads with only the Ludwig logo on them. I did change out the snare heads on 2 of my 3 snare drums though.

To get to the point (finally), these stocks heads that come with drum sets are often said to be cheap (from what I have read on the internet). I have had my bass drum since February and when finally put a hole in it. I had been playing with a headset on and playing along with CD's. I had turned the beater around from the felt side to the plastic side so it was easier for me to hear. I generally play heel down but because I have blood flow problems in my right leg it is weakened (although the muscle is defintely there). I may have been playing the bass too hard.

Does anybody have any idea who makes heads that have a drum company logo on them? I doubt Ludwig, as an example. make their own heads. I am beginning to think that they are cheap. I'm having a miserable time getting my floor tom to sound right. I have tuned it both by ear and by using a "drum dial".

While I haven't knowenly heard this head being used on a bass drum, I went ahead and ordered via mail order an Evans EMAD 2 bass drum head and a "Clear Evans EQ Bass Drum Patch" to reinforce the impact point a little bit.

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DISARRAY Says Re: New Drumset Stock Drum Heads

Submitted On: Monday, Oct 11, 2010 - 9:26 AM

OK. YOUR BASS DRUM WAS GONNA BREAK ANYWAY WITH THE STOCK HEAD. EMAD 2 IS GOOD CHOICE. GET A REMO FLAMSLAM AND THAT MAY LAST YOU A LIFE THAT WAY EVEN WITH THE PLASTIC BEATER. ALL THE MAJOR BRANDS MAKE THE CORPERATE HEADS BUT MOST US THE CHEAPER VERSONS LIKE MADE IN CHINA REMOS FOR EXAMPLE. AND YOU PAY EXTRA FOR THE LOGO OF THE COMPANY SO IT EQUALS THE SAME PRICE. IF YOUR A HEANY HITTER, THE G1 OR GPLUS(WHAT I SUGGEST) ARE A GREAT HEAD. IF YOU WANT A BUT MORE CONTROLLED SOUND OR ROCK TYPE TOMS, STAY WITH EVANS G2, EC2, OR REMO EMPORER, PINSTRIPES, ETC. YOUR FLOOR TOM IM GONNA GUESS, AS NOT MUCH INFO IS THERE ON WHY IT SOUNDS LIKE POO, HAS STOCK SINGLE PLYS TOO. EVEN ON MY OTHER KIT I USE GPLUS ON, SINGLE PLY, I USE A 2 PLY EC2 AND A THICKER RESO HEAD LIKE A G1. THIS GIVES THE TONAL NOTE WITHOUT RINGING TO TOMORROW. HOPE THIS HELPS AND GLAD YOUR PLAYING. KEITH

Frankster81 Says Re: Re: New Drumset Stock Drum Heads

Submitted On: Monday, Oct 11, 2010 - 2:47 PM

Thanks a lot for your suggestions, Keith. I am suspicious the stock heads may be too thin. Normally I am not a hard hitter but, as I said, I may have been striking the bass drum too hard. I don't have my drums on microphones and I am listening to CD's through a headset that's pretty good at sealing outside noise so I was hitting the head harder than I normally would. I still have the stock head on my 14x6.5 Ludwig snare and it sounds alright. I have a Ludwig 14x5 and I decided to experiment and put a Remo Fiberskyn 3 head on that. I heard it in a soundproof lesson room once on a Mapex set and it sounded pretty interesting. Sounds different in my apartment, though, but it seems pretty durable. I do have a Pacific drums 13x3.5 piccolo snare drum and I changed out the stock head and replaced it with an Evans G1 head. Sounds alright. So many heads, so little time. It's not exactly cheap to try each and every kind. I hope to find a brand that I like and stick with it around the kit (in an effort to keep the sounds between the drums "balanced" in as much as possible).

The Remo Flamslam..that has a familiar ring to it...I will have to look that up. Thanks, again, Keith.