It's tough to go wrong with Emperors. G2s are nice but like to be tuned a little lower. If you're looking for quick decay, you might try a head with some built-in muffling--maybe a Pinstripe? Though I don't know that a Pinstripe would have the kind of attack you're looking for.

Anybody else have any thoughts?

...tuning...take some lessons from Bob Gatzen ( http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bob+gatzen+drum+tuning&aq=1&oq=bob+ga ) and you will learn that most heads can, especially on Ludwig 3 ply drums, make almost any tone you want. (he is an Evans pitcher) Tuned high and tight, jazzy, tuned low and loose, more of that "wet" classic rock tone....so a good single ply head, tuned up or down, with a corresponding res, will get you there, as long as it is a heavy weight. You want really wet? Go with 2 ply hydraulics, then you will get that flat, wet sound. Tune them a bit higher and they will get even more resonance out of the shell, if you like a high, wet sound. Personally, if they are 3 ply shells, you will not get all that much performance from 2 ply heads, but if you use a heavy 1 ply on the res side, you can tune a bit more with them.

IMHO, 2 ply heads don't work as well on older 3 ply Luds as singles, but that is just my opinion...If you are looking for a more modern sound, perhaps a 6 ply, later 70s/early 80s Ludwig kit is in your future. There is a definite sonic difference between them. Then there is the mid-80s 4 ply all maple, and those have a unique ability to tune for either head. Too bad they don't make that EXACT shell today. 4 ply, all maple, no re-rings (unfortunately) and really a good shell. Hard to locate as no one sells them because Ludwig was in a very precarious position in those days and did not sell a lot of them as business was terrible for them right after the move to Monroe.

I highly recommend against using modern-style heads on those drums. What you should do, in my opinion, is try and replicate the style heads that were used back in the day. I use coated Remo Diplomats top and bottom on most all of my vintage kits. The bass drums get Ambassadors. However, many people prefer to use Ambassadors all around because they hold up a little better.

The exception I've made to that rule is to use an Emperor as a batter head on the bass drum. Emps are two-ply heads and they produce fewer high-end overtones.

If you need to mute, then use a little painter's tape here and there.

my 2 cents

I went and looked at Remo Vintage Ambassador heads, 2-ply coated slightly yellow in color. Those look quite a bit better than the Evans G2 coated or the Antiquarian equal. They both are a brilliant white. More than likely I'll use a clear head on the resonant side so you can see into the drum, single ply. Kind of hard to get a feel of these as all the music stores around here have new kits with the manufactures heads on them. On the Hunt!

On my 3 ply luddys i'm using coated ambs on top , clear ambs on the reso (12-14-16) an E-mad 2 on the batter (24 kick) and smooth white ambs on the front.

Sounds killer, (but thats me)

Best of luck

BTW,

ct. emp over amb on the 402

I was helping a friend swap out mid-line factory heads for better ones on a modern kit last night. I'm okay with coated or clear, will even venture into the realm of the reinforcing dot, but normally I'm a single-ply guy. I've played Emperors before but haven't really gotten a sound that seemed open enough for me on old Gretsch, Slingerland, and other vintage sets. Well, on a Gretsch 22" kick it sounded good. But not on the toms ...

Anyway, these new drums with the sharper bearing edge? Geez-o-pete! The Emperors sounded GREAT! Who knew? Wound up having to go with an Ambassador on the 18" floor tom because there was no Emp available, so I was able to hear Emps all around until that tom and it really was apparent how well-suited these particular drums were for two-ply heads.

I sold a good friend in town my Rogers BDP 22,13,16 B'tail Cleve kit recently,with all Remo Ambassadors on the kit,but he wants to put a Emad setup on the BD,different heads on the toms etc......

I was just cringing when he told me that!

Clear heads on drums older than mid 70's throws any vintage vibe out the window. This is just my very biased opinion. I also agree with Gatzen's theory that almost any drum head on almost any drum can be made to sound the way you want it to sound. There is no "talent" knob on a drum. That ability develops with practice.

FYI I have a 1966-67 Slingerland 4N outfit with all original heads top/bottom. The kit sings! Slingerland's tom heads were the equivalent of a Remo Diplomat. I tried Remo's Vintage A heads. Talk about dead! While a coated Ambassador, or Evans coated G1, sound good, there is just something about playing this kit with the original heads. Of course, I know it also has something to do with those original wide round-over bearing edges, which don't take kindly to thicker heads. Even the bass drum has the original heads, with the batter head possessing the original built-in muffler strap and mole-skin patch where the beater hits. I'm happier than a clam in wet sand playing this kit! This is also the kit I need to take over to backbeatkeeper's house so we can trade 4's with his cool Jet outfit! LoLoLoLo