Remember, most drummers back in the day knew how to tuck (and re-tuck) their own calf heads. It's not that difficult to do...you basically adjust the wood flesh hoop to custom fit whatever drum it's going on, and then it fits perfectly. At cymbalholic, Andy Watson did an incredible tutorial on re-tucking calf heads, with great photos and instructions. Might be worth a try.

I sent the heads back to Rob today as per his request. I also sent him another old 16 calf head I had recently purchased. It seemed like the thing to do. He's so on top of his game. He's going to check these heads against his drums and figure out what's up. I'm still working to get all the heads to keep this one alive. I sincerely believe these questions are within several of us. I'll do my best to video the findings and add a bit more info to this.

At $47.00 it is really not much more than a good Evans or Aquarian.

I have a good friend who is an Aquarian endorser and he gets them for cost for me when I need heads.....its nice to know someone, you know? LOL!

Always good to have friends in the business, any business!

Re: tucking:

http://vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=768

Michael, all the calf heads I have fit quite snug (my Slingy is a bit oversized and has the original calf heads). ANyway, if you dampen the heads, this will allow them to stretch easily, and they'll slide right down on the drum. The flesh hoop is in contact with the shell, which I suppose could choke it, but the drums on which I have them sound fantastic!

I watched the video that was posted and the flesh hoop doesn't even fit over the shell, nevermind being tight. Dampening the heads in ths case will do nothing for him. (and yes I know you mean moisten them with water ;p )

Just spoke with Mr. Cook. He checked the heads and then sent them off to the "tucker guy" with a note. The "tucker guy" confirmed that there was a run of undersized flesh hoops that got away. Anyway, they are being corrected on larger diameter flesh hoops as we speak (type) and will be at my door in a week or so. Excellent service. If you had any question about who to purchase your skins through, well...I don't. Rob has taken very good care of me. When they come in I'll continue this fun.

For those interested, I've posted the first of many videos on calfskin tone on Vintage drums. It's on my YouTube site. I'm reluctant to post the vids here due to the "LOOK AT ME" factor. It's a bit humbling and a bit uncomfortable to have those types of vids here. If you want to hear some calf on a Mutant Ludwig Downbeat type setup, either go to my site or search out "Vintage Ludwig Jazz Drum Kit Restoration - Calfskin Heads" and check 'em out. As usual, I tune low. Using calf on the 12 and 14 with Ludwig Weathermaster resos. Still waiting for the Earthtone heads to put on as resos. Also, the snare and bass use the Fiberskyn heads. I'm feeling that those are a bit heavy for this kit. I don't know. They just feel dampened for some reason. I'm not all that crazy about the sound, either. Oh well. The toms are ok at this point. I believe they will open up even more with the goat on resos. Have to wait for that, though.

I don't think anyone would mind or think anything different of a person just because you posted a video demonstrating calfskin tone.

Why were the snares turned off in the video though.