My all-around go-to choice: Ambassador-weight coated heads on top, clears on the bottom. Evans, Remo, Aquarian, whatever brand you like...
Advice for Skinning a '60s Rogers Kit Last viewed: 1 hour ago
Yeah, bass drums are tough. There's certainly an art to them. I can't say I've ever been truly happy with the sounds of my basses over the years, so I think that's what I'll be focussing my efforts on most (but what a pain it is that the drum that requires the most experimentation with is also the largest and most expensive to buy heads for!).Thanks again for the feedback, guys. I have a clearer idea in my head now of what I should get.
I think you have hit the nail on the head. With toms you could do a single or two ply coated over a single ply reso and get a very respectable and idiomatic tuning for a wide variety of styles from the deepest rock tuning to the tightest be-bop sound. The same is true of a snare drum. Certainly, there might be more appropriate head choices for specific sounds, but my point is that toms and snares can be pretty versatile.
On the other hand, kick drums seem to be much more dependent on head selection to accomplish a specific goal. Since those heads are expensive by comparison, that just becomes problematic. I would guess a single ply coated batter and reso or two ply coated batter and single ply reso would do the trick for you. Of course there have been recent conversations about Fiberskyn, Skyntone and Renaissance heads as well that would merit some consideration.
Very proud owner of a new Blaemire Snare 6.5 x 14 made by Jerry Jenkins "Drumjinx"
Another head to consider for your Rogers toms would be the Evans G Plus Coated for the batter side. They are a single ply of 12mil film, as opposed to the single ply 10mil film used on the G1. Evans G1 is very similar to the Remo Ambassador, offering brighter attack and great stick definition. Going to a slightly thicker 12mil film will most certainly reduce the brightness just a touch, giving a mellower and fully rounded tom sound. I recently picked up a complete coated G Plus set for my PDP X7, but am going to install the 12" and 16" heads on my Headliner kit to check them out. My feeling is that the excellent and sharper bearing edge of the Rogers toms would be ideal for the 12mil single-ply head.
Just another head choice to consider!
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