Jack -- Thanks so much for the info. As I've said before, I've just ben away from playing for SO LONG. And, my playing once I get heads on these things wil be limitd to my house. As for the clear head on bass front, I sorta want a white (smooth). May slap a Rogers decal on it....The guy at remo suggested the Powerstroke 3. Does that "echo" to much? Was thingking for a minute at the Remo head that had that little muffle thing that goes on the outside of the kick head. Not to vintage though, is it? Anyway, thanks again -- Chuck

Seems you guys have gotten way off the original topic. The new Remo "vintage" heads are thin, two ply heads like the ORIGINAL Remos, before they had diplomats, ambassadors, etc.

I haven't tried them yet.

The Powerstroke 3 is not boomy at all; the muffle ring takes the boom out. The muffle ring is on the inside of the head, so it's not visible. The basic idea of the head is what O-Lugs described with the felt strips. By putting the felt strips between the head and the hoop, you can muffle the boom/echo of the bass drum. The bass drum heads that have muffle rings are basically doing the same thing. Is it vintage by doing the same thing differently, maybe? I have a Super Kick on my Rogers; it couldn't sound any better (to me). I like this head, because, there is no need for a pillow, you will get a similar sound with the Remo Powerstroke. It's easier with the muffle ringed heads, but, you will get basically the same sound with felt strips. Try them both, see what you like. If it's based on price, try the felt strips first.

Are these heads a bit oversized also, like the aquarian american vintage heads? I would love it if I could find a slightly oversized head to fit vintage drums that came in a coated white......

Man, you said it! That's the TRUTH! Remo needs to "widen" their line of drumheads by "widening" their existing lines of drumheads!

The reason is because many vintage wrapped shells are over-sized and the heads have to be pile-driven onto them! That's not really ideal for getting the most pleasing sound or for tuning! If they could make all their drumheads just a few mm wider, the problem related to too-small a drumhead matched to too-large a shell will disappear and the world will be a better place!:2Cents:

About the original Dyna-Sonic specs, Diplomat batter, and hazy Ambassador snare side, just had some drum shop guy tell me, the Diplomat's of, say the later 60's early 70's, are like the Ambassadors of today. This sound right, or is this guy a clown? Just figure you guys would likely know better.

Regarding the bass sound, I tried something sililar to wht ")- Lugs" recommended and had great results on my Rogers Hoiday 22" kick.

I used a coated Emperor on the resonant side with 1 felt strip, and a coated power stroke 3 on the batter side. It was a nice warm vintage-ish sound, but with plenty of low end which could be felt trhough the music.

On my 20" Slingerland I used an Emperor on the resonant with a felt strip, and an ambassador on the batter with 2 felt strips and a piece of moleskin.

Over time I started playing more and more jazz and less rockabilly, and reduced it to 1 felt strip on both sides, then only 1 felt strip on the batter side.

Very recently, after leaving my rockabilly band and concentrating on jazz I have removed all felt strips and am down to just the moleskin patch where the beater hits the head. That along with a little higher tuning gives me a very nice jazz sounding bass similar to the sounds of the 50's and 60's bass of great drummers like Max, Philly Joe, and a slew of other greats.

All in all I recomend little to no muffling if you are playing jazz, but then again, as has been said numerous times on this post, it is all a matter of personal preference. I rally enjoy experimenting with different conigurations and using the old trial and error method.

PK -- Thanks for the advice. Yeah, don't really want to mess with felt stripes, etc. The coated Powerstroke 3 is a given, just not sure of difference between an Ambassador or Emperor for the front. I want a smooth front head to apply a Rogers decal to. I mean, can one really tell the difference between an Ambassador and Emerpor front head? I'm guessing when new, for good or bad, this drum came with 2 coated Ambassadors. In fact, I still have one of them, though it just says "Remo Weather King Bass Drum." It's a coated white head with a "plastic" layer inside. Wonder what this head is comparable too today? Sorry for my ignorance, been away from playing for literally close to 35 years!

Yes, there will be a slight difference in the sound between using an Emperor vs. an Ambassador....The Emperor will attenuate more of the upper frequency overtones that an Ambassador will. Why? Because it's a thicker, 2-ply head.

Think of it like this: A thick overcoat keeps you warmer in the winter because it doesn't allow the heat to escape. A thicker drumhead does the same thing with the "hotter" (upper-range) frequencies of the bass drum's sound. Sumo Dude Of course, there are exceptions to that, too!

The Powerstroke 3 is a nice bass drumhead. I think they can have their advantages, but they automatically have a built-in limitation if you ever wanted to try for a different sound someday down the road. Felt strips lend a wider range of adjustability in that regard.

Yes, the felt strips take a bit of a learning curve to use and they are more of a hassle to deal with, but that's how most vintage bass drums were to be muffled. In many old catalogs, you can see the felt strips in place on the resonant side. I purchased a vintage Ludwig bass drum (70's vintage) and it had never been played! It had Weathermaster drumheads (smooth white, Ambassador weight) and one strip of heavy white felt on the resonant side. It sounded a bit too open for me...until I was able to adjust the strip and change the tension. After I found the right combination, I never looked back!

Another idea that you might want to consider is to use an EXTERNAL muffler (like the one pictured with my 1941 Ludwig Junior bass drum batter side). Those things work great and the effect of it is completely and easily adjustible. I don't think anyone makes them (like that) anymore, but I see them for sale on EBay sometimes. They DO go for some pretty high $$$, though.

It's all trial and error in the end...but having an idea of how the basic science of these things work will help to narrow down your choices (and expense!) and give you a better ability to predict what the sound will be like before you ever put the heads onto the drum. They don't get discussed quite as much as snare drums get discussed, but there are still about a billion different ways to set up a bass drum, too.

I sometimes tap on the HUGE (18 X 22...or whatever they are) modern bass drums when I go to my local drum shop and I am amazed that anybody can actually use them! They sound SOOOooo BIG...it's incredible! I could NEVER use a sound like that on my gigs. I wouldn't be able to control something with that big of a sound. But, see...that's just me!Car Driving2 Someone in a Led Zeppelin tribute band would probably love something like that!

Aquarian Superkick II on the batter side with a white Aquarian Regulator on the outside on the bass drum. (it's smooth not textured) If you like very little overtone from the bass drum without pillows and other stuff like that, this is the way to go. On the toms, I use either Aquarian Studio X Coated on the batter heads and Classic Clears on the bottom. If you want white on the bottom heads just put an Aquarian Texture coated on the bottom. (Single ply coated) I've had great luck with this set up on any set new or old. As stated before though ....... it's up to you as far as the sound you are really after. I personally haven't used any REMO heads in over 15 years because I just couldn't find one that would last as long as an Aquarian, nor could I find one that sounded as good. Then again ..... that's my personal preference. Maybe things have changed, but I have yet to hear a REMO head on someone else's set I liked. I prefer alot of attack from my toms and chest crushing lows from my bass drum and very little to no ringing overtones on the snare where I use a Focus X on the batter side and a Classic Clear snare side on bottom. :) As for Zep .... well .... I use a (head size first) 24"x20" kick for that!!