I am uploading a new video to YouTube at this moment. I've put a silly little video of the Slingerland kit with calf skin heads up. I put them on the snare and the two toms. I had to wait till they seated overnight before I could get this done. Next, I will take a pieces of the calf skin head footage and attach it to a piece of the other "mylar" one. Those side by side will be interesting to listen to. Eventually, I will have some goat heads to really push the options. This project was not intended to be a year long piece. Seems I've no choice in the matter. I will focus on the clean tom sounds. That should give a good overview of what is needed.

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="Blue"]So.....you're going to beat up some skinheads??? I don't know if that's legal.....Excited[/COLOR][/FONT]

There is a simple A-B video of Mylar vs Calf up on my site at YouTube. It's all I had laying around for the Mylar piece. A bit rough, I admit, but it should get the point across.

This is the first of what will turn out to be several videos of calf, goat, and mylar heads on the same kit. Hopefully, this will start other drummers with other cameras rolling so that there will be more than just these goofy things out there. This is about the best I can do. I'm hoping someone out there will take this idea and run with it.

Still haven't gotten the goat yet. Dunno if it's me or what, but I can't seem to get my hands on 'em.

But...LudwigDude to the rescue!

He's sent me some calf that I can maybe use as reso's. When they come in I'll give 'em a try and see if they fit and such. Luck luck luck.

In the meantime, I picked up a couple of nice 22 and 20 calf bass heads. The 22 fits fine and has really opened up the bass! Dang. Had no idea it would make this much of an impact on the bass. Interesting.

I'm still healing, but when I am just a bit more mobile, I plan to put up a video of the calf on calf video so that we can A/B the differences between calf/mylar and calf/calf directly. Should be interesting.

If any of you have a couple of the goat heads you aren't using or just flat out don't like, please think of me prior to slipping them under the potted plant. I really need a few. I am desperate for a 13 and a 16. I would also like to check out the 14 and 12 on the jazzer as a contrast. Thanks.

Man, we could have raised some goats by now.... shoot I know a lady who is a goat "farmer"... let me know, if you want I'll call her.

Haven't had any goat-ka-bob in a while anyway.

Well after reading this thread I went back to when I posted about the Earthtone head I got for my kick. I bought it at the begining of July and put a hole in it around the third week in September. So I got about two and a half months playing time out of it. Would it have lasted longer with a big lambswool beater or is Mastro Snare right in saying that they suck!!! Don't know if I would buy another.

Heard the same thing elsewhere about their durability.

I'm late to this party, but thought I'd add my own experience to the fray. I've played vintage calfskin (Ludwig, Slingerland, Amrawco, Leedy) as well as Earthtone goatskin heads, and there is a big difference. I've wanted to try Rob's calfskin heads but haven't been able to yet.

Calfskin (especially GOOD calfskin) is sensitive, resonant and warm-sounding & FEELS great; goatskin is thicker, "stiffer" feeling and less resonant. The Earthtone heads I've played were decent quality, but not great. I never broke one, but I know that an inferior skin (thin spots, natural defects, processing flaws) can result in premature failure...this is true of calfskin as well as goatskin. Modern calfskin is actually much more consistent than the vintage heads; in days past calfskin was in such demand (before plastic heads) that as a result the quality was kind of spotty...kind of like Istanbul K cymbals. There were good ones, and there were dogs, too. People tucking their own heads obviously have an advantage, as they are sure to get the quality they want.

I have vintage calfskin heads on my 5" x 15" Stanbridge snare, and they sound great. A 7" x 14" Slingerland snare that I fitted with an Earthtone batter head sounded a bit dull and flat compared to the same drum fitted with a calfskin head. The thicker goatskin requires higher tensioning and a very thin resonant head to overcome this problem. Since I don't believe in mixing plastic & skin heads on the same drum (sounds horrible to me) and Earthtone doesn't make resonant heads, I decided to stop using goatskin heads on everything except congas.

Hope this helps some.

Excellent point. Calfskins are better suited to rounded edges. If you have sharp modern edges, that could be a problem. I used to have a 40's Ludwig kit with all calf and it sang. It was a blast to play.

Here's a wrinkle. I just recently moved back to Australia and asked around about getting a replacement calf skin - do-able but expensive. But I was then highly recommended....you can also guess....kangaroo skin. Tougher than calf apparently and a real surprise.

Doesn't really help anyone in the US but I thought I'd mention it anyway....might be goat-like.