Hey, what about Evans Hydraulics to stay true to the era? ;)
I just got a set of clear Vistalites that were outfitted with new Evans Hydraulics and I can't say I like them. Part of the problem could be that the resonant heads are a clear Ambassador on the 12", a Ludwig medium on the 13" and a Ludwig heavy on the 16". I'll probably replace all with Diplomats or the equivalent.
I will say that the snare sounds pretty good with the Evans Hydraulic/Ludwig CS Snare combination that it came with.
I play without mics 95 percent of the time, so I'm looking for some sustain that will be masked by others' amplification.
The Evans and Aquarian models mentioned earlier: Please compare and contrast to Ambassadors. I'm also thinking of using Ludwig Weathermasters ... does anyone have experience with those?
In all cases, I'm looking for clear heads. Perhaps I'll be sacrificing a bit in sound, but what's the point of clear Vistalites without clear heads?
Sorry for the slight detour from concert toms, but we were also talking Vistalites.