Drum head options/general impressions of DW Custom kit

vanarie

Junior Member
Drum head options (final update)/general impressions of DW Custom kit

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Update: 1/27/09 - Drumheads for DW Collector's Series drums.

Final verdict: Evans EC2 Clear.

After playing one gig with Aquarian StudioX coated heads on the toms as suggested by the site I mentioned previously, I was still unsatisfied with the results. The toms sounded too papery and didn't give me the resonance I was looking for.

I switched to Evans EC2 Clear. For rock or general playing, these sound the best to my ears. The dampener ring cuts down on the overtones but still gives you a nice warm sound when struck. I need little to no extra dampening on the 10". I did use one moongel on the 12" tom and 14" floor. I can imagine that these heads would also sound very good miced up, though I don't use mics for my regular gig.

For jazz, you would probably want to go with a thinner, single ply head to get a sharper tone, but I'm sticking with Evans EC2s for now. I hope this helps those who are spending a lot of money searching for the right head for these drums! They really do sound great.
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Just got a DW Custom kit, "pillow maple", a few weeks ago and played my first gig lastnight. 22"kick, 10"/12" toms and 14"/16" floor. These drums are very heavy! I don't know if it's the hardware or the wood, but these things feel like they're made of lead.

It's hard to give an accurate "mature" opinion only after playing on them one time, but I did replace the stock heads right away with Aquarian Studio-X heads. I had the option to go with clear or coated, so went with coated. I actually put the top stock tom heads (with the broken coating circle around the edge) on the bottom.

I also found a great writeup on drum head options for DW here:
http://www.musicgearreview.com/reviews.php?man=DW&cat=Drums_Percussion&mod=Collectors%20Series

They definitely have that DW ring that everyone talks about - not that it's a bad thing, but the tom mounting system means that they are basically floating so they have more than your average resonance. The stock heads had a lot of ring with very little dampening, so the Studio-X heads definitely tamed that a little.

Tuning:

I setup the heads at a baseline by putting pressure in the middle of the head and de-wrinkling the edges, then went for an even tone on all lugs for both sides. Then proceeded to tune the drums like I would normally do. IMO, there's a difference between what the drummer hears up close and what the audience hears, so it's kind of hard to tell if a drum is good to go tuning wise, and that's not even taking into account what the sound guy is going to do with your drum once it's miced up with effects, gating, etc. It's best to just try to get the natural sound the drum wants to make.

10" tom is pitched a bit higher than I'd like and sounds more like an 8" tom to my ears. I'm not sure if I can get it any lower without the tom sounding like hitting paper. It seems like the bottom head might be the key to tuning it down a little. The tom sounds like a traditional jazz/bop tom, which is OK with me since I'm playing both rock and jazz with it.

12" tom I had some trouble getting a good sound from at first, but eventually got it tuned to sound natural and full.

14" floor sounds very deep and full throated. Even with the new heads, it could use some dampening with moongel or something to take off some of the end flutter. The drum sound excellent.

16" floor I'm actually using as a jazz/bop kick. I'm still messing with it to try to make it work. Because it's only 14" deep, it's a little short. An 18" would probably work out better, but that's another story.

22" kick sounds exceptional. Tuned just a bit above the "no wrinkle" point, the drum has a really solid sound, very similar to a ported bassdrum. The front head does have vent holes by each lug, so maybe that contributes to the sound. It does come with a custom pillow that is the shape of a capitol "I" and works very well.

I actually wrote DW and asked if they would exchange the 22" with a 20". I'm waiting for a response. I think I'd be happier with a 20" as the 22" is just a little to big.

Other stuff:

Overall, the drums are well made, heavy like I said, very smooth when it comes to tuning, and look very very sharp. The bass drum is "virgin", which means there are no mounts for toms. So, you need to have tom mounts on either side of the drum for the toms/cymbals.

I'd recommend taking the position locks off of the floor tom legs and stands until you get a feel for where you want the drums to be at - they're a hassle to deal with until you know exactly where you want to drums to be height wise.

Like I said, it's very early in my "getting to know you" stage for these drums, so I think I'll get more comfortable with them as times goes on.
 
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I just got my first DW exotic collectors (maple) set in June, and I'm finally learning where they like to be tuned. I find that they sound better tuned higher than I normally tune them, which to me is a plus, for batter feel. Drums tuned higher carry better unmiced than lower tuned drums. If they sound low and punchy behind the kit, it's probably tuned a little low to sound great from the audience. You sound like you know how to tune pretty well, but dude, get a Drum Dial. I LOVE mine because now I have a reference point to tune to. After many attempts at different batter/reso tensions, I found that the best sound (as determined by me) is having the batters at 74-75 and the resos at 82-83. (I use single ply clear G1's top and bottom) They really sound great from 15 feet away. Of course they sound great tuned lower too, the tone just doesn't carry as well, in my opinion. I love the sound of my Oxnard drums.
 
Congrats on a great kit. I've had a collectors kit for a little over three years and a VLT kit for about a year. Both kits sound great.

Like Larry said a Drum dial can be a great tool.

These days I tend to tune both heads to the same tension. 75 on the rack toms and 72 on the floor toms. (ball park)

These shells really sing with single ply heads. I had good results with G2s also, but my VLT kit didn't like them.

Evans clear EC1s and G plus heads work really well. I've used two sets of Studio X heads and while the sound was great, durability was an issue. The truth be told it's hard for these drums not to sound good.

G1s work well on the reso side. The Evans resonant heads are a good choice for a little less sustain.

You have a great kit. Enjoy!
 
yea, DW recommends single ply heads
 
Update #1 - Re: Drum head options/general impressions of DW Custom kit

Played out lastnight with the DWs for the first time.

My background is that I've been playing the same house gig at a German restaurant for the past 3 years. They have a crappy house "kit" that's a Perl Rhythm Traveler set. Toms all open and the kick is like hitting a cardboard box. So, needless to say, the change was drastic. I play the house kit because it's there and I just bring my own snare and cymbals (a must for any drummer).

General impressions/thoughts are as follows:

1) Everyone looks at these drums - they are awesome looking. DW does make some of the greatest looking drums around.

2) 10" tom was still giving me fits. It still seemed to be too high and pingy for a 10" tom. So after the first set I took it in back and tuned it again. I tried the old trick of tuning both heads to their "natural" state, mounting the drum, tightening one lug on the bottom head up or down (up seems to be better) to tweak the sound.

3) Between the two heads, the Aquarians on top are much flatter and the bottom stock ring a lot more. I'll have to experiment with different heads for top/bottom. Maybe Evans G1/G2 heads. Peter Erskine uses them on his.

4) I bought these drums with some kind of expectation of them sounding a certain way. Honestly, I went through several stages lastnight between hating them and starting to like them. Especially when it comes to the upper toms, it takes patience and I need some time with them.

5) To experiment, I might try a bigger air hole in the r-toms and f-tom. The airhole is the r-toms and f-toms have a fancy hard screw grommet that allows for LESS air to escape then your average drum. I think it would be easy to take them off and have the exposed air hole. The 12" and especially 14" f-tom have a huge amount resonance when you hit them - too much IMO.

6) My first impression at this point is that if you're going on tour with these drums, give yourself a lot of time to maintain the tuning. Per the article from Nicky Scud, Pacific Drums are basically the same drums but take less time to maintain proper tuning.

7) The kick sounds incredible. I was playing along with a CD between breaks and the heavy Disco bass from the speaks and my bass drum sounded identical. I put a kick striker pad on the batter head, and I have to say that I liked the sound better WITHOUT it, but the attack is better with the striker pad.

8) I chose Studio-x Coated heads, but on second thought it might have been better to go with clear. The reason is that it's hard to do the "de-wrinkle" trick when getting the drums in their natural state before tuning them because you can't see the reflection through the coating.

I'm a bit spoiled with the Rhythm Travelers in a way. They sit very low, so my throne was lower and it felt very comfortable (easy). When you mount the DW toms above the bassdrum, you're forced to raise the throne and snare to meet them, which threw me off. Another thing is that my hands are used to hit the old drum locations, so I was missing the toms and cymbals a few times. LOL. Also, my lower back was starting to feel really tired because I was sitting higher than I'm used to.

If you have DW drums, I'd love to hear your experience/advice.
 
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I'll have to check that out - I've heard of it before but the concept always seemed like overkill.

You sound like you know how to tune pretty well, but dude, get a Drum Dial. I LOVE mine because now I have a reference point to tune to. After many attempts at different batter/reso tensions, I found that the best sound (as determined by me) is having the batters at 74-75 and the resos at 82-83.

15 feet away? LOL. That's the trick isn't it - tuning them so they sound good to you AND the audience? But seriously, the 10" does like to be tuned higher and I'm not sure how I feel about that at this point. If I wanted that kind of pingy sound, I'd get an 8" r-tom!

(I use single ply clear G1's top and bottom) They really sound great from 15 feet away. Of course they sound great tuned lower too, the tone just doesn't carry as well, in my opinion. I love the sound of my Oxnard drums.
 
For the reso side, are you talking G1 clear or coated? I'd be interested to see how G1s sound on both top and bottom. The Studio-x heads have that dampening ring, so they do sound pretty flat when you hit them.

G1s work well on the reso side. The Evans resonant heads are a good choice for a little less sustain.
 
I use Remo ambassadors on the bottom and Evans G2 coated on the top on both of my DW kits and I love the sound. For what it's worth ;-)
 
Do you know what kind of stock heads come on them? I know they're Remo, but not sure what flavor. What kind of music do you play on the DWs?

I use Remo ambassadors on the bottom and Evans G2 coated on the top on both of my DW kits and I love the sound. For what it's worth ;-)
 
For the reso side, are you talking G1 clear or coated? I'd be interested to see how G1s sound on both top and bottom. The Studio-x heads have that dampening ring, so they do sound pretty flat when you hit them.

I've been using clear G1s on the reso side and coated G2s on the batter side. On the VLT kit I'm using clear G plus heads on the batter side and clear G1s on the reso side.

Clear EC1s on the batter side sound good also.

EMAD II for the kick and some times a EQ3 for a more open sound.

I'm a medium heavy hitter so I like the thicker single ply heads with the exception of the G2s. The stock DW heads sound really good also.
 
Best to keep experimenting with different tensions and heads. I've never played a DW kit that didn't tune up easily and quickly, but I guess some rooms could be more difficult than others. I like Evans G2 coated on top and G1 clears on the bottom.
 
they say Remo, med clear so that should translate to Ambassadors.

I play classic rock, classic R&B, Soul, funk and blues primarily.

I actually pulled the stock heads off and never played them on my second kit. I decided to try the stock heads about 2 months ago. I played a gig with them. I did not like them. way to bright. I would think for harder rock they would be great
 
Maybe next head change try slapping some coated ambassadors on as batters. I've found that ambassadors seem to tune higher and lower and maintain a clear note much better then other 10mil single-ply coated heads. I like the intial stick-head contact more too; I'm not sure exaclty what it is, perhaps the timbre of the attack is different.
I'm running coated ambassadors on the batters of every drum and as an unported reso on the kick at the moment. Toms have clear G1s at the moment and that works pretty well with the coated ambs. I'd like to try coated diplomats as reso heads too.
 
...My preference is G-2 coated over G-1 coated on my DW toms.

That combo on my 13x9, and 16x16 is as warm and boomy as a chili and beer fart. The only thing missing is the smell, which I sometimes add by my playing.

I also have used coated emps over coated ambos. This combo also sounds good, but I notice a different feel between the Evans and the Remo. I prefer the feel of the Evans.

Barry
 
Hi everybody!
Since i´m eagerly awaiting the black velvet 24x16, 13x9 15x13 18x16 collectors maple (BD X-shell, toms regular) i ordered two months ago, i´ve been following this thread and reading the review that the first post reffered to with great interest. So, since i find it hard to communicate around how drums sound in just words i would ask anyone thats interested to watch this video: http://drummerworld.com/Videos/vinnycarmineappice.html and give some comments around the differences in tom sound, how much comes down to tuning, micing, playing technique, drum shells etc?, between Vinny and Carmine Appice. What is obvious is of course that Vinny plays DW:s and Carmine Slingerlands but feel free to give any comments. The reason i ask this is that a combination of these sounds would be exactly what i´m looking for - Think Vinny´s projection, attack and low pitch and Carmine´s tone from the kit described above.
 
Final verdict: Evans EC2 Clear

Update: 1/27/09 - Drumheads for DW Collector's Series drums.

Final verdict: Evans EC2 Clear.

After playing one gig with Aquarian StudioX coated heads on the toms as suggested by the site I mentioned previously, I was still unsatisfied with the results. The toms sounded too papery and didn't give me the resonance I was looking for.

I switched to Evans EC2 Clear. For rock or general playing, these sound the best to my ears. The dampener ring cuts down on the overtones but still gives you a nice warm sound when struck. I need little to no extra dampening on the 10". I did use one moongel on the 12" tom and 14" floor. I can imagine that these heads would also sound very good miced up, though I don't use mics for my regular gig.

For jazz, you would probably want to go with a thinner, single ply head to get a sharper tone, but I'm sticking with Evans EC2s for now. I hope this helps those who are spending a lot of money searching for the right head for these drums! They really do sound great.
 
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