I know what you mean, I asked them once myself as you I was astounded, If you want me to answer it I will? On a footnote supposedly they have a new line of heads coming very soon thats suppose to be the stuff. Full open tone with no extra muffling required.
Up to you my friend. I guess it isn't an industry secret as such. Just a nice bit of trivia. :p
Looking forward to trying their new line. They do need to keep things moving as a company, although they must hold onto those classics to.
Up to you my friend. I guess it isn't an industry secret as such. Just a nice bit of trivia. :pLooking forward to trying their new line. They do need to keep things moving as a company, although they must hold onto those classics to.
If they'd just make Ambassador X and Vintage A as bass drum heads it'd be a better leap forward than any amazing new technology they're likely to come up with.
the answer to this question is no. The Vintage Ambassadors are a take on the true original ambassador, which was available only briefly.The first Weatherkings were available only in 7.5mil and 3mil, which turned out to be a bit on the thin/flimsy side, so before dupont came out with the 10mil mylar that would eventually become the "Ambassador" as we know it today, Remo began producing a head called the Ambassador that consisted of a ply of 7.5 over a ply of 3mil. These were replaced with 10mil film as soon as it became available. I think these original 2 ply ambassadors were only available for a very brief window in the late 50's early 60s.
I know the Ambassadors I used throughout much of the '60's were still two ply. The Diplomats were a thinner single ply intended then, as they are today, for orchestral snare drums.
Imported drums of that era came with cheaper heads that were different from the typical new heads you'd buy at a music store. Note the plastic hoop in place of the more typical aluminum. Those are different but they were designed that way as a cost savings (which still holds today on low cost drum sets).As I recall in the 70's Ludwig heads were much more prevalent than they have been in recent decades (soon to be gone for good I hear). Most music stores had Remo and Ludwig. Evans seemed a bit harder to find and, of course, dealers would also tend to have the various brands for whatever drums they sold (Slingerland, Gretsch, etc.).
I actually had a feeling that the head would be the vintage version of a cheaper Remo head, such as a Sonor U.T drum head.. Makes sense..
Thanks for pointing that out !
cheers,
Rob
The first replacement head I ever bought was back in 1975 and it was a 14" coated Emperor Batter for my snare drum. It was definitely white coated over smooth white film. Last I looked you could still get an Emperor in that configuration from Memphis Drum Shop with the older style small REMO logo. Don't know if it's exact but it sure looked and sounded the part on my LM402!
So on a side note people, I shall reveal the trivia fact, as nobody joined in and played and taken a guess(sad face). It's 16,000 PER DAY!!! Add in the other companies, how many drums are being seated and tuned per minute around the world??
The feedback I got from some of the dealers that have toured the Remo factory is not much has changed since the 60's.
So vintage may just be what they've been producing for many many years.
I am a "if it isn't broke don't fix it" kind of guy.
I've tried the fiberskin and the vintage A's they are ok.
Give me some emperors topside, diplomats on the bottom, and I'll give you some singing drums.
70's and 80's kits I prefer pinstripes and ambassadors for a great heavy metal drumset.
In the 90's I started using powerstroke 3's on both sides of the bass drum. p3 on the snare is great too.
By the way smooth white is a color option on emperors and ambassadors.
I can say that at some point in the 80's Remo went to a one piece hoop where they used some sort of white resin as the head anchor glue as well as the hoop itself. Prior and since they have the aluminum "U" with the amber epoxy or whatever in there.
Also the original powerstroke heads were for marching. They had a rubber basket over the glue channel to keep the head from pulling out when we used a drum stick taped to a key to tension the heads to just beyond granite feel. The original heads would just rip out, often before we even made a stick mark on it.
I do beleive the film itself is from the same source (DuPont) but the rest has changed and evolved over the decades.
I can say that at some point in the 80's Remo went to a one piece hoop where they used some sort of white resin as the head anchor glue as well as the hoop itself. Prior and since they have the aluminum "U" with the amber epoxy or whatever in there. Also the original powerstroke heads were for marching. They had a rubber basket over the glue channel to keep the head from pulling out when we used a drum stick taped to a key to tension the heads to just beyond granite feel. The original heads would just rip out, often before we even made a stick mark on it. I do beleive the film itself is from the same source (DuPont) but the rest has changed and evolved over the decades.
The powerstroke 3's were developed specifically for drumsets with marching style dampening. They don't have the hi tension capability that the regular marching powerstroke heads do.
