I don't really understand the purpose of the Vintage A head. Well that's not true, I know that it's a way to make Remo more money.

When Remo first made a plastic head (1958), the first version out the door was 10.5 mil, and was NOT popular. There was no way you could convince most drummers of the time to use anything but calf.

Remo then developed a thinner version, called the Ambassador, which is 10 mil thick, and the even thinner Diplomat, which was 7 mil. Over the next couple of years, drummers made a gradual transition to these plastic heads, figuring that their convenience and consistency out weighed the gorgeous sound yet major pain in the butt of calf skin. Ambassador and Diplomat heads became the "sound" of the 60's, as well as other heads like the Ludwig Weathermaster, which is basically a copy of the Diplomat.

So, what Remo is trying to resell as the "Vintage" sound is actually just a reproduction of the first plastic head that DIDN'T catch on. If you really want that vintage sound, go with an Ambassador or Diplomat head, or even better, a NOS used head from your company of choice.

REMO also makes the fiberskyn which is supposed to simulate the calfskin head, personally I have these on all my toms, even my bass drum and I love them. I put Evans genera resonant on the bottoms with a eq3 on the front of the bass. A great warm, jazzy sound, sound good tuned high or low and have a real vintage look to boot. Just my opinion. I used to be a diehard Evans man.

My view is that it gets down to personal preference and the sound you are looking for, rather than different heads suiting different drums (to a large extent). Diplomat is lighter hence tone is slightly brighter, sustain is slightly longer, and durability slightly lower. Ambasador is slightly heavier, hence tone is slightly darker, sustain slightly shorter, and durability slightly higher (noting that both of these heads, in the clear snare version, are way over on the lighter end of the spectrum. So I think the advice from O-Lugs was to put a 'snare' head on the snare side, rather than the batter head. Up to you whether it is Ambasador or Diplomat. The 'stanadard' shoice is normally Ambasador.

Chuck,

What MrBlues said is correct. There is no specific one-way to find the "best" head for your snare drum. As with all of us, making that decision comes from good old trial and error. Fortunately, though, it's a bit easier (in my mind) to find the appropriate heads for vintage drums (for vintage drums made after the advent of synthetic drumheads, that is)...That's because there weren't nearly as many choices back in the days when the drums we now consider "vintage" were being made. There weren't any of the new vented or self-muffled heads or any of the composite heads back then. There were the basics (as listed in my previous post) and that was it.

It worked kind of well that way, too. The limited variety of vintage drumheads made the entire idea of a drumhead into a kind of h o omgenous thing. The same weights and basic coatings were the same for all of the vintage drum manufacturers. It was up to the design of the drum to make a difference in the sound -not the drumhead. Things are very different in that regard, today. There are a ton of "specialized" drumheads now that simply did not exist in prior decades.

But, when it comes right down to it, an appropriate set of "basic" drumheads is still the best choice, in my opinion. If you need to attenuate soem of the overtones, it's a simple matter of getting out some masking tape and tearing off a few pieces.

Hey, thanks again for indulging my ignorance. I think I just decided to put coated Ambassadors on the tops and bottoms of my three tom toms. For the bass, as it's only 14 by 22, haven't decided -- Need to figure out what it likely came with. If I can find a size appropriate pillow to put inside I may do that too. As for three Dyna-Sonic I need to find out what came on this thing 35 plus years ago. I have a hunch it was likely comparable to a coated Ambassador. The original snare side head is still on it. Wonder what the hell it is? Diplomat? Ambassador? Anyway, thanks again. You all are pretty patient....

For a nice vintage bass drum sound, I suggest that you try coated Emperors on both sides -for a 22 X 14 bass drum or larger. Also, you might consider getting a few strips of heavy-duty white felt and using that to muffle either the front or the batter head (or both). That way, you get some durability and enhanced low-end of the Emperor weight heads and you also get an adjustable way to mute them.

If you prefer to use a pillow or something like that, then you should probably consider "porting" (making a hole) the front head...I can go into more detail about that, if you are interested.

Thanks for the tip. While certainly not "vintage" (I'm likely getting too caught up in all this....), I noticed Remo (and other drum head companies) have bass heads onto which you attach a little muffle type piece on the kick side head down towards the bottom. This acts, I suppose, to muffle the sound some. Ever seen these....

For the vintage bass drum sound, O-lugs said it all, coated emperors with the felt strips.

If you want a punchy bass drum sound, without using a pillow, I like the Aquarian Super Kick. The Super Kick has a built in muffle strip, on the inside of the head. This is important, I have used the Evans Emad, and the muffle rings are on the outside and can come off. The Super kicks are pretty durable, and come in 1 and 2 plys, coated and clear. I forgot who posted this info, but they were so right, go with the clear, the coated is overkill. Again, this is for a punchy bass drum sound. (Now, I am not afraid of the drum police, so I use a Evans EQ4 head on the front, which, has a built in hole and muffle ring with the Aquarian Super Kick on the batter)

If you want to stay with Remo, their Powerstroke 3 has a muffle ring. The Powerstroke is good, my personal taste leans to the Super Kick. There is a new Powerstroke 4, but, I have not played on it.

On the Dyna-sonic, I have seen reproduction manuals up for auction on Ebay. I have one, it says "5x14 Batter-Diplomat Snare-Ambassador" the same for a 6 1/2 x14. I was not alive when this manual was made, but, I'm thinking the "Ambassador" head is today's Ambassador hazy. It's pretty thin and sensitive.

My two cents

.

Great info -- Thanks!

The Dyna-Sonic snare came with a Diplomat batter and an Ambassador snare side. When tuned properly this combination is what made the Dyna so great. Tune the snare head fairly tight and about one fourth higher than the batter head. A fourth is "Here comes the bride".

The snare adjustment is critical also. There is a snare adjustment knob on the snare frame. Only finger tight (never use a screw driver) until you have a musical sound when you strum the wires with your finger nail (this is with the snare frame off the drum). After you have the frame back on the drum adjust the throw until the snares just kiss the head. Back it off until you get a buzz and then tighten until the buzz just dissapears. This will give a nice crisp sound across the whole head.

Rogers toms came with coated Ambassadors top and bottom. Also tune with the resonant head tighter than the batter head.

I use a Powerstroke III on the bass drum batter and a clear Ambassador on the front. They came, originally, with coated Ambassadors on both sides.

I can see no practicle use for the new "vintage heads" other than looks and I don't like the look personally. Some folks love them???

Hope this helps.

Jack

:)