Site looks cool, I would like some also. I have been on the fence about which heads to put on my 62 Slingerland wmp kit. I almost bought some Aquarian modern vintage but thought that they may be to close to the fiberskyns. This kit is calling out for calf heads, just haven't had the cashews for calf.

same thing here Lucky. got an early 1950's Gretsch 3-ply set and can't stand the plastic remos that came with it. gonna call Stern and get the price for Irish calf for a 24" bass drum and snare to start off with. See how it plays out and go from there.

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of using the wood flesh hoops as apposed to the metal? I see he offers both on his site. I'll try to report my findings here after talking with Stern on Monday....

Greg

The metal flesh hoops are more stable. The wood ones are more traditional, but have the tendancy to roll over under tension. Leedy offered both but always suggested the metal over the wood ones, yet there are traditionalists that prefer wood. No difference in sound, just reliability.

Just talked to the guy at Stern, they aint cheap!!! 122.00 for a 20" bass drum head, wood hoop. The metal hoops are more. 78.00 for a slunk 14" snare and 60 something for a 14" batter. Its looking over 500.00 for both sides of my 20,14,12 with snare, yeouch! Maybe one at a time.

I found this to be the case too.....only I have a 26" bass drum to price out.....that was going to be almost $300 for two heads! So......I opted for fiberskyn 3's instead....they sound pretty close to me....

For the record, the Stern calf heads are outstanding! They seat perfectly and are cut and mounted very professionally. They kept the thick strip in the middle of the head so that it added strength. I highly highly (that's two) recommend them. The wood flesh hoops seat perfectly with every single one of my drum rims. Sometimes, the head doesn't include the thicker back strip. It's a bit weaker without it. These (13 and a 16) both have it and it is centered! These heads SING like crazy. I love 'em and would do it again in a heartbeat. If you want great calf heads, sink the dough. If not, there are plenty of other options for you to chase down.

Bottom line: Excellent and worth the dough.

P.S. I've mounted those Remo Fiberskyn things on this kit, also. Total garbage when you do a side-by-side with these calf's. Seriously different beasts.

real gone greg/lucky/ludwig-dude/mcjnic/ I would just like to thank you for giving me another Freakn project to do!!!, this thread has been run before, and now I'm going have to take the plunge, thanks alot!!!Cool1Car Driving2

Yup, when it comes to calfskin, the calves, themselves are only so big. When they are skinned, only a certain size diameter can be cut out of a single hide. And then they are stretched and shaved and scraped. So, it's quite a process to make a nice, consistent (as possible) calfskin drumhead in a larger diameter. And "slunk" heads are only going to be so big, too -can't get too large a diameter, there! *gasp* You WILL pay for that processing, nowadays! Can you imagine the smell working in a tannery? It must be quite a day of skinning fetal calves, hmm?

I bought two of the Columbia cheapos off of eBay (something like $35 for two) and they're great. I'd buy them again. I bought wood hoops from Jeff.

I have a metal hoop on one head and don't like it - it doesn't conform to the shell like wood, introduces another harmonic, wood you can custom fit to an odd sized or out of round drum... metal seems wrong, there's no reason not to use wood that I know of.