Yes, but the biggest a slunk skin would be would be for a 16" drum for a vintage marching snare. Slunk is only used as a snare side head remember? x-mas3

Yes. I once wondered how old tympani heads were made, though. I guess they are just shaved thinner....?

Oh thats true....I had forgotten about tympani heads......Mallet Player2

They used slunks from Texas...........barrupbumpbump...Laughing H

I might take the plunge and get a pair for my bass drum, maybe just one! The guy at sterns was very positive about using a conventional head for the resonant side, said the orchestra dudes do it all the time. He also said that you should loosen up the tension by about a quarter turn on the batters. I guess its really a wash if they last for years, which is what he claims.

mcjnic is right on the money.

Almost all my drums have calf heads on them (I think only 2 of them don't right now) and they're all from Stern except for one.

His tanning is excellent and very professionally done. Make sure to get metal hoops, NOT wood. The wood will turn over the years and unless you really want to re-tuck them, it's not worth it. Spend the extra $50 on the metal hoops, it's completely worth it.

It seems extra expensive to do all your heads with calf, and it is - but I would actually recommend using calf on the batter side only - not the resonant/snare side. That's WAAAAY too much trouble to deal with, and having calf on the batter head sounds just as good anyway.

If nothing else, definitely do it for your snare drum - it sounds great!

I can't say enough good things about Stern heads.

I'm not sure what you mean by "turn". The wood is square, and one of the flats of that square is flat against the underside of the rim, which is also a flat surface... I'm not sure how that would turn.

My kick head is from the 1940's and it hasn't started to turn yet, and many of my calf heads are really old... maybe I'm just lucky.

I agree with all of the good things said about Stern. I recommend calling Jeff and dealing with him directly.

Heads left under high tension for long periods of time can eventually warp or "turn" wooden flesh hoops, especially the thin ones:

Ahhh . . .

Thanks Lee. I couldn't find an example of a turned-out flesh hoop for MaestroSnare.

Basically when you realize that the hoop is turning away from the rim it means your favorite calf head's days are numbered.

Also, if your calf head tears keep the metal hoop, then you can buy a new untucked head and save a few dollars.

Some wood hoops won't turn out, maybe it's the type of wood, maybe it's the thickness, maybe its' just luck. If you're spending over $50 for a head, go the extra mile so you just don't have to deal with issues later on.

Thanks for posting that - I've never seen that before.

Still, I prefer wood for a number of reasons.