Uh-oh. Did this pro restore the bearing edges to the original profile, or could he have changed the angle and round-over to a more modern profile? All my Rogers are Script-era, so I can't speak to the qualities of the Big R bearing edges, but let's assume the bearing edges aren't the problem as you state. Your dissatisfaction with the sound of your 18" could probably come down to the tonal qualities of all the various heads you're trying.

I picked up a 20" Fullerton FT that I wasn't happy with in terms of tonal quality. The classic Coated Ambassador batter setup may have been what Rogers intended, but I found it a little too "trebley" in tone for my taste. I wanted this FT to sound a little more "bassy", as it is practically the size of a bass drum. I got what I was looking for with a combination of a Pinstrip batter and a clear reso. Really boomy without that "plastic-ey" sound you've described.

Just my :2Cents: I'd like to hear some Big R guys chime in.

Mike

Thanx, man. The bearing edges were restored i.e. made like the original.

I forgot to mention that I also had a clear pinstripe on it (though a used one). The pinstripe and the emperor both had the same problem, they kind of deleted the highs and lows and kind of concentrated the mids in a ball of sound. Regardless the tuning. Gave me the hypothesis that double ply heads won't do any good on this drum.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that the sound of the drum is way better when I hit it off-center, somewhere between the center and the rim.

I've decided that 18" fl toms are "difficult" to tune. The reason is the size of the head and depth of shell tends to offer up a low, growling, "rumble" tonality rather than a sharp and distinct transient. Had the same trouble with my 72 Ludwig recently - here's how I solved it: Take the top head and hoop off. Turn the tom over and apply the bottom head and hoop. Tension evenly just enough to get the slack out of the head. Then turn the tom upright standing with its legs on the floor. Using the stick size you like, strike the head with the stick from the inside of the shell, striking downwards on the head lightly as you go around with a key from the underside of the head tensioning each lug area until the pitch/quality sounds good to your ear. Make certain the pitches are relatively even and that the bottom head "feels" good. Then put the top head head on and tension it accordingly until it interacts with the lower head resonance. Hope this works for you.

Hy

i have a Evans EC 2 coated on top and a Remo Ambassador coated on the resoside! Tune the batterhead medium (but more to the deep side) and the reso a wee bit higher, it worked for me. You have enough overtones(but not to much) and a very deep bassound!

regards

Christian

Try an Emperor or other double ply head (or even a Black Dot) on the reso side. Can't hurt. If it's not what you're looking for, take it off and try, try again!

Don't forget the Pearl free floating feet! Can't say enuf how much a difference they contribute.

Thanx, all of you,

I've tryed all tips. The best sound (to my ears) I found with single ply clear as batter and amb. coated as reso. Double plys as batter don't seem to work, I can't explain why.

The way it is looks now is silly (clear on top and coated down below), more or less like a bucket, but ok, I'll buy clear ambs one day.

I can't try the pearl feet because the legs of the Big R are... big. The're a lot thicker (tubes) than regular legs. Maybe I'll freak out with tennis balls one day.