Head Replacement

[ez_willis]

When do you know it's time to replace your snare head?

No need to mention when it's broken.

[MadAudio]

Divots, loss of snap, cat puke all over it....

[daav]

Snare side you mean?

The general rule i have heard is that as you tune and retune, as the head loses life, it will be harder to get it tightened up and stay that way nicely.

With that logic the only way to tell would be to tune often and get a feel for when the thing has lost its ability to hold the tuning.

That is from someone with very little drum tuning talent, so take it with a grain of salt.

Daav

[zed32]

when it's time to record.


or if you see dents and stuff in it, that might be a good time to replace it. also maybe when a lot of the coating has worn off it might be a good time to replace it. i noticed that the coating on Remo drum heads seems to wear off faster. my cousin uses Remo and the coating on his snare doesn't last as long as the Evans head i have on my snare. i got the Powercenter reverse dot a long time ago, and it still almost looks like new and i play that shit almost every day.

but really i don't know how good of a wear indicator the condition of the coating is.

[RezN8]

When it sounds lifeless, flat, dead, has deep dents (some call them digs) but mostly when it sounds like crap no matter how you try to tune it.

Usually when you have to ask this question it means it's probably overdue. So my suggestion to you is go out and get yourself BOTH a batter and reso head together. Assuming of course your reso head is old too.

I think Attack heads has a pre-pack with two heads and great tips on seating and tuning your snare. Check it out:

http://www.attackdrumheads.com/

Cheers, Rez

[Blue Groove]

I play enough to replace mine when they sound "dead", usually 2 weeks to a month. Three months if it's played 30 min a day, if it's played less, about once every six months.

Heads all differ...but generally dents and coating coming off are the best sign.

For the bottom, I write the date I put it on and replace it every 6 months.

Once a year if it's not played more than an hour a day on average.

Resonant heads for toms are the same way.

good luck ez, keep the drum questions coming!

[mrface2112]

+1 for "when it sounds dead". sometimes it's "when it feels dead". it's easy to tell when to change the batter head.

the snare side one is a different story. sometimes it'll develop a little hole, or the snares will "discolor" the head. if there's no snap left in the head or if it's older than 3 months i'll replace it--and much more frequently if the drums are getting regular play.

in many respects, i treat a snare side head much like a resonant head on a tom (but with a more aggressive replacement approach ).


cheers,
wade

[ez_willis]

I just changed the resonant side(both, actually) last time my kit was set up to record.

I've been fighting with the tuning and I'm still not content with the sound I'm getting.

It's time to change it.

[RezN8]

Originally Posted by ez_willis

I just changed the resonant side(both, actually) last time my kit was set up to record.

I've been fighting with the tuning and I'm still not content with the sound I'm getting.

It's time to change it.

Sorry to hear that. Any way you could post some pics of your set up? -Rez

[ez_willis]

Originally Posted by RezN8

Sorry to hear that. Any way you could post some pics of your set up? -Rez

There's a few pics in this thread

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by ez_willis

I've been fighting with the tuning and I'm still not content with the sound I'm getting.

pretty much i tighten the resonant head most of the way (pretty freaking tight) and leave it.....and crank when needed. but i like a tight resonant snare head. i do most of my adjustments at the batter side.


cheers,
wade

[Blue Groove]

I prefer a .25" of give in the center of the resonant head. A little less if the top is tight.