Buying all new skins. Help me!

R

RAMI

Guest
OK, I've always used Remo Pinstripes on my toms and bass drum. They worked for me, live and recording. But my skins are ooooold....and it shows in the last few recordings I've done. I actually find myself trying to use my toms as little as possible lately when I record, and that's not a good thing.

So like I said, I've always used Pinstripes, but I'm out of touch with what's new. Evans always only had their really thick, blue hydraulic skins. Now, they have a bunch of new stuff that I'm not familiar with. Do they make something similar to a pinstripe that's worth a try?

Also, I know putting a pillow or blanket in your bass drum is sort of "old school", but it's always worked for me. How the hell do some of you guys get a good thump and click with nothing in your kik? Whenever I tried that, I just get this looooong "boooowwww".

I'm scared. Hold me.
 
Rami, dude, just stick with Pinstripes if that's what you like. They're still as great as ever.

I personally like my Evans EC2 clears. They're similar to Pinstripes, but to me, they have more tonality. With the EC2's and Evans G1 reso heads, my toms are pretty bombastic. I think that would be a good combo for you especially since you don't close mic your toms. Lots of tone.

For kicks, I get by with no pillow because I use pre-muffled batter heads like Aquarian Superkicks and Evans EMADs. But even still, when I need a really tight and fast kick sound, I have a small pillow in there just barely touching the batter head. The Superkick is a great kick head and from what I can tell I think it would be pretty well suited to your style.
 
Thanx a lot Greg.

I just called the local music store. I'm trying to save myself a trip downtown where I know they have anything I need.

The local store only has Evans G2 clear in all my sizes. They also have the EQ4 bass drum head and Genera Dry Snare batter. Is this a good set-up. I'll obviously check the thickness of the skins when I have them in my hand. But should I even bother going there to check them out if this what they have?
 
RAMI said:
Thanx a lot Greg.

I just called the local music store. I'm trying to save myself a trip downtown where I know they have anything I need.

The local store only has Evans G2 clear in all my sizes. They also have the EQ4 bass drum head and Genera Dry Snare batter. Is this a good set-up. I'll obviously check the thickness of the skins when I have them in my hand. But should I even bother going there to check them out if this what they have?
Click to expand...

The G2 clears are pretty good, but I think they're kind of bright, and much brighter than your Pinstripes. Knowing your more vintage, warmer kind of sound, they may not make you happy. But if you're looking for a change of pace, they do sound good - especially when paired with G1's on the bottom.

The Genera Dry is a weirdo. There's three models that I'm aware of - the regular Genera Dry, the Genera Dry HT, and the Genera Dry ST. The HT and ST are toneless shit. I'd stay away from them. The regular Genera Dry (with no letters behind it) is a really dry snare head, but it's very snappy and sounds good. I like those. It can be cranked pretty tight without a lot of ring and the way you do ghost notes and accents I think it could be a good head for you. The Powercenter Reverse Dot is another good Evans snare head. They wear out fast though, and Evans coatings are kind of weird.

I've never used the EQ4 batter. I think it's a single ply. I dunno bout that one. I use an EQ3 kick reso head and it's pretty deep and warm sounding.

Knowing your music and how you play, I'd say keep shopping. Don't settle on this stuff just cuz that's all your local guy has.
 
Thanx man. I did pretty much what you suggested. Just got back from the local guy and got G2's for the toms. I actually wanted a brighter soound on the toms because they're long toms. Sometime in the 90's, drum companies started making drums that were longer than "power toms", I think they were called "super toms" or something. Anyway, the 12" tom is 12"X12". Because of that, they're already deep sounding as it is. But it's hard to get a good attack from them until I tune them up, which I don't like. Hopefully the G2's will allow me to tune down and still have the attack and brightness. I held off on the other skins for now, and I'll pick up the bass drum and snare skin downtown.

Thanx for the help, dude. :cool:
 
I see you got heads so the following is for anyone else looking at new skins:
I am a huge fan of Aquarian Studio-X heads. Just the right amount of sustain and attack. Durability is not great but if you play daily, I believe that heads should get switched out every 3 months or so. That equates to about 150 -200 hours of playing time. Reso heads (I like Remo Diplomats) get changed out once a year or so. Kick heads get chaged when they develop a significant beater dent or splits in the outer ply. My new favorite is an Aquarian Superkick II on the beater side and a Superkick I on the reso side with a 5" hole for a mic. No blaket or muffling filler of any kind. My kick is a 3 ply maple interior Slingerland 18 x 20 so your results may vary.
 
cafehonda said:
I see you got heads so the following is for anyone else looking at new skins:
I am a huge fan of Aquarian Studio-X heads. Just the right amount of sustain and attack. Durability is not great but if you play daily, I believe that heads should get switched out every 3 months or so. That equates to about 150 -200 hours of playing time. Reso heads (I like Remo Diplomats) get changed out once a year or so. Kick heads get chaged when they develop a significant beater dent or splits in the outer ply. My new favorite is an Aquarian Superkick II on the beater side and a Superkick I on the reso side with a 5" hole for a mic. No blaket or muffling filler of any kind. My kick is a 3 ply maple interior Slingerland 18 x 20 so your results may vary.
Click to expand...

Thanx man, good info. I still have to get a skin for the kik and snare, so I'll keep all that in mind. I do have Diplomats on the bottoms and I've always used those there.

:cool:
 
excellent timing RamiDude :drunk:

I'm baggin the band scene, settin my studio back up and my skins are beat to shit. :(

I remember Gerg givin the same scoop on skins, printed it off and promptly lost it.

heh heh...
 
Its funny I have literally always used pinstripes on all my toms and kick since 1987! I always thought about trying something diffrent but would get confused as hell and chicken out when looking for a change. Alas I finally got some coated ambasadors and really like em! I'll admit I probably played it a little safe but im taking baby steps, old habits are hard to break.
 
I have the EC2 coated and am thinking of trying something new, too. I finally discovered moon gels to reduce tom ringing and now the EC2s are a little dull. How are the G2s working for you?
 
I'm real old school. I use black pinstripes on all of my toms (I just really like the sound) with thin clear resonators. I use Ambassador coated on my snare with a medium weight resonator for the snares and an Emad on my kick with a thin opaque and painted resonator with a 4" hole at 4 o:clock and a pillow inside. I've tried other configurations, but I prefer the sound here the best. What you choose and how you tune is a part of what makes you the kind of drummer you are. I don't think one set-up fits all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top