I also have an ebony pinstripe batters on my toms and I have been experimenting with tuning A LOT recently. I think I'm finally getting satisfied with my tuning ability. It just takes quite a bit of practice. The prof. sound tuning bible is really a great tool. I couldn't get it to work the first time I read it, but now it makes total sense. You really just have to experiment, read, experiment, read again, compare your results, and try again. I am really amazed at how much better I could get my cheapo drum kit to sound once I learned how to tune properly. I don't think I would have spent the money on a better kit recently if I would have known it was possible to make it sound so good with just tuning alone. I used to have those dampening rings all over my heads and tape on the bottoms, etc. Now I only use a little bit of tape on the snare and I'm so much happier with the sound.
As far as floor toms go, I'm using
a pinstripe on a 16" drum with a stock reso head, and I find that the best tuning for my drum is to tune the bottom head very low, just to the point where it makes a nice clear note, and then tune the top head up until it sounds good and is comfortable to roll on. I've found that my toms rarely sound good with the heads really tight and they usually sound best when I keep the reso head tuned low and use the batter to control the feel of the drum. However, they also sound good tuned to the same pitch, I just prefer a lower, deader sound. YMMV.
On a side note, I've always liked the pinstripes, but now that I've gotten the hang of tuning I really can see what the benefits of a less muffled head like an emperor would be. I think I'm going to have to try emperors on the toms next time I buy heads.
