I just spent the last 12 years using Aquarian Texture Coated heads on all of my drums (except the bass drum). I loved their warmth and the roundness of their tone. During this period I thought clear heads were for younger players who weren’t very adept at tuning, since they were easier to dial in and could hold a decent tone longer for harder hitters. Then I bought a set of Pearl Reference Pure drums last winter, which came with Clear Emperors on the toms, and my attitude completely changed. Sure, they were louder than coated heads, but their tone was really musical. Now I’m using clear heads again and loving them.

How about you? Have you used the same type of heads for years, or do you experiment with your head selection?

Hi all. Andy as you noted, when I was just in the early years of my drumming, I used Remo Clear Pinstripes exclusivley. As I grew older & more experienced w/ tuning & tone, I switched to Coated Ambassadors. I liked the warmer tone of a coated head, a well as the tone of the single-ply (I became a bit less heavy-handed). When I got my DW drums, I fell in love w/ the coated-clear heads. I felt then that I was getting the best of both worlds & using a head w/ the best self-dampening system. Earlier this year, I started using Evans heads for the 1st time ever. After playing on a friend’s kit that had the Frosted EC2 heads on them, I was won over. I prefer the clear EC2 heads today, & am quite happy w/ the results. I also use the clear EC2 Resonants on all of my toms. I’ve always been a clear head guy when it comes to the kick drum. & I’ll forever use coated reverse-dot heads on my snares for the warmpth & coating for brushes.

ALWAYS loved clears on the toms- coated on snare for articulation and brush work…. Been a fan of Ludwig silver and Remo black dots (Bonham style) and Pinstripes…. and the Evans EC2’s… I like the warmth of clear ‘whoom’ toms with the ‘chicky’ articulated snare…. instead of all the bass head gimmicks currently, I still love the Big Sound of the Black Dot-tune it right and you get the depth and resonance…