I hope you still use the same account, I just got a gretsch catalina club kit, and I've been trying to find information on how calftone heads work on mahogany kits. If your kit is the mahogany shell pack would you still recommend them after four years of posting this comment?
Rob...agree with every point. I've been using these since they came out for my trio and jazz gigs. Love them. Great playing, keep swinging and all good things.
I know this review is a few years old. But I'll say that the EQ4 Calftone as a kick drum reso is awesome for rock and other styles. I haven't used the Calftones as batter heads for anything. This demo sounds great and it helps to have an accomplished drummer to make them sound that great.
@@HankNinja I went with the white coated ones, to match the white Kickports I have. It looks and sounds great too. Probably very similar in sound, these two.
Dude your channel has been the single biggest online influence to my drumming I think. The content is spot on and delivered in a no nonsense and humble way. Keep up the great work, and thanks! All the way from New Zealand 😊
Close my eyes and I was listening to a 1950s ensemble. The drums felt and sounded extremely natural and totally in the vibe, really pleasing to the ear.
I've had the bass drum head for a about 2 years now and it still looks and sounds quite good despite my heavy playing. Never tried it for the snare and toms though.
can u do a video comparing wood and chrome hoops? would also like to see a video on different tones a drum set would have depending on how many ply? if that makes any sense lol. I like the way you break everything down. Keep up the great work!
A hoop comparison video actually wouldn't even be worth doing because honestly, the difference is so small that it's really not anything an average listener could actually hear. I could feed y'all with a bunch of nerdy drumspeak and tell you they do this and that to the sound, and some drummers will, but they don't affect it THAT much. I've been playing 30 years, have great ears, and I can't hear much of a difference. I dig wood hoops because they're sexy. As far as the ply video..almost the same thing. The only obvious difference between say a 4ply and an 11ply is volume. Heads and tuning have a much bigger affect on sound than plys. At the end of the day when you put that thing on a stage, mic it up and play for an audience, none of it really matters.
Thanks for the honesty in this review, Rob. I would suggest anyone looking for a "vintage" sound but with a lot of durability, consider the aquarian vintage series, they come in 1 and 2-ply versions, plus their coating lasts the longest of all 3 major drum head manufacturers.
Devon Costanza I'm totally an Evans guy, man. But I'll have to agree. Those Aquarian vintage heads are pretty tight. If Evans tried a 7 mil skin with that new UV1 coating idea, I think that'd be a cool experiment.
+penski77 That's a new-product proposal there! Swing and fusion could use UV1 tops and UVR bottoms on toms. I'm looking into a potential upgrade center drum, ideally a 12-lug 14"x6.5", and a B14UVR could be a contender for a reso to complement the B14ST or B14MHG batter.
Perfect review of these heads. It answered all the questions I had plus the added comments on the bass drum resonant head have helped me decide what I'm going to do. And you are right, it's not cheap to outfit a kit with new heads, so getting this information is extremely valuable. Thank you for this informative review.
Great assessment! Thanks for being honest about their sound and durability. I've encountered the bubbling too which sneaks in after a while. Yes, all it takes are few heavier hits here and there and then the top film will eventually start to lift. I still love the sound of them though. I recently put an Evans black dot patch on the bass drum and it gave me just the right amount of extra articulation I wanted.
I built a somewhat unique 14" snare drum and was looking for a different tonal characteristic. I put one of these on and actually really liked it. It doesn't feel too thin, but I also didn't play it for an extended period of time. I use 5A sticks and play rock primarily. I hit the snare quite hard, but I'm not a heavy hitter on the toms. I think that to your point, Rob... it probably wouldn't work on my snare for an extended period of time, due to my heavy hitting, but I think a tom hitter like me could likely use these without too much fear of wearing them out prematurely. I think you just need to evaluate the type of drummer you are before making head choices. Everyone is different, which is why there are soooo many head choices. Thanks Rob! U da man!
Thank you! This is exactly the sort of review that I was looking for on the Calftone heads. Best review on the web by far! Thanks again, and your jazz playing is damn good too!
I'm a Remo guy. Fiberskins sound authentic on my 40s RK set. Clear ambass on my 69 Ludwig set. Fiberskin not a good snare batter. Aquarian Modern vintage on my RK snare. Time tested. Truly good tone. Good vid!
+SweeperMelis Me too, man. I haven't gotten a dislike in quite a while and I don't seem to have a troll problem. My channel is still pretty small but the ones that stop by seem to appreciate the content.
I just bought one for my snare. It’s definitely not for heavy playing. The application on the top acts as a natural compressor, so nothing is going to pop out. The edge tones sound more like a conga. The musical part of them is that they have so many pleasing tones within their dynamic range. Ironically, I got it for Rock and Roll playing, just not modern Rock. I’m going for a late 50s/early 60s sound (think Fats Domino, Little Richard, etc.). And the Calftone is perfect for that. It makes the snare sit better within the whole kit. With the snares off, it’s even better. It sounds exactly like the Hawkettes “Mardi Gras Mambo”.
On the box it says Rock Sound Profile but also shows the Durability is less than average. It isn't necessary to hit the drums hard to play Rock or light to play Jazz. Buddy Rich probably went through heads like they were made out of paper. If anything, I wouldn't choose these heads for Rock because they produce a brighter tone w. avg. sustain. I like the warm sound. They seem to cut down a lot of the overtones. Great jazzy playing by Mr. Brown to demonstrate how they sound. Thank you!
I don't have much to say about the heads at this moment. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your playing. It's been a while since I played any jazz combo gigs, so I'll put it this way. If I attempted that 32-bar drum break, I would be so far away from the "1" when the band comes back in, it might as well be in the next county! That's how rusty I am. I miss those days.
I think when they rated these heads for rock, they where thinking of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Richard Berry and others who started rock back when it was just emerging in the 1950s. Doubt you'd wanna play any Van Halen using these heads! Great video Rob! Keep up the great work.
Love this head on BD reso, but my pet peeve is their logo on top of the head where my drum logo should be. sure wish they would put the logo on the bottom so that I don't have to remove it with lacquer thinner
I agree with Rob. The coating is not great. I play a lot of brush work and light stick work. The snare has bubbles in it after a month. The brushes keep getting hung up on them. They should use the Evans UV1 technology coating on the heads.
Exactly the review I was looking for. Thanks Rob 🤙🏼. I'll be playing G1 coated over calftone on toms, and 22" EQ4 calftone res on kick. I'll probably stick with my HD Dry over 300 Hazy on my 12x7 maple. I appreciate you always giving in-depth analysis of the products you review and I really enjoy your playing and tips/tutorials. You're killin' it brother 🤙🏼
Hi Rob, Great video and great playing.I like the way you describe things. Have you done a video about the Earthtone calf heads which are actually real calf skin? Your playing in the beginning was great, do you have a video on playing fast and avoiding craps in your hands? Thank you again.
What an awesome review! Excellent tasty playing! Especially the kick! Thank you for posting this! How would you feel about a calftone emad on the batter and a Remo felt strip fiberskyn on the front? I'm looking for a deep resonance with an understated attack...
I would still prefer them even though I do venture the realm of experimental rock oriented music. I own a breakbeat kit... smaller, thinner shell and I’m far more into expressive quality from a kit than loudness. I’d definitely not port my kick either... completely agree. Especially with my small shell. It still sounds huge so long as it is a non protrusive installation.
Hi Rob! Great video, awesome playing too! Glad to see an honest review on these heads. I'm a rock drummer and was wondering if using the '56 reso on my 22" kick (I'd get a bigger one, but the 22 is easier to travel with while getting a bigger sound) with an emad 2 batter would give a good vintage "airy" boom to it (like a Roger Taylor sound). I don't use any internal muffling, just an AF patch and the emad ring
+Conall S Possibly, man. Give it a shot. I might try it with a loose tuning on the batter side. The Emad 2 is pretty thick - 17mil between the two plies. You'd normally want to go with a thinner head for a nice, big open sound with a solid front head, like a single 10 or 12mil. But yea, give it a shot.
I'll be honest. I was surprised with your warning on hard playing on these. Until you told they were as thin as remo diplomats. Back in the 90s, I tried ambassador fiberskyn on toms and the pinstripe version on floor tom on my tama rockstar. I played hard music back then. I had nothing but compliments on my sound. They really are more versatile than you would think. These Evans seem like a very different animal.
You mentioned that the bass drum batter is probably more durable than the others...you're right. It's actually a 12 mil if I remember correctly. I have a clear GMAD (also 12 mil) on my bass batter now, but I'm tempted to try the EMAD calftone whenever I replace my bass head (probably not for several months at least). Do you think that head, being a 12 mil, would be suitable for more styles if a beater patch is used? Thanks!
Late to the party...but was thinking about these. Gonna go with the kick drum, but will go with something a little more hefty for some funk. Any suggestions as Evans skins for the snare and toms? Much appreciated and best of luck, sounds great!!!
Hi Rob, Thanks for the vid! One question: you made it clear these heads are not for everybody. So who are they for? Jazz, got it. Any other applications? Light rock? I'm putting together a small kit for small venues / church setting. I thought of these as I expect them to be warm and with moderate / controllable volume. What do you think? Thanks!
He’s telling the truth I’ve been a drummer for many years and I can tell you from personal experience you got to be real careful with these labels on these drumheads.
i want to get these drumheads forbatter and reso and i'm a traitional jazz, swing and big band player with insiration of Gene krupa and sometimes i play the snare very forte and because of that, i'm afraid of making htese drumheads to brake but i want to know the experience of anyone who have had already these drumheads how durable are these. thanks and Salutations
Absolutely, man. I think it's really the best way to play and mic a kick. But there's a little bit of technique involved in playing a closed kick drum, playing 'off' the head - especially with 24s & 26s, instead of burying the beater like the majority of drummers do, and it's really only better for single kick players. For double-kick guys, playing a closed kick would just be annoying because of the amount of bounce back caused by all that air bouncing around in the shell. But the only reason for the hole is for the mic and not so much for sound. It's punchier, yea, but that's just the positive after-effect of having the hole there. You lose the woof because a lot the air gets forced out the port.
Hi Rob. Firstly, I really enjoy your videos - great information and very tasteful playing. I was thinking of these drum heads for a be-bop kit I bought but although they sound very nice I want to get something a bit more durable. I was thinking G1's on the toms and snare and maybe a G2 or coated EQ4 bass drum batter. What do you think and have you tried these on smaller drum sizes like a be-bop configuration. Cheers.
The Calftone heads were on my Sonar Vintage kit when I bought it and sounded great but after a week they all started to bubble up anf the bass drum head started to get dented.I use 7a and do not play hard but I do practice alot.I really love the tone of the bass drum head so I cut and glued small circles out of the 16" floor tom Calftone head to prolong it's life.
+penski77 *Thanks for confirming my assessment of the Evans®/D'Addario® Calftone™ batters* - ideal for jazz and concert band, a usable alternative to the same vendor's Strata 700 for orchestral.
Is it worth getting these if you're still budgeting for new heads? Mine still have the stock resonant heads from years ago and I'm doubting these are going to make much difference (other than the feel) unless I get new resos. Also, if I was planning on outfitting the whole kit with calftones, would you suggest doing all the drums at once for equal amounts of wear and tear, or does it really matter?
Hey Jeff. It was a track off an album/CD called Turn It Up 4 that I bought a few years back. Bunch of jazz tunes (minus drums) at several different progressing tempos. This one was obviously the last one on the album. lol Maybe you can find it online somewhere. Thanks for watchin'
Hi Rob, thanks for the review. Very informative and useful. I've come to this thread a bit late, but I'm thinking of getting these Calftone heads on my 16 inch BD. I was thinking of getting the standard Calftone head on both batter and reso heads. What do you think? I'm a jazz player, mostly piano trio in small venues. Thanks in advance for your help. Ronnie
Hey Rob I know you said bass drum that it was wide open for the video with nothing inside it but did you use a felt strip on the front drum head? just curious your feedback helps. love your videos stay strong and keep up the good work!
What do you think about the tone of Calfskin on just the resonant kick head, with a normal batter EMAD? I just love the look of the calfskin on the outside of kick
I had one on my cheap 20” Gigmaker kick (un-ported) and it sounded amazing. I only swapped it out because I took that kit to an outdoor show and had to mic it and didn’t feel like potentially debating with the soundguy about cutting a hole in the thing or taking it off. There was a Calftone on the batter side as well but it should sound great with anything on there. But yea, sweet looking from the front, especially if you can rig up a light inside of it
Yah but I love the sound of the these damnit. I have this tuned up and I bang the shit out of these and just don't care. I'll buy another one. These crack like the fucking nuke going off. This on a wood snare sounds almost concert jazz but on a steel hub baby - oh my dog it's a daizy-cutter.
Hey Rob, I'm taking a chance on these I picked up the caftone 22" a caftone Emad 22" a caftone 12"and a 16" they are coming to me sometime this week from Musician's Friend I got them and use my backstage pass points and I had a coupon for 12% off I ended up getting them all for $84 I think that's a good deal? anyway I'm kind of like you as far as equipment wise goes to a point I play Paiste,Yamaha, Vater and Evans. like you I have my costume Oak kit that is so nice I keep it set up for recording I don't take it out to do shows and for live playing I have a Rock Tour Custom which are made out of mahogany 6plys and two outer plys of Ash that is the one I'm putting the caftone's on I still have the factory drum heads on there and they are pinstripes which I can't stand and a powerstoke 4 on the kick I'm keeping the Ambassador bottom heads on the toms at least for now maybe change them over to Evans later ? the set was originally catered to the heavy metal Hard Rock crowd but I don't play that way and I feel these drums have too much of the Dead sound when I play them I hear them crying that they want to be free lol to sound more open and wonderful like my Oak's I think they have that potential in them but not with the double ply heads that are muting them down I'm hoping these will open them up to give me the sound I think I can get out of them what do you think? Can't wait to hear your opinion on this? Thanks Rob keep up the good work!
What are your thoughts on the Evans Frosted heads? i'm tossing up buying some and putting them on my Pearl Crystal beat, i currently use coated G2 to bring some warmth back that the acrylic drums loose and the kit sounds fantastic with the G2 heads. i play mostly punk and heavier styles of music but would love your opinion before i go out and buy the Evans Frosted heads
Brilliant solo, especially that fill that leads back into the ensemble playing. Drums sound warm and focused.
I have these on my gretsch catalina club. They sound great tuned down low, good vintage rock sound.
I hope you still use the same account, I just got a gretsch catalina club kit, and I've been trying to find information on how calftone heads work on mahogany kits. If your kit is the mahogany shell pack would you still recommend them after four years of posting this comment?
Love your playing Beat Down,your videos are really interesting,and being a drummer for many years I find them very informative.Thanks.
James Rivas Thanks a lot, man. Glad you've been finding the channel helpful 🙂
Rob...agree with every point. I've been using these since they came out for my trio and jazz gigs. Love them. Great playing, keep swinging and all good things.
I know this review is a few years old. But I'll say that the EQ4 Calftone as a kick drum reso is awesome for rock and other styles. I haven't used the Calftones as batter heads for anything. This demo sounds great and it helps to have an accomplished drummer to make them sound that great.
I was actually about to buy these as reso for my double bass drum, first for the look and also for a different sound.
@@claudebessette551 They look super cool on the front of a Bass drum. Did you pull the trigger?
@@HankNinja I went with the white coated ones, to match the white Kickports I have. It looks and sounds great too. Probably very similar in sound, these two.
Ufff the playing at the beginning is so tasty
Dude your channel has been the single biggest online influence to my drumming I think. The content is spot on and delivered in a no nonsense and humble way. Keep up the great work, and thanks! All the way from New Zealand 😊
+ELsplitterz New Zealand! 🇳🇿 Wicked 🙂 Thanks for watching, man
Close my eyes and I was listening to a 1950s ensemble. The drums felt and sounded extremely natural and totally in the vibe, really pleasing to the ear.
I've had the bass drum head for a about 2 years now and it still looks and sounds quite good despite my heavy playing. Never tried it for the snare and toms though.
Play the Calftones for months on my 24×14 Ludwig Bd in my hardrock Band and it sounds and feels great WITHOUT lost its surface.
Sounding good on Giant Steps man!
By "Rock", they probably mean oldies style rock. Not modern rock. Guys like Dominic Fontana, and Hal Blaine used Fiberskyn type heads.
can u do a video comparing wood and chrome hoops? would also like to see a video on different tones a drum set would have depending on how many ply? if that makes any sense lol. I like the way you break everything down. Keep up the great work!
A hoop comparison video actually wouldn't even be worth doing because honestly, the difference is so small that it's really not anything an average listener could actually hear. I could feed y'all with a bunch of nerdy drumspeak and tell you they do this and that to the sound, and some drummers will, but they don't affect it THAT much. I've been playing 30 years, have great ears, and I can't hear much of a difference. I dig wood hoops because they're sexy. As far as the ply video..almost the same thing. The only obvious difference between say a 4ply and an 11ply is volume. Heads and tuning have a much bigger affect on sound than plys. At the end of the day when you put that thing on a stage, mic it up and play for an audience, none of it really matters.
Thanks for the honesty in this review, Rob. I would suggest anyone looking for a "vintage" sound but with a lot of durability, consider the aquarian vintage series, they come in 1 and 2-ply versions, plus their coating lasts the longest of all 3 major drum head manufacturers.
Devon Costanza I'm totally an Evans guy, man. But I'll have to agree. Those Aquarian vintage heads are pretty tight. If Evans tried a 7 mil skin with that new UV1 coating idea, I think that'd be a cool experiment.
+penski77 That's a new-product proposal there! Swing and fusion could use UV1 tops and UVR bottoms on toms. I'm looking into a potential upgrade center drum, ideally a 12-lug 14"x6.5", and a B14UVR could be a contender for a reso to complement the B14ST or B14MHG batter.
Perfect review of these heads. It answered all the questions I had plus the added comments on the bass drum resonant head have helped me decide what I'm going to do. And you are right, it's not cheap to outfit a kit with new heads, so getting this information is extremely valuable. Thank you for this informative review.
Great assessment! Thanks for being honest about their sound and durability. I've encountered the bubbling too which sneaks in after a while. Yes, all it takes are few heavier hits here and there and then the top film will eventually start to lift. I still love the sound of them though. I recently put an Evans black dot patch on the bass drum and it gave me just the right amount of extra articulation I wanted.
Yet again another incredibly insightful video. Thank you Rob for sharing so much knowledge!
Literally LOL'd at the offroad Prius comment... thanks for the review!
Great jazz playing ,,Love them heads
I built a somewhat unique 14" snare drum and was looking for a different tonal characteristic. I put one of these on and actually really liked it. It doesn't feel too thin, but I also didn't play it for an extended period of time. I use 5A sticks and play rock primarily. I hit the snare quite hard, but I'm not a heavy hitter on the toms. I think that to your point, Rob... it probably wouldn't work on my snare for an extended period of time, due to my heavy hitting, but I think a tom hitter like me could likely use these without too much fear of wearing them out prematurely. I think you just need to evaluate the type of drummer you are before making head choices. Everyone is different, which is why there are soooo many head choices. Thanks Rob! U da man!
Thank you! This is exactly the sort of review that I was looking for on the Calftone heads. Best review on the web by far! Thanks again, and your jazz playing is damn good too!
Always informative and a pleasure to watch, listen, and learn.... thanks Rob, Blessings!!!
I'm a Remo guy. Fiberskins sound authentic on my 40s RK set. Clear ambass on my 69 Ludwig set. Fiberskin not a good snare batter. Aquarian Modern vintage on my RK snare. Time tested. Truly good tone. Good vid!
I love the positivity around your channel
+SweeperMelis Me too, man. I haven't gotten a dislike in quite a while and I don't seem to have a troll problem. My channel is still pretty small but the ones that stop by seem to appreciate the content.
I just bought one for my snare. It’s definitely not for heavy playing. The application on the top acts as a natural compressor, so nothing is going to pop out. The edge tones sound more like a conga. The musical part of them is that they have so many pleasing tones within their dynamic range.
Ironically, I got it for Rock and Roll playing, just not modern Rock. I’m going for a late 50s/early 60s sound (think Fats Domino, Little Richard, etc.). And the Calftone is perfect for that. It makes the snare sit better within the whole kit. With the snares off, it’s even better. It sounds exactly like the Hawkettes “Mardi Gras Mambo”.
fabulous playing and sound
"...like trying to go off-road in a Prius." LOL!
Great for a full time Jazz player or someone who has 2 kits and keeps one tuned for Jazz. BTW, everything you said applies to Aquarian Vintage heads.
On the box it says Rock Sound Profile but also shows the Durability is less than average. It isn't necessary to hit the drums hard to play Rock or light to play Jazz. Buddy Rich probably went through heads like they were made out of paper.
If anything, I wouldn't choose these heads for Rock because they produce a brighter tone w. avg. sustain. I like the warm sound. They seem to cut down a lot of the overtones. Great jazzy playing by Mr. Brown to demonstrate how they sound. Thank you!
Thanks for ur advice, man!
Fantastic playing Rob. Loved that solo. Great info too.
I don't have much to say about the heads at this moment. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your playing. It's been a while since I played any jazz combo gigs, so I'll put it this way. If I attempted that 32-bar drum break, I would be so far away from the "1" when the band comes back in, it might as well be in the next county! That's how rusty I am. I miss those days.
Thanks Rob got them on my kit fantastic and sound amazing! Finally enjoying my kit this sound is how they should have sounded from the beginning
+Brian Randolph Noice! Good stuff, man 🙂
I think when they rated these heads for rock, they where thinking of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Richard Berry and others who started rock back when it was just emerging in the 1950s. Doubt you'd wanna play any Van Halen using these heads! Great video Rob! Keep up the great work.
The Aquarian Super Kick II also tunes up Sooo nice on the bass drum. Super tone and punch/snap.
Love this head on BD reso, but my pet peeve is their logo on top of the head where my drum logo should be. sure wish they would put the logo on the bottom so that I don't have to remove it with lacquer thinner
I agree with Rob. The coating is not great. I play a lot of brush work and light stick work. The snare has bubbles in it after a month. The brushes keep getting hung up on them. They should use the Evans UV1 technology coating on the heads.
Awesome playing !!!! Greetings from Brazil !
Thanks so much for this review. Good to know about the lack of durability.
Really dug watching you play jazz!
+Chip Hammond Thanks, man 🙂👊🏽
Very nice Jazz playing Rob,, I might get these just for the bass drum and do Remo white coated on the toms with a Fiberskyn on the snare drum.
Good honest explanation of the product. Well done.
Exactly the review I was looking for. Thanks Rob 🤙🏼. I'll be playing G1 coated over calftone on toms, and 22" EQ4 calftone res on kick. I'll probably stick with my HD Dry over 300 Hazy on my 12x7 maple. I appreciate you always giving in-depth analysis of the products you review and I really enjoy your playing and tips/tutorials. You're killin' it brother 🤙🏼
Cool Rob, great video! Love the Bass drum sound of these heads. All the best, David Curtis
Hi Rob, Great video and great playing.I like the way you describe things. Have you done a video about the Earthtone calf heads which are actually real calf skin? Your playing in the beginning was great, do you have a video on playing fast and avoiding craps in your hands? Thank you again.
Nice heads...great playing!
Might be a good idea to use them for Reso's! Kool look to give your kit for undersides!
Great playing obviously...really enjoyed the straight ahead way, no messin' how to tune videos too
SweeperMelis tune videos?
1956 did not djent.
Off road in a Prius!! Awesome analogy!!
What an awesome review! Excellent tasty playing! Especially the kick! Thank you for posting this! How would you feel about a calftone emad on the batter and a Remo felt strip fiberskyn on the front? I'm looking for a deep resonance with an understated attack...
Great drumming man! Compliments!
Due to copyright laws beginning song was Huge Steps LUL but seriously thanks for the review and playing examples!
Great playing & video. I think these things would be great on the Questlove breakbeat kit. That Giant Steps? What's the recording?
I would still prefer them even though I do venture the realm of experimental rock oriented music. I own a breakbeat kit... smaller, thinner shell and I’m far more into expressive quality from a kit than loudness. I’d definitely not port my kick either... completely agree. Especially with my small shell. It still sounds huge so long as it is a non protrusive installation.
Really enjoyed your review of these heades
Very, very helpful review. Thanks for being straight up!
Nice review! I really want to check them out.
Great review. I'm surprised these are that thin. If they're supposed to be like a calf skin, seems like they'd be thicker.
Now Thats how you review products. Great work.
Munkiee Braynez Thanks, man 🙂
Great playing Beat Down!
Beautiful playing Brother!
GEEZE! You're smoking here man! Wow!
What cymbals are you using here? Invaluable information BTW. Thank you.
Hi Rob! Great video, awesome playing too! Glad to see an honest review on these heads.
I'm a rock drummer and was wondering if using the '56 reso on my 22" kick (I'd get a bigger one, but the 22 is easier to travel with while getting a bigger sound) with an emad 2 batter would give a good vintage "airy" boom to it (like a Roger Taylor sound). I don't use any internal muffling, just an AF patch and the emad ring
+Conall S Possibly, man. Give it a shot. I might try it with a loose tuning on the batter side. The Emad 2 is pretty thick - 17mil between the two plies. You'd normally want to go with a thinner head for a nice, big open sound with a solid front head, like a single 10 or 12mil. But yea, give it a shot.
Rob Brown Thanks man, might switch to the original emad in that case!
This was a really good review. Thanks for the tips
Great review. Outstanding playing!!
Nice video Rob! Thanks!!!
I'll be honest. I was surprised with your warning on hard playing on these. Until you told they were as thin as remo diplomats. Back in the 90s, I tried ambassador fiberskyn on toms and the pinstripe version on floor tom on my tama rockstar. I played hard music back then. I had nothing but compliments on my sound. They really are more versatile than you would think. These Evans seem like a very different animal.
what does that mean? they're not as versatile as ambassador fiberskyn?
You mentioned that the bass drum batter is probably more durable than the others...you're right. It's actually a 12 mil if I remember correctly. I have a clear GMAD (also 12 mil) on my bass batter now, but I'm tempted to try the EMAD calftone whenever I replace my bass head (probably not for several months at least). Do you think that head, being a 12 mil, would be suitable for more styles if a beater patch is used? Thanks!
Thanks for bringing truthfull I was gunna get one on my snare till I saw this ended up going for a g14coated :)
"...Like driving a Prius off road!" Great metaphor.
Tony Williams tuning? I ordered today then found you. Used to be Jazz clubs everywhere.
It should probably say old school rock... ie Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jackie Brenston, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly.
Yeah man, I agree but how would they sound for acoustic soul, or acoustic worship?
nice jazz chops man!
Nice wood hoops, man, sounds great.
Late to the party...but was thinking about these. Gonna go with the kick drum, but will go with something a little more hefty for some funk. Any suggestions as Evans skins for the snare and toms? Much appreciated and best of luck, sounds great!!!
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the vid! One question: you made it clear these heads are not for everybody. So who are they for? Jazz, got it. Any other applications? Light rock? I'm putting together a small kit for small venues / church setting. I thought of these as I expect them to be warm and with moderate / controllable volume. What do you think?
Thanks!
+Andrew McAlister You'll be just fine. Any kind of light/moderate playing is cool. It's just the wrong head for heavy hitters
Great video, thanks! What kind of ressonant heads do you recomend in toms and snare to match the Calftone line?
I was wondering the same. Also what he has as reso's on these drums with the calftone on top.
He’s telling the truth I’ve been a drummer for many years and I can tell you from personal experience you got to be real careful with these labels on these drumheads.
i want to get these drumheads forbatter and reso and i'm a traitional jazz, swing and big band player with insiration of Gene krupa and sometimes i play the snare very forte and because of that, i'm afraid of making htese drumheads to brake but i want to know the experience of anyone who have had already these drumheads how durable are these.
thanks and Salutations
Legit lol'd when you took out that sharpie
Excellent post family. In regard to the reso side on the toms and snare what do you suggest with these skins? Same skins perhaps?
Hi Rob, would you recommend using an internally mounted kick drum mic to save cutting a hole in the front reso? Many thanks Dave.
Absolutely, man. I think it's really the best way to play and mic a kick. But there's a little bit of technique involved in playing a closed kick drum, playing 'off' the head - especially with 24s & 26s, instead of burying the beater like the majority of drummers do, and it's really only better for single kick players. For double-kick guys, playing a closed kick would just be annoying because of the amount of bounce back caused by all that air bouncing around in the shell. But the only reason for the hole is for the mic and not so much for sound. It's punchier, yea, but that's just the positive after-effect of having the hole there. You lose the woof because a lot the air gets forced out the port.
Hi Rob. Firstly, I really enjoy your videos - great information and very tasteful playing. I was thinking of these drum heads for a be-bop kit I bought but although they sound very nice I want to get something a bit more durable. I was thinking G1's on the toms and snare and maybe a G2 or coated EQ4 bass drum batter. What do you think and have you tried these on smaller drum sizes like a be-bop configuration. Cheers.
The Calftone heads were on my Sonar Vintage kit when I bought it and sounded great but after a week they all started to bubble up anf the bass drum head started to get dented.I use 7a and do not play hard but I do practice alot.I really love the tone of the bass drum head so I cut and glued small circles out of the 16" floor tom Calftone head to prolong it's life.
+penski77 *Thanks for confirming my assessment of the Evans®/D'Addario® Calftone™ batters* - ideal for jazz and concert band, a usable alternative to the same vendor's Strata 700 for orchestral.
Is it worth getting these if you're still budgeting for new heads? Mine still have the stock resonant heads from years ago and I'm doubting these are going to make much difference (other than the feel) unless I get new resos. Also, if I was planning on outfitting the whole kit with calftones, would you suggest doing all the drums at once for equal amounts of wear and tear, or does it really matter?
Great review. Thank you. Btw what backing track were you playing to? Was it a music minus one track?
Hey Jeff. It was a track off an album/CD called Turn It Up 4 that I bought a few years back. Bunch of jazz tunes (minus drums) at several different progressing tempos. This one was obviously the last one on the album. lol Maybe you can find it online somewhere. Thanks for watchin'
That's whatz up! #Yessah. #ThumbsUp. #YouRock!
Hi Rob, thanks for the review. Very informative and useful. I've come to this thread a bit late, but I'm thinking of getting these Calftone heads on my 16 inch BD. I was thinking of getting the standard Calftone head on both batter and reso heads. What do you think? I'm a jazz player, mostly piano trio in small venues. Thanks in advance for your help. Ronnie
These heads are great for that application, man. Do it up
I like the look of the fiberskyn but I like the sound of the calftone better so
Getting dead jazzy - my kind of thing - really sweet sound
Hey Rob
I know you said bass drum that it was wide open for the video with nothing inside it but did you use a felt strip on the front drum head? just curious your feedback helps.
love your videos stay strong and keep up the good work!
+Brian Randolph Hey thanks, man 🙂No felt strip on the front. Just the head.
What do you think about the tone of Calfskin on just the resonant kick head, with a normal batter EMAD? I just love the look of the calfskin on the outside of kick
I had one on my cheap 20” Gigmaker kick (un-ported) and it sounded amazing. I only swapped it out because I took that kit to an outdoor show and had to mic it and didn’t feel like potentially debating with the soundguy about cutting a hole in the thing or taking it off. There was a Calftone on the batter side as well but it should sound great with anything on there. But yea, sweet looking from the front, especially if you can rig up a light inside of it
what reso heads Youre using on toms/snare with calftone batters?
I'm wondering the same thing
What do you think about playing soul or playing like Greb/Johnston? Could I use it or it will destroy in few weeks?
"Off-road in a Prius" - noice analogy.
Yah but I love the sound of the these damnit. I have this tuned up and I bang the shit out of these and just don't care. I'll buy another one. These crack like the fucking nuke going off. This on a wood snare sounds almost concert jazz but on a steel hub baby - oh my dog it's a daizy-cutter.
Hey Rob,
I'm taking a chance on these I picked up the caftone 22" a
caftone Emad 22" a caftone 12"and a 16" they are coming to me sometime this week from Musician's Friend I got them and use my backstage pass points and I had a coupon for 12% off I ended up getting them all for $84 I think that's a good deal?
anyway I'm kind of like you as far as equipment wise goes to a point I play Paiste,Yamaha, Vater and Evans. like you I have my costume Oak kit that is so nice I keep it set up for recording I don't take it out to do shows and for live playing I have a Rock Tour Custom which are made out of mahogany 6plys and two outer plys of Ash that is the one I'm putting the caftone's on I still have the factory drum heads on there and they are pinstripes which I can't stand and a powerstoke 4 on the kick I'm keeping the Ambassador bottom heads on the toms at least for now maybe change them over to Evans later ? the set was originally catered to the heavy metal Hard Rock crowd but I don't play that way and I feel these drums have too much of the Dead sound when I play them I hear them crying that they want to be free lol to sound more open and wonderful like my Oak's I think they have that potential in them but not with the double ply heads that are muting them down I'm hoping these will open them up to give me the sound I think I can get out of them what do you think? Can't wait to hear your opinion on this?
Thanks Rob keep up the good work!
What are your thoughts on the Evans Frosted heads? i'm tossing up buying some and putting them on my Pearl Crystal beat, i currently use coated G2 to bring some warmth back that the acrylic drums loose and the kit sounds fantastic with the G2 heads. i play mostly punk and heavier styles of music but would love your opinion before i go out and buy the Evans Frosted heads
+Brody Single You'll be fine with the EC2 frosted heads. It's basically a frosted G2 with a control ring on it.
Awesome playing, where can I find/buy that track you were playing?
It was from a ‘Turn It Up/Lay It Down’ series of play along CDs from a while back. You might have to research availability
Thx