The fiberskyns add a lovely mellowness to the toms. I have put them on my 12" rack tom and 14' floor tom and I love the vintage vibe I'm getting--aided by coated ambassadors as reso heads, to control overtones and focus the sound.

@schmargle

3 жыл бұрын

Nice!

Thanks for the comparison! And great playing, too. Those Fiberskyns are gonna find their way into my Sweetwater cart real soon.

Ambassador Coated - Open tone. The amount of overtones can help them cut through the mix. Ambassador Vintage - Less overtones, based on early Ambassadors. More durable because of double plies. Ambassador Fiberskyn - Same as Ambassadors but with a layer of Tyvek film. Warmer because of Tyvek layer.

Vintage complete set arrived today - awesomeeeeeeeeee

Vintage seem to have more focus and slightly less overtones

Ambassadors for me then fiberskin’s. I have the vintages on my kit currently but they are to choked for my taste.

Between the vintage ambassadors and the fiberskyns, which would you say has a softer feel?

@schmargle

2 ай бұрын

Fiberskyns. To me, Vintage Ambassadors are somewhere in between the standard Ambassadors and Fiberskyns in terms of the feel and tone.

@jonathanbormann5077

2 ай бұрын

@schmargle that's about what I thought it would be. I have a 14" fiberskyn I tried on my snare. I didn't like it for that (I think Diplomat Fiberskyn would be better for me) but I'm looking to order a 12" Amb. Fiberskyn and put them on my toms. Thanks for the quick reply!

nice vid, decided for theFiberskyns; but I got problems with my tuning (new to it), could you tell some details about yours pls?

@schmargle

3 жыл бұрын

I would start with an approach like this: kzread.info/dash/bejne/q6Bt2cmRg8neldo.html Basically, your first goal should be to get the head tension at each lug to be about the same. Now, I actually tune my heads to specific pitches. To do that, I get a pitch pipe (or phone app or tonal instrument), play a note, and try to tune the head to that pitch at each lug. So, I gently tap at each lug and tighten or loosen each tension rod until I hear the pitch I want. I do that at every lug until the whole head is at the pitch I want. ...And I also tune both top and bottom heads to the same note (though not everyone does that). It definitely takes time to learn how to tune well. But I would start with some KZread videos. At some point, maybe I'll make one myself.

Great review! Love the sound of your drums. If you only had 12” and 14” toms, what key would you tune them to?

@schmargle

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! I like to tune my tom heads to 4ths. So, even when I'm just using a 4-piece kit, with 12 and 14" toms, I still tune the heads to D (14") and G (12"). Sometimes I tune them to E and A. But for my drums, D and G just tend to be the sweet spot. I get a lot of resonance and the heads are not flabby. Some people when recording tune their heads according to the key of the song, but I've almost never done that. Just a note: Even though I tune the heads (top and bottom) to those particular notes, the actual pitch that I hear when the drum is mounted is different-the depth of the drum affects the overall pitch. Still, they wind up in 4ths.

Hey greg, what heads/beater are you using on the kick drum? sounds INSANE!

@schmargle

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. I use a clear Remo Powerstroke 3 on the batter side and a Coated Ambassador on the front, with a small, 6-inch hole cut out for the mic-an AKG D112, which sits about 6 inches back from the center of the batter head. The pedal is a DW with the plastic side of the beater hitting the head. Also key: compression and EQ. For EQ, I boost the fundamental (around 50 Hz) a decent amount, then scoop a bit around 100 Hz, then boost again around 3k-ish.

@schmargle

Жыл бұрын

…And you must have a good ear, because I’m barely playing the kick in this video!

@acrylicrecording

Жыл бұрын

@@schmargle haha yeah those quick double hits really caught my attention, love DW kicks. Good to hear there was some processing because I thought it sounded too good to be just raw haha thanks for your response!

Great demo/shootout, did you ever try the vintage ambassador or fiberskyn on a snare? Also wondered about the Fiberskyn Diplomat on a snare too, any thoughts? Thanks, great job and comments!

@schmargle

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks. I have not (yet) tried the Vintage Ambassador on snare, mostly because I'm lazy, but also because I really like the way my usual head, a Coated Ambassador with a dot underneath, sounds. Now, many years ago I did use Fiberskyns on my snares. I liked it-to me it sounded like a slightly more muted, thicker version of a Coated Ambassador. In particular, I liked rim shots, which would give you the rim shot sound but choke a little sooner than the regular Coated Ambassador. I also liked that the surface did not rub off as quickly as the Coated Ambassadors (or really at all). However, I kind of like the high-end frequencies of the Coated Ambassador more for snare, since I mostly play rock. I would definitely consider using the Fiberskyn on snare for jazz, though. As for the Fiberskyn Diplomats, they just seem too thin for me, though I've never tried them on a snare. I don't play all that hard, but when I'm playing rock, I'm guessing I could go through a Diplomat head. If you're playing a lot of brushes or doing lighter stick work, I would think they could work fine and would probably be more sensitive than the Ambassadors.

@toneclassics

3 жыл бұрын

@@schmargle Thanks for your comment Greg! So between Fiberskyns & Vintage ambassadors which handle your tunings better overall? (I'm usually tuning about a full note higher). Thanks again for the great demo production!

@schmargle

3 жыл бұрын

@@toneclassics When I use Fiberskyns, while I'm tuning, it is slightly easier for me to hear the note I'm trying to tune to, I think because I hear more fundamental and fewer overtones. But the difference is not huge. Now, if you're asking more generally which heads work better with my tunings, that's a little complicated. I nearly always tune my drum heads to the same notes (C top/bottom for the 10-inch, G top/bottom for 12-inch, D top/bottom for 14-inch). Those are medium to low-ish tunings for my particular drums. With the Fiberskyns, using those tunings, the heads are a little more taut (less flabby) than with regular, non-Vintage Coated Ambassadors. The Vintage Coated Ambassadors are somewhere in between-more taut than the regular Coated Ambassadors, less taut than the Fiberskyns. So, I prefer the more taut, less flabby feel, because it's easier to articulate, like when you're playing fast notes. But for me, the Vintage Coated Ambassadors (or CS Coated Ambassadors) are a good compromise-they are a little less flabby at my tunings than the regular Ambassadors, but they are also less muted and have more overtones than the Fiberskyns. If I could have the feel of the Fiberskyns but the sound of Coated Ambassadors, that would be great. ...But to get that, I'd basically have to tune Ambassador heads higher.

@toneclassics

3 жыл бұрын

@@schmargle Exactly what I was looking for, many thanks for the detailed answers!

Am I the only one who’s getting anxiety because of the sleeves?

@schmargle

3 жыл бұрын

The sleeves...of the sweater I was wearing?

@powbobs

3 жыл бұрын

Yes

What resonant heads have you got on your DW's?🙏

@schmargle

3 жыл бұрын

I use Clear Ambassadors. I haven't experimented much with the resonant heads. I think I tried Diplomats once in the late 1970s, mistakenly poked a hole in one of them somehow, and have used the thicker Ambassadors ever since.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻