Attack drumheads

Right off the bat, I know this is a controversial company. I never looked at attack until recently. My past experience (old btw) was that attack 1-ply were thin, bright and not very durable. I saw that a 24" zero overtone batter was $24, vs a ps/3 or emad at $44. Thanks to my current economics, it was a viable solution. I also had to replace my drum heads anyway, the heads that came on the kit (1988 Tama imperialstar) was a mismash of dented and worn hydraulics, black suede, emperors and coated ambassadors...some from 1988. I had original remo tama logo heads and white-hooped hydraulic heads.

I started with the 2-ply medium clear that have a stamped ring where you might expect an add in tone ring. They replaced pinstripes on my 6/8/10 concert toms. These heads had a brighter attack, the same low end, and MUCH better stick response. This imperialstar kit never had drumheads that could do this in the 1980's. The toms are significantly louder now. I swapped out ps/3's with the 1-ply zero overtone heads and it was like going from aquarian superkick I to the emad. There was a much greater response, immediacy and volume. These drumheads made my kit sound MUCH more contemporary.

I have a box of attack on the way, resos and a coated 1-ply for my DW edge snare. So far, I dig the sound immensely, but haven't had them on long enough to determine durability. I wail on them with my 2B's, and I have no reason to suspect they are any less durable than G2's.

Does anyone else use Attack?

FWIW: I was digging through my drum mags. Remo/evans have a drum mag review every 3-4 months. Aquarian, 4-6 months. Attack, once per year. I can see why few people use them or had a bad impression because they aren't afforded the hype.

My most recent snare has had 2 Attack Batters.

First head was one-ply. I play brushes a lot and the coating started to pin-hole quicker than I expected, but it is nice coating (great for brushes). Too bright/ringy for my drum though (which is thin-shelled and resonant as hell), so I recently switched to one of their double-ply heads.

Double-ply sounds great, but has a dampening-ring incorporated into the ply. With my drum I can get away with it, but it might just kill the tone of a lot of snares.

The Terry Bozzio range looks nice.

The Terry B heads are fantastic -- love them on snares. Haven't gotten a set for toms, though. They are supposed to be much more durable than the standard models.

Here are some things about attack I got from the Universal Percussion catalog they sent me:

- Attack uses steel hoops, not potmetal

- Dynaflex material is indeed brighter and louder than others with stick response at least as good as anything evans makes.

- No glue is used, the heads are locked in a clamp-style (this explains the brightness and openness)

- They range in cost starting at 55% of the cost of the big three

- The heads have either a tone ring like ps/3 or a stamped ring shaping the edge and controlling overtones

I can't see using a 1-ply clear attack on a yamaha oak or dw collectors for example, because IMO, that would be way too bright and open. I heard some on a Mapex orion kit and the sound was too much for me. Moongel helped.

Fed ex has my stuff, I might just have it tomorrow (saturday)

yep yep!

I will eventually get a 12" Bozzio for my snare. AFAIK, Attack is the only company that makes a reverse dot coated head specifically for a 12" profile snare.

My observations of drum head products:

Remo: decent all around, the most "neutral" in terms of heads like clear emperors not trying to modify the sound very much. Some two-ply products have had spotty quality over the years. Best products: Clear and coated ambs, emps and ps/3 kick batters are pretty standard fare across the industry.

Evans: More attacky than remo. The g2's seem to add a spiky slap to drums which can in some cases sound plasticky. The emad is unique and seems to be punchier than remo drumheads. g2/g1 or resonant glass liven a kit up. Best Products: Emad, G2, g1 resonant glass and Ec2's. EC2's are becoming as madly popular now as remo pinstripes were in the 80's.

Aquarian: All the heads have that shaped collar and as a result, warm up the sound and slow down stick response. You get a deep, but soft sound from these heads. Critics claim these were made to make cheap kits sound good. This is partially true, but aquarian heads can bring body and warmth to some of the bright and thin sounding modern kits. Best products: super 2, classic clears, z-100 texture coated, superkick batters.

Attack: brighter and louder than other drumheads at a lower cost. I can't vouch for many of the products, but the 2 ply and snare heads seem to be on par quality wise with the big 3. They seem to be designed to have optimum brightness and stick response. Best products (?): 2-ply clear, Terry Bozzio line and no-overtone kick batters.

That's my basic view of the 4 companies.

i actually started using Attack heads back in the late 80's when they were called "Deadheads". back then the only line was a clear "pinstripe" type head.

they had to change the name from "Deadheads" due to litigation with the Grateful Dead and the connotation.

over the next few years the line expanded and now i've used nothing BUT Attack heads since 1992.

i find they to be consistent, easy to tune, and the white coating to be extremely durable.

and cost-wise they are hard to beat. a set of 12, 13, 14, 16, 22 single ply white coated heads would be about $49 compared to around $80 for remo or evans based on prices from Interstate Music. they seem to have the best prices on them by far.

the regular Attack series are made of Dynaflex while their Bozzio series are made of the standard Mylar film.

and no doubt that they do get lost in the remo/evans/aquarian shuffle for sure!!

You gave me a bit of information that I was scouring back issues of md for! I remember the "deadhead" product but never connected it to the attack line. I am gonna have to dig out an old MD and see if I can find an ad, now that I know what to look for!

here's UP's Attack website if you need more info or haven't checked it out.

http://www.universalpercussion.com/attack.html

I have a catalog and I had poked through the UP site, but not seen that page. Good link, thanks!

Attack is definitely a grossly underrated line of products.

Note: I wanted a common, 15" remo head and it's 2-3 weeks back order. Attack has them in stock and I get them in 3-5 days for several bucks less.

currently playing a 12" remo coated cs reverse dot. i love 'em. also recently played a vintage a, tuned pretty loose. very fat, wet.

on a 12 x 7 snare.

That drumhead could not have been available all that long. A couple years ago when I went shopping for a 13", remo only listed 13 and 14" reverse dot on any site I went to.

It's late and I am kind of tired... "vintage A" to me means a zildjian cymbal, which can't be tuned...or is it something else?

remo vintage a(mbassador.) nice texture. darker than reg ambass.

Yeah remo changed the formula since the 80's. Same for the pinstripe which used to be much thicker sounding.

So what makes it possible for Attack to make drum heads so much cheaper than everyone else?

If they really are that cool, and that cheap, what's holding everyone back?

I'm thinking these would be a great choice for the fiberglass kit I just got, but it seems like there's gotta be some kinda catch.

No catch. The Terry D. single ply head is my absolute favorite snare head that I've tried, they were on sale for $6 a head one day, and boy oh boy, was I a happy camper!

Well if that's the case I think some single-ply coated medium weight heads are in order for my new kit!

According to the boxes, Attack are made in Taiwan ('with pride' apparently). Location, location, location....

I like the fact that they crimp their heads instead of glue.

I actually have a full set of "dead heads" on my Sonor Phonics. (complete with the ""Tone Ridge" around each head. I got a whole pile about 5 years ago in an ebay "lot" sale). Anyhow, they were some of the richest sounding heads I've ever heard, and just as, if not more, durable than the "big three". If I could find more of them, I'd snap them up. I'm on my last set of them. Never got to try the actual Attack heads. My deadheads never gave out on me quick enough to make me try the newer style heads.

You said "Sonor Phonics". You have a classic! :phil:

Here is an observation about sonor: is it my imagination or does this brand have very little restoration going on? The reason I say that is unlike tama, pearl and the rest sonor guys simply take better better care of them. You just don't see that many used sonor kits for sale. Maybe that might seem off base a little, but I never see sonor phonics on Craigslist with one tom canted at a 65 degree angle (with the floor tom on the floor without legs) in the corner of a damp basement in need of overhaul.

"Four sale: Sownair fonix. Kept in bassment. Needs new covers. Comes with base, snair and a high base and a floor base. A little ruff. No simbols. Call Zeke..."

My tom and snare batter heads arrived via fedex. I replaced all the tom batters with clear 2-ply medium. To say they were an upgrade from pinstripes would be an understatement. Much louder, crisper, tons of depth and focus without excess damping.

The old 1-ply remo coated amb on my 12x7 DW edge was replaced by an attack 1-ply medium white. Definitely a crisper and louder drum head with better stick response.

I am never going back to Remo again for anything.

I have to agree. Some of the reason you don't see a lot of kits for sale used, is that I don't quite think there are that many kits out there, compared to the cardboard cutout brands. (exports, imperialstars, rockers, etc)

Sonor's generally cost a bit more, so that knocks down the market initially to those that are serious about drumming. Then you add in the fact that their stuff just sings, and their shells/hardware is almost over-engineered to the point of being beyond "heavy duty" and I think some of the answer lies there. My sonors look almost as good now, as they did when they were bought. The coverings are tight and white, the hardware is shiny, and the shells super round. These have been gigged hard, and they just look awesome. (of course, they are now my practice set, as my Ludwig classics get all the airtime these days, at least live)

I will second that, my sonor acrylics are in a lot better ship than most vistalites.