Piccolo snare heads?

Anyone recommend a good batter head for a piccolo snare? I'm picking up a Pearl Brass Piccolo this weekend and plan to immediately toss the crappy stock heads.

I do plan to CRANK this head down tight.......I've got a Aquarian Kevlar head on my current snare which I tune high and tight. Amazingly, it still gives a fat sound. If I tune this head a little looser and lower....it has a very old school wet, fat sound, which is cool for some applications. Not entirely sure this is the right head for a piccolo snare.

this is my suggestion for high torque pic. snare players. being a pic. snare is a smaller drum, it in theory wouldn't be as loud/resonate yadda yadda yadda as what a lot people use as their primary snare. sooooo, for mine i just usualy use a remo coated emperor. its a small drum that you'll probably crank tight, overtones wont be there too much. i think a little natural ring is cool though. those kevlar heard are thick dude, they take away a lot of volume and good resonance which you and your drum is capable of producing.

that was my ramble spell for the day. any questions, just ask dude.

Totally understand......the Kevlar head is not something I want to put on this piccolo. It has its place in my kit and that is NOT on a piccolo snare.

I haven't used Remo head in some time....been a big fan of Evans heads over the past couple years (and yeah, also the Aquarian Kevlar head...which I do like.)

Just looking for suggestions on what has worked for others in this situation.

Thanks for the feedback.

Bump.....anyone else have a particular head they like on a piccolo snare?

Well, I don't know what head is particularly good specific to a piccolo, but I really like the evans genera dry which I used on my 12"x 5 mapex. Not too thick and not ringy either as the holes disperse any ringing. I'm currently using an aquarian on the same snare which is equivalent to a coated ambassador. It's quite nice, and more ringy now. I would definitely check out the genere dry if you don't want it too ringy.

I had a remo coated ambassador on mine. Last time I went to replace it, the store was out of ambassadors, so I tried a ambassador weighted renassiance head.

I have a 3.5" x 12" hammered steel Tama piccolo. As unicorn pincess points out, the smaller drum (especially when cranked tight) is already pretty dry sounding. In order to squeeze some tone out of it, I'd recommend a single ply head (so if you're an evans fan, a G1). At least in my case (your drum may be different) there's no need to muffle it with a heavier head. From a durability standpoint, a cranked ambassador (or G1) can be surpisingly durable. Single ply heads, at least from my experience, hold up better on snares where they tend to be played under higher tension, than on toms where the tuning tends to be looser.

Final note: I wouldn't necessarily assume that the stock head is a P.O.S. either. On higher end drums, most companies end up using 'name brand' heads (i.e. remo, evans, etc) and/or heads manufactured by those companies that have just be re-branded "Pearl" or whatever. If it were me, I'd play on the head that comes with it and use that as a basis of comparison for the NEXT head purchase. So if it turns out that the head is a single ply coated head, but it still rings too much for your tastes, then the NEXT head could be something heavier. On the flipside, if you like the sound you're getting, the NEXT head should be another single-ply coated head.

False alarm all......the Pearl Brass Piccolo came loaded with Remo Ambassadors.....both single ply.....batter side was coated.

Sounds great.....I actually found that I didn't need to crank on it as hard as I thought.....nice bright sound....fast attack....quick decay. Very pleased with this purchase.

Thanks all for your two cents worth....(and Old Steve's 3 bucks worth.)

I just "rebuilt" a piccolo Pearl snare head (maple) with the help of a local shop, and I ended up with a coated Emperor on the batter side and a hazy Ambassador on the snare side. In retrospect, I think a coated Ambassador on the batter side would be better, as the Emperor is a bit too heavy and muffled for my taste. I like to hear the snare ring out a little bit more as it seems more alive, so I'll pick up a coated Ambassador 13" head tomorrow and see if I like it any better.

Oddly enough, I find that I like the heavier heads tuned down lower than the thinner ones, all things being as equal as they can be. We'll see...

david

Been a couple months since that post, but I've been beating the CRAP outta that Ambassador and it's still going strong. Loving this piccolo.

Okay, now I have to get an Ambassador head ASAP. I've tinkered with guitar amps and such for years, so that inclination has (unfortunately) transferred over to drums....tinker tinker tinker. Just keep me away from the drum equivalent of an AC30.

Hey Karl, how is the ringing overtone-ish quality of your snare? An Emperor was suggested to me to help control that, but I still think I'd like a bit more ring....think Chad Sexton, etc...

david

Not a lot of ringing....quick attack, short decay. But it is VERY bright and crisp.

Cranked reasonably tight, Ambassadors hold up very well. IMHO, heads get a whole lot more abuse if/when they're tuned loose.

No head is unbreakable, but I usually wear a nice "bowl" into a head long before it would ever actually break. Whenver I take off an old snare (or piccolo) head, it's pretty concave.