I gave Evans another try, specifically a Calftone

AModestRat

AModestRat

Member
I've never been a big fan of Evans drumheads. For me, they just always sounded like a big ol' thunk without much definition or overtones. I've tried G2s, G1s, etc. and never liked any of them, not that I thought Evans was a bad drumhead brand, just not right for me.

Yesterday, I dropped by my local music store to check out their closing-out stuff and came across a single ply Evans calftone 22" bass drum head. I had been meaning to pick up a replacement bass drum head such as a coated ambassador, but the manager (a friend of mine) let me walk out the door with the calftone for $20 or so.

I put that thing on my Ludwig Element Birch kick last night and WOW! I really dig it! I had a heavy coated Ludwig head as my reso, tuned high without any muffling, and I slapped on the calftone and tuned it up for a jazzy boom that was warm with some sweet overtones. Later, I took it down a bit for a nice, boomy, and warm punch. I've got a gig this Friday that I'm really excited about trying it out at.

Whenever I decide to change my other drumheads, I just may go calftones all around the kit. They're warm and sweet, just what I was looking for!
 
I warning about the Calftones is that their "calf" coating starts bubbling and peeling off pretty easily. They are not very durable when it comes to hard hitting. Definitely a jazz drummers head. For a reso side they are perfectly fine for any style of music, but as a batter head, you need to use a soft touch if you want them to last.
 
Tommy_D said:
I warning about the Calftones is that their "calf" coating starts bubbling and peeling off pretty easily. They are not very durable when it comes to hard hitting. Definitely a jazz drummers head. For a reso side they are perfectly fine for any style of music, but as a batter head, you need to use a soft touch if you want them to last.
Click to expand...

I've seen that bubbling thing going on from other threads. Does this happen with Fiberskyns as well? Does it change the sound?
 
I just gave calftones a whirl. I like them on my high tom and low tom, but my middle tom I went back to clear. Tried them on my snare, but switched back to the UV1's. The calftones do suffer from the cosmetic thing, but AFAICT, it doesn't alter the feel or sound.

Between the head material and the logo, they are by far the coolest looking head I ever used.

I like them.
 
I likewise stuck a Calftone kick head on my 3-ply Ludwig 14x22" (plus a Falam Slam) some months back. I am very happy with it. The resulting tone is thick and mellow, and is really complementing my two bands' sound well (a classic rock band and an indie/alt-Latin band). A few folks had said that they're mediocre batter heads, but I'm quite happy with it.
 
The Remo skyntone drumheads sound really good and are probably pretty similar. But they barely last a single gig for me before then start denting up really bad and caving in. How do the Evans calfskins hold up?
 
The Skyntone is an 8-mil single-ply head. Calftone is a 7-mil film that has the skin layer laminated to that. It's supposedly going to function as a single ply, but the thin film base is probably the reason the Calftone de-laminates quite quickly.

Because Remo offers Fiberskyn in the thicker Ambassador weight I think IF I still needed that sound/look I'd rather go with Remo, but I like the Renaissance series more and I much MUCH prefer the Aquarian Vintage series. They don't have the "right off the animal" look but the tone is great, the coating lasts forever, and they offer four different weights.
 
I believe the Calftone on the bass batter side is 2 plys (7.5 + 12) and as well as 2 plys for Snare and Tom heads which are (7.5 + 7). I had asked a while back to an Evans Representative..... I've used the Calfone EMAD Floor Tom conversion and sounds very warm, vintagey x). Unless the laminated film of 7.5mils for snare/tom/kick head isn't really considered a "ply".
 
Last edited:
The Calftone bass heads are 12-mil, all others are 7-mil. None should be considered "2-ply" since the fiber layer is laminated to the entire surface.
 
Just picked up a 14" Calftone batter, for a Pearl Masters Maple snare. Sounds wonderful. It might be a db or so softer-volume-wise, than most others which I've tried, but love the sound. And I've tried lots, from Aquarian Coated, to Remo Ambassador, Controlled Sound, Power Stroke 3, to Evans Genera Dry, and EC2. I think I'll stick (no pun) with this one for a while. Finally dialed in my YMCAN toms, too, with Remo Vintage Coated Emperors. Have had similar trials with Coated Ambassadors, Coated Black Suedes, EC2 Clears, Aquarian Performance 2s, Response 2s, and a single EC14. I'm likely forgetting several. Have had these drums since early 2010. I like to keep an open mind re: heads, but it sure feels good, and sounds even better, once you find those which really work. I feel like I'm done experimenting, at least for now.
 
Winston_Wolf said:
The Calftone bass heads are 12-mil, all others are 7-mil. None should be considered "2-ply" since the fiber layer is laminated to the entire surface.
Click to expand...
... Just assumed 2plys because of plys but makes sense if laminated film doesn't count as a ply .
 
Last edited:
Saw a YouTube video of someone demoing the Emad Calftone and them using them thick foam dampener I believe and it sounded nice and punchy from what I heard... will definitely try it next time. I'm using the Calftone Floor Tom Conversion and it sounds and feels different but really warm/vintagey!
 
I put Calftones on a snare and all of the batters of my YMCAN kit. Although I will be going a different way when it's time to change them out, they are very musical sounding heads.

I was interested to see if they would de-laminate (bubble up) like the Fiberskyns do. One snare batter did that but as someone else mentioned, the general sound doesn't seem affected to my ears. I'm guessing that the manufacturing process for both Calftones and Fiberskyns are similar.

Calftones were meant to compete with the Fiberskyns and they do. I feel they are both quality heads but the Calftones had just a wee bit more attack than Fiberskyns. I also wanted to see if there was a difference in brush response. Both seem about the same to me. I've come to the conclusion that I need a coated head to do the things I want to do with brushes. Steve Smith and Jeff Hamilton both like having the 'broken in' feel of Fiberskyn/Calftones but I can't get enough volume out of them.

YMMV

Jim
 
Tommy_D said:
I warning about the Calftones is that their "calf" coating starts bubbling and peeling off pretty easily. They are not very durable when it comes to hard hitting. Definitely a jazz drummers head. For a reso side they are perfectly fine for any style of music, but as a batter head, you need to use a soft touch if you want them to last.
Click to expand...
Yup - Use them on my bop kit … they’re are great but use Fibreskyn on my snare which is more resilient
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top