Mixing drum head brands

[Jules]

I have been a diehard advocate for Aquarian and Evans at times and am moving back towards Remo at the moment. But, I have a closet full of Evans stuff, especially snare heads. I have a UV1 on my snare and will be using Remo Ambassadors on my toms. For some reason, it feels a little odd to mix brands. I like things really squared away and neat and I feel like mixing brands is assumed to be akin to hodgepodging things together.

It's not even a brand loyalty thing, for me. I vacillate between Remo and Evans at will. Thoughts?

[Joe´s Drumgear]

Same with me, playing Remo for a few years now but I want to try Evans on my SQ1. The only thing holding me back is that I have to change all of the heads then Can‘t stand different brands, same goes for cymbals or hardware (with the exception of my ACD Unlimited Darwin Bass Drum Pedal haha).

A few years ago I sold all my Meinl Byzance cymbals because of one Paiste Ride…

[Jules]

I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s quirky like that.

[drummermark]

I’m the same way. I’ve played Remo most of my 30+ years but when I’ve tried other manufacturers, I changed out heads on the entire kit. I prefer the consistency in sound and to my eyes, it looks more professional.

[Scott_M]

A few years ago I sold all my Meinl Byzance cymbals because of one Paiste Ride…

That prompts the question which ride was it...?

[Scott_M]

For me it's not so much "Brand Loyalty", but anytime I try other brands I just always come back to Remo for the sound, feel, and durability I like.

Evans always seems to sound a little too "clinical" and sterile to me. Good heads, and work really well for some, just not my sound.

For Aquarian, I find their Superkick heads to have a very "generic" sound no matter how I try and tune them. And the few times I've tried them on my snares, they've not held up well (and I'm NOT a hard hitter). Most memorable one was had a snare head split completely down the middle with no warning in the middle of a song. In 2 strokes it went from sounding good to completely split, no warning or changes in sound before the head just "popped" like that. Thankfully it was during rehearsal and not the next night's gig...

[Joe´s Drumgear]

A few years ago I sold all my Meinl Byzance cymbals because of one Paiste Ride…

That prompts the question which ride was it...?

It it‘s a 22“ Signature Prototype Dry Ride. The owner of my local drumstore found it in the Paiste factory when he visited, it‘s from the 90‘s I think, but it was brand new. He took it with him because he thought it was THE ride for him. Turned out that it sounded quiet similiar to his 22“ Paragon Ride, so he sold it to me. That was the beginning for me, since then I collected some rare Paiste Rides.