Remo Powerstroke 3 Snare Head

I tried this head for the first time tonight. It has got to be the worst sounding head I have ever tried on my snare. I tried it for about an hour and tried all sorts of different tensions. Bottom line: yuck. Sounded like absolute cardboard crap. I couldn't drive fast enough to Guitar Center to get a coated ambassador.

Keep in mind that my snare is a 5 1/2 by 14 Yamaha maple custom absolute. Perhaps this head would work better on a different snare, but I really can't imagine it. Although this head is single ply, it is either a thicker ply or the coating is much thicker.

Anyone else had a different experience with it?

Wow. It's all subjective. Who know's? But, this is my favorite head for my snares [img]biggrin.gif[/img] . To me it has a great response. It just seems to be what I am happy with. Just removes some of the unwanted overtones. It never sounds too boxy, muffled or choked to me.

http://www.aquariandrumheads.com/pro...splay.asp?id=7

Ever looked into Aquarian? Recently picked up a new set of these and they are fantastic.

I've been playing a coated PS3 on a 6.5 X 14 Tama metal snare with GREAT results. For my taste, it's the perfect amount of muffling, everything sounds clean but not choked.

I have never understood why people use these heads?

Surely it's better to buy something like a coated Ambassador and slip on an "O-Ring" if extra damping is needed? I use coated ambassadors/Emperors on all of my snares (except for one that's an Aquarian Modern Vintage and another that's a coated Diplomat). The beauty of it is you can use Moongel on the very edge, half on/half off, right in the drum etc. You can muffle it anyway you like and change it up for every song... I often get four or five snare sounds a night fromt the same drum, just by varying the dampning...

With a PS3, you don't even get the option...

MP

To each his own. My guess is that it may work on a metal snare. My snare is pretty dry as it is, so this head totally destroyed it.

I had some sort of kevlar Aquarian head on my main snare for 1.5 years and the thing still looked and sounded brand new!!! lol

I would avoid thick snare heads and go for external muffling if you need it (moon gel or o-ring)...

Right now I use EVANS reverse power-dot snare heads which are AMAZING... nice tone and won't break on you. Single ply too.

I used the PS-3 a couple of times on a 6-1/2" x 14" wood snare several years ago. Not bad, but not great. I generally like my snare sound to have a bit more depth "body" than what you typically get from a plan Coated Ambassador. I thought the PS-3 sounded a little "richer" than a plain Coated Ambassador, and it muffled that ugly, clangy, high-end ring just enough. (A Richie Ring is a bit too much muffling for this particular drum). It didn't really lose much sensitivity, but when you have the touch of an orangutan, as I do, it might be hard to tell the difference. [img]wink.gif[/img]

I've had pretty good luck with an Evans Coated G2 tom head on my snare. Sounds great, feels great, and the thing was practically indestructible. It was still very responsive and provided just a slight amount of muffling (in a good way). I actually liked the G2 tom head better than any of the Genera snare heads I tried.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by CLWarunki:
Right now I use EVANS reverse power-dot snare heads which are AMAZING... nice tone and won't break on you. Single ply too.

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I tried one of those LAST week, and it had a ripple in it when I tensioned it up a bit. It was basically out of round or otherwise defective. I took it off and gave it to a friend. No more Evans for me.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Suspiria:
Ever looked into Aquarian?

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No, I have never tried Aquarian. I will someday. I generally like the tone of Remo heads though. I recently tried an Evans head and it sounded too brittle to me, but Aquarian may be the ticket.

For years I used a coated Remo Ambassador for the snare head and only in the last 2 years I've been using a coated Remo Emperor - I like the difference and it seems to work a lot better for controlling overtones. I like the overall sound quality as well.. but yeah, it's all subjective.

I agree with the original post. PS3 sounds like big cup o' ass. Even on gadds snare. <ducking>

I started using Evans consistently a couple of years ago and have never looked back. This is after playing on Remo for 20 years.