The Drummer's Dominion

Manufacturer: Evans
Product: Coated G Plus drumheads
Website: www.evansdrumheads.com
DD Rating:

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I’ve always had a rocky relationship with heads. I’ve used all three major brands (Remo, Evans, Aquarian), and have had both great success and great disappointment with all three. After two so-so sets of Remos, I wanted to try something different with my last head change. Thinking back to the last tom heads I really liked—Aquarian Double Thins, which I believe are no longer in production—I wanted to find something in between a single- and double-ply. Because I was kind of miffed with my last two sets of Remos, I passed on the Ambassador X and settled on the Evans G Plus.

Where the Aquarian Double Thin was two plies of thinner film, the Evans G Plus is a single ply of thicker film (12mil vs. 10mil of a standard G1 head). This removes most of the “warble” of a single-ply head but allows for more resonance than a double-ply. This also increases durability, though, for me, durability has never been much of an issue. I like to skirt the middle ground between limp-wristed jazz snob and big-stick basher, so my heads generally last forever. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever dented a head before. (For a guy so into metal, I do not necessarily wear that as a badge of honor!)

I’ve so far only used these heads on a pop/rock recording and a handful of blues/funk gigs. The studio session and the gigs were very dynamic, so I was able to see how well the heads performed at very low volumes and under heavy whacking. I’m happy to say that, at least from behind the kit, the toms resonated beautifully at all volumes. The raw mix in the studio also sounded very good. With a little “studio magic” I think they’d be amazing.

I will say that on certain tunes, the resonance is a tad drier than I would prefer, and I attribute this to the coating. I’m very curious to hear the clear version of these heads and will probably opt for those at the next swap-out. However, while I was initially a little uncertain about the opaque satin finish of the coated, I think they look great on the kit:

All in all, if you’re looking for a versatile head, I very much recommend the coated G Plus.