Remo ColorTone Drum Heads

93
WWW.MUSICRADAR.COM/RHYTHM OCTOBER 2018 |
PRICE
8", £17.50; 10", £18.60;
12", £19.80; 13", £20.30;
14", £22.20; 15", £23.20;
16", £24.40; 18", £30.60.
Powerstroke 77:
13", £24.80; 14", £25.50.
Powerstroke 3 (with or
without port-hole):
18", £56.60; 20", £58.10;
22", £63.60; 24", £67.30;
26", £72.60
MATERIAL
Mylar PET fi lm with
Skyndeep colour
imaging
CONSTRUCTION
METHOD
Emperor: twin 7-mil
plies
Powerstroke-77 snare
batters: twin 7 mil pies
plus 5 mil centre dot an
d7 mil perimeter
damper
Powerstroke-3: 10 single
ply plus 10-mil
perimeter damping
underlay ring
COLOURS
AVAILABLE
Red, Blue, Green, Yellow,
Orange, Smoke
DIAMETERS
AVAILABLE
Emperor, 8" to 18"
Powerstroke 77, 13"
and 14"
Powerstroke P3, 18"
to 26"
MODELS
AVAILABLE
Emperor toms;
Powerstroke-77 snare
batters; Powerstroke-3
bass drum batters and
resonants
SUITABLE FOR
Heavier styles
COUNTRY OF
MANUFACTURE
USA
CONTACT
EMD Music Distribution
01293 862612
[e-mail]
www.emdmusic.com
www.remo.com
Essential spec
VERDICT: Coloured heads occupy a
small but signifi cant and fun area.
Remo has fi nally managed to adapt
its Skyndeep imaging technology to
bring us coloured versions of
established favourites.
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
RATING
SKYNDEEP IMAGING
TECHNOLOGY
Remo has finally perfected the
application of Skyndeep imaging
technology to produce coloured
versions of standard kit favourites
POWERSTROKE 77 SNARE BATTER
One for the heavy hitters, the only snare
batter so far has twin plies with perimeter
damping and a centre 5 mil CS dot
POWERSTROKE 3 BASS DRUM HEADS
Remo’s industry standard P-3 gets the
ColorTone treatment and is available as a
batter or with a ready-cut front porthole
For snare drums there are 13" and 14"
Powerstroke-77 heads, which consist of twin
7-mil plies (hence the 77) with an additional 5
mil CS dot on top and a 7-mil perimeter
underlying damper ring. For toms there are
twin ply Emperors in sizes from 8" to 18".
On the Emperor and the P77 it is just the top
ply that is coloured – the bottom ply is regular
clear fi lm. And for your bass drum, the
Powerstroke-3 is a single ply of 10 mil Mylar
with a 10 mil perimeter underlay as usual,
available in diameters from 18" to 26".
Hands On
ColorTone is a signifi cant development
because with the Skyndeep imaging Remo
can now make coloured versions of its
established clear heads without changing
the sound. And also, because of the imaging
technology there is no coating to wear off.
So the colour should stay consistent and the
heads should play and wear just like normal
clear heads.
Certainly the bass drum Powerstroke-3
batter – once I’ve got over the new look –
sounds like a normal Clear P-3. The Emperor
batters, with their twin 7-ply construction
have that familiar blippy-plastic tone with
the stroke slightly softened and thickened,
but plenty of resonance and volume.
At present there’s just the P-77 snare
batter, which again suits harder hitters.
Mounting a P-77 on my nastiest snare –
a 14"x7" steel job – the result is fearsome.
The twin ply, perimeter-damped and centre
reinforced P-77 controls the excess ring of the
steel shell, but has lots of bite and power.
Defi nitely a rocking head, not for subtly
stroking jazzers.
It’s interesting that Remo has launched
the series with three heavyweight models.
It would be good to hear an Ambassador
ColorTone to assess if the colouring does
affect the sound, even in the slightest.
We must await further models for 2019.
What’s for sure is the ColorTones are much
livelier than the oil-damped Evans Hydraulics
and as such they should please a hungry
alternative market.
Of course, if you have a Plexiglas/acrylic
kit then the ColorTones are perfect. You can
match the colours or go for contrast. But
coloured heads can look good with any drum
fi nish, particularly those drums with block
colours. When I put Red Emperors on my Jade
Green Yamaha toms it looked pretty cool.
RHY286.gear_remo.indd 93 9/5/18 3:46 PM