This head has a fairly defined attack, almost no sustain and is pretty dark. If I had a set of concert toms, this would probably be one of my heads of choice. The head has a black (hence the name ONYX) matte coated finish that completely controls the overtones. It almost reminds me of the EMAD bass drum head. If you thump the head out of the box, it’s completely dead (minimal to no tone). I found this head to be a cross between the G2 and the EC2 Clear SST it’s not quite as alive as the G2, but not quite as controlled as the EC2-although it’s pretty dang close. The ONYX head is a two-ply with each head being 7.5 mil. While I loved the sound these provided as a tom’s bottom head, I still prefer the aesthetics of the clear head on the bottom of my toms.
![evans onyx 2 ply drumhead evans onyx 2 ply drumhead](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0012/7421/6515/products/30528EvansB10ONX210_OnyxCoated2-3.sq_2048x.jpg)
The etching gives just enough overtone control to make them perfect for the earthy feel of calfskin with none of the hassles of humidity. The head has a “frappy” tone when thumped out of the box, but lots of sustain. To translate, the “J” stands for Jazz and that is what this head is intended for. The J1 Etched head is a single-ply 10 mil film that has a very light coating on it (appears milky). This also results a in a wider tone range.Ĭontinuing my deep dive into the many faces of Evans tom heads, this week meets all the heads that sport colors: The tuning is much, much easier the drum head sits completely level right off the mark, so the turns of the drum key normally reserved for bringing the head down to the bearing edge immediately benefit the tuning. This instant contact of the bearing edge against the horizontal Mylar plane makes a noticeable difference.
![evans onyx 2 ply drumhead evans onyx 2 ply drumhead](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mWM9gxtbL._AC_SS450_.jpg)
Because the Mylar slopes almost vertically instead of slanting inward and upward, you can feel the bearing edge immediately through the head. This doesn’t happen with the Level 360 head, where the bearing edge instantly sits flush on the drumhead’s horizontal Mylar. Tightening the drum’s hoop against the counter-hoop provides the tension needed to pull it tightly against the Mylar’s horizontal underside, but there’s still enough slack that pressing your finger on the head above the bearing edge can create a dimple.
![evans onyx 2 ply drumhead evans onyx 2 ply drumhead](https://i1.wp.com/bothners.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/35.1-EVANS-BD22EMAD2-DRUMHEAD-22-CLEAR-BASS-DRUM-EMAD2-SYSTEM.jpg)
If you set the average drumhead on a drum, you’ll note that it has a wobble because the bearing edge meets the head on the Mylar’s inward and upward slope instead of resting on the flat horizontal Mylar drumhead plane. In standard drumhead construction, the slope of the Mylar coming out of the counter-hoop slants inward/upward to where the Mylar intersects the bearing edge. The counter-hoop is the aluminum ring on the drumhead that the drum hoop applies downward pressure against when it’s being tightened. This requires understanding bearing edges, and how drumheads have been produced historically.īearing Edge : The bearing edge is the part of a drum shell that makes contact with drumhead and (depending on manufacturer) the cut edge can vary from 30 to 45 to even 60 degrees in slope, with the high edge on the outside of the shell.ĭrum Head Construction : Historically, drumhead production mounts stretched and heat-stamped Mylar (or polyester) into an aluminum counter-hoop. In case you missed Part 1, let's recap what sets these heads apart. Over the last decade, Jim has applied the same passion he has spent years applying to guitar strings to the drumhead side of his business, and introduced a variety of new tooling and technological breakthroughs (please make sure to check out the video in the resource section below for some examples). “Chick” Evans started the company and then sold it to Bob Beals, who then sold the company to Jim D’Addario. To better understand part 2, you’ll want to have read Part 1 of the tom head review at Evans Level 360 Tom Heads - Part 1. They were cool, though, as they did have this bubbling effect in the head and, at the time, were dead sounding (which was the “hip” sound).įlash forward to today. Not only did they strike me as odd (in an intriguing kind of way), but also different, because the counter hoop back then was a composite material- not the aluminum to which I expected. Other than having seen them in the (then) infant Modern Drummer magazine, I was totally unfamiliar with this brand. I was too young to travel the distance required to find music gear, so my dad brought home a set of blue hydraulic heads for my vintage kit (13” mounted tom and 16” floor tom). My first experience with Evans Drum Heads was in the late 70s. They are now, no doubt, a household name with drummers.
![evans onyx 2 ply drumhead evans onyx 2 ply drumhead](https://www.daddario.com/globalassets/inriver/resources/ds_etb92m_main_transparent.png)
Evans Level 360 Tom Heads - Part 2 (Part 4 of the series)Ĭonclusion of the diverse tom head offering from EvansĮvans has been around since the mid-1950s.