Evans UV1 pitting

[David M Scott]

So a year ago I tried a UV1 on my Jazz snare and really liked the sound and it was great for brushes. In one month of average playing the surface pitted. I contacted Dadarrio and the put me in touch with their Canadian distributor. I sent photos of the surface and serial
number and they sent me a new
head no charge. It began to pit after two weeks use. Now I'm in my 80's play Jazz, Blues and light rock so I don't hit hard and haven't ever broken a batter head. So I went back to Remo in this case FiberSkyn Diplomat.
It played well but it bubbled as did an Evans Calftone 10in tom head which Evans replaced. I used standard Remo Ambassadors on my snares for years but as I do a lot of brush work and the Ambs coating doesn't last more than 6 months. Now I'm ready for a new head for my Jazz snare but wary of Evans and Remo. I read here that Aquarian users swear that their standard coat outlasts all. I just watched a YouTube on all their snare heads and the basic 14in 10 mil sounds fine to me. Will someone please weigh in on this is this matter ?

 

[LRod1707]

Give it a try!
I use all Aquarian and find them to be fantastic. The different thicker collar design makes them very durable and yes the coating lasts forever.
The sound is pretty much the same as any other brands but the feel isn't. The Aquarians have a prefect rebound at least to my liking. Since I switched to Aquarian a couple years ago, I've never bought any other brand and don't plan on it. I have a really big Ludwig kit and every drum + all my snares have Aquarian heads top & bottom.
To me they're superior in every way.

 

[Matched Gripper]

So a year ago I tried a UV1 on my Jazz snare and really liked the sound and it was great for brushes. In one month of average playing the surface pitted. I contacted Dadarrio and the put me in touch with their Canadian distributor. I sent photos of the surface and serial
number and they sent me a new
head no charge. It began to pit after two weeks use. Now I'm in my 80's play Jazz, Blues and light rock so I don't hit hard and haven't ever broken a batter head. So I went back to Remo in this case FiberSkyn Diplomat.
It played well but it bubbled as did an Evans Calftone 10in tom head which Evans replaced. I used standard Remo Ambassadors on my snares for years but as I do a lot of brush work and the Ambs coating doesn't last more than 6 months. Now I'm ready for a new head for my Jazz snare but wary of Evans and Remo. I read here that Aquarian users swear that their standard coat outlasts all. I just watched a YouTube on all their snare heads and the basic 14in 10 mil sounds fine to me. Will someone please weigh in on this is this matter ?

I’ve had a UV1 on my Acrolite for at least 5 or 6 years. It’s virtually indestructible. Maybe the new ones aren’t as durable. As LRod suggested, you might try an Aquarian texture coated. My coated Studio X’s are also virtually indestructible.

 

[David M Scott]

Give it a try!
I use all Aquarian and find them to be fantastic. The different thicker collar design makes them very durable and yes the coating lasts forever.
The sound is pretty much the same as any other brands but the feel isn't. The Aquarians have a prefect rebound at least to my liking. Since I switched to Aquarian a couple years ago, I've never bought any other brand and don't plan on it. I have a really big Ludwig kit and every drum + all my snares have Aquarian heads top & bottom.
To me they're superior in every way.

Great I'll take your advice

 

[cworrick]

So a year ago I tried a UV1 on my Jazz snare and really liked the sound and it was great for brushes. In one month of average playing the surface pitted. I contacted Dadarrio and the put me in touch with their Canadian distributor. I sent photos of the surface and serial
number and they sent me a new
head no charge. It began to pit after two weeks use. Now I'm in my 80's play Jazz, Blues and light rock so I don't hit hard and haven't ever broken a batter head. So I went back to Remo in this case FiberSkyn Diplomat.
It played well but it bubbled as did an Evans Calftone 10in tom head which Evans replaced. I used standard Remo Ambassadors on my snares for years but as I do a lot of brush work and the Ambs coating doesn't last more than 6 months. Now I'm ready for a new head for my Jazz snare but wary of Evans and Remo. I read here that Aquarian users swear that their standard coat outlasts all. I just watched a YouTube on all their snare heads and the basic 14in 10 mil sounds fine to me. Will someone please weigh in on this is this matter ?

Have you tried the Evans J1 Etched? I like what it does for brushes. Maybe a tad bit brighter than the UV1 which helps project the brushes.

 

[LarryJ]

I have been a Remo coated Ambassadors and Emporers guy since the '60s and still use them on all of my toms. But I have been using Aquarian Texture Coateds on my jazz snare for about ten years. For the same reason you are considering switching.

The coating is really rough out of the box and takes 4 or 5 sessions before it gets comfortable, but remains usable until I have to replace the head due to dishing and loss of response. This is usually 12-18 months with one or two rehearsals/gigs per week.

I think they are exactly what you are looking for.

 

[logogogue]

I am not a brush player but I find the coating on Evans to be disappointing. This head is after one night of playing. Freshly mounted in the afternoon and 3.5 hours of go later, this is the aftermath. I am not worried about pitting but the lack of adhesion with coating. It never holds up. If I gaff it, it peels the coating right off. I understand the UV1 is supposed to help combat this but it reads like it isn’t the case either. It’s too bad. I like the sound I can get but the durability is appallingly bad. This was my last Evans head and so sticking with Aquarian or Remo from now on.

 

[GretschMan61]

Have you tried the Evans J1 Etched? I like what it does for brushes. Maybe a tad bit brighter than the UV1 which helps project the brushes.

I had those - they dented up the first time I used them for a Big Band gig , too bad because I like the sound of them for brush playing .

 

[GretschMan61]

My preferred heads for brush playing are the Remo Skyntone or the Remo Fiberskyn Diplomat . I have not experienced any issues with bubbling with these heads . I have with both Fiberskyn Ambassadors and Evans Calftones .

The Aquarian Modern Vintage Medium is really nice for brush playing . You need to sand it down a bit first though . The costing is really thick .

 

[David M Scott]

Have you tried the Evans J1 Etched? I like what it does for brushes. Maybe a tad bit brighter than the UV1 which helps project the brushes.

I'll certainly investigate that. I like bright and I always liked the regular coated Ambassador for that reason and it always worked well for brushes. Durability of the coating is the problem with the Amb. Is the J1 etched better in that respect ?

 

[Matched Gripper]

Have you tried the Evans J1 Etched? I like what it does for brushes. Maybe a tad bit brighter than the UV1 which helps project the brushes.

I have! The etching wears out faster than coating.

 

[Matched Gripper]

I'll certainly investigate that. I like bright and I always liked the regular coated Ambassador for that reason and it always worked well for brushes. Durability of the coating is the problem with the Amb. Is the J1 etched better in that respect ?

No! See above.

 

[Matched Gripper]

My preferred heads for brush playing are the Remo Skyntone or the Remo Fiberskyn Diplomat . I have not experienced any issues with bubbling with these heads . I have with both Fiberskyn Ambassadors and Evans Calftones .

The Aquarian Modern Vintage Medium is really nice for brush playing . You need to sand it down a bit first though . The costing is really thick .

A less harsh way is to rub it down with a terry cloth towel.

 

[1988fxlr]

It seems strange that a light hitter who hasn’t had a big problem with pitting previously is suddenly having no luck with remo or evans. A couple bad heads is a coincidence, but your run of bbad luck seems worse. Are you recently storing your drums near your boiler or new air purifiers or another source of indoor ozone?

Unless you’ve changed sticks or technique, I would start narrowing down environmental reasons your heads aren’t holding up

 

[David M Scott]

It seems strange that a light hitter who hasn’t had a big problem with pitting previously is suddenly having no luck with remo or evans. A couple bad heads is a coincidence, but your run of bbad luck seems worse. Are you recently storing your drums near your boiler or new air purifiers or another source of indoor ozone?

Unless you’ve changed sticks or technique, I would start narrowing down environmental reasons your heads aren’t holding up

Thanks but nothing environmental or stick problems.. I've been playing for 65 years and understand what temps and humidity can do to drums. My kit is set up in an area where both are controlled.
As regards the UV1 problem, It's a known fact Evan did have problems with some surface pitting and that's why they asked for product/serial number of the first head before replacing. They had their Canadian distributor sent me the replacement (as well as a 10inch Calftone that bubbled after limited use) but I'm betting they never rotated their stock as the serial number wasn't far off the first. I didn't bother asking for another replacement as too much trouble dealing with Dadarrio and then Canadian distributor. At any rate I have the replacement 10in and a 14in Calftone I bought and recently installed them on my kit. No problems yet, time will tell. As for Remo I bought my first Amb Weatherking in the 50s to replace the natural skin on my 1955 Premier snare. I love the open sound of Amb coated for both sticks and brushes but one must know that after 6 mos the coating thins. Over the years I've had heads from all the major and obscure manufacturers. The most unusual were the pre tuned heads that required a change to clamp type lugs to
mount them. That was when the Phat sound was really in. I wish I'd kept them.
Cheers

 

[DanRH]

No problems with my UV1’s and I’ve been using them for a few years. Just giving my experiences.

 

[stevil]

I’ve had great experiences with the UV1 and UV2. In an unabashed basher, so I moved up from the UV1 to get a little more durability. There must be an unappreciated variable here. OP has 60+ years experience (by they way, how cool is that?!?!) without these problems, then has them crop up in very short succession with two major manufacturers.

 

[David M Scott]

No problems with my UV1’s and I’ve been using them for a few years. Just giving my experiences.

I hear the same from others. You know all the head mfrs maybe cutting corners. If a drum head lasts for years then the market is limited. I read an article on the world famous, U.S. built Underwood Typewriter. They made them so well that sales suffered greatly and they were in the verge of going under. The Italian company Olivetti eventually bought them out. I was a major appliance dealer in the 80s and saw those great names like G.E. and Fridgidaire go from top of the line to junk are sale to another company. Whirlpool bought out the great Maytag appliance division and made it their low end line. Some heads mfd in Mexico or the orient..
so sad.

 

[David M Scott]

I’ve had a UV1 on my Acrolite for at least 5 or 6 years. It’s virtually indestructible. Maybe the new ones aren’t as durable. As LRod suggested, you might try an Aquarian texture coated. My coated Studio X’s are also virtually indestructible.

So this am I spoke with D'Addario Canada and explained my concern. They knew that they had sent me a replacement for the problem UV1 but said that "they wouldn't replace the replacement". The interesting thing is that they acknowledged that there had initially been concerns with coating integrity when the product was first introduced but stated that that was a long time ago and complaints were now almost non existent. When I mentioned that i played brushes 50% or more the rep stated that he thought "the metal brush heads might be causing the pitting ??" I mentioned that i had corresponded with many on DFO Forum and that in literally all cases UV1 users stated that it was a very long lasting, superior head for brush use. He also suggested that I try the newer UV2 as it might last longer but when I asked if the UV coating was thicker he couldn't answer that. So I guess that I'll follow the advice of of many on the form and try Aquarian Texture Coated. The only problem is my local dealer has never dealt with Aquarian and so a special order would have to be placed and that could take months. I can order from a large national chain but postage to my place is $30 plus dollars for a $17.00 drum head making the grand total just shy of $50.00 ! Maybe I'll just make a Martini and forget the whole thing ..Sheesh

 

[underratedcowbell]

Aquarian texture coated user here! At home I use brushes 95% of the time and the coating is still as new as it was 3 years ago! I used ambassador coated for years and the coating never lasted more than 3 months with brush use! Plus, the Aquarians tc are a tad warmer and less boingy than the ambassadors wich is a bonus!