EarthTone ETH14 Calfskin 14-Inch Drumhead

Looks and sounds and feels great but it Saya EARTHTONE in monstrous letters

Earthtone heads sound amazingly great, but they are a higher-maintenance commitment than weather-resistant Mylar heads. If you do not know how to tune your drums, you will quickly learn, because these require adjustment with changes in temperature and humidity. I have them on three drums (top, batter heads only), and I can tune all of them faster than the guitarist can tune one ax. Do not fear, tuning is not as intimidating as some Internet "experts" profess. Just tighten or loosen the heads evenly until they sound good. You don't need a drum dial or a computer or perfect pitch.The other challenge is installing them. When new, the Earthtone crown is much shallower than that of a modern Mylar head. I had a hard time installing the head on my snare because the tension rods wouldn't reach the lugs. I had to apply a lot of pressure to the rim and I had to remove the tension rod washers to get the rods to engage. After a day, the head stretched and seated, so I was able to go back and replace the washers.Be sure to follow Earthtone's mounting instructions: "Do not wet head…mount the heads loosely tightened and allow a one-to-two day acclimation phase so that some stretching may occur. After the rest period, you are ready to tune your drum up to pitch. Make sure the hoop is level when you are tightening the head." Replacing these heads takes a couple of days and it is not something I could do at a gig.Also, the picture is not accurate. Amazon shows a very old head with the lowercase "earthtone" logo. The new logo is ALL CAPS "EARTHTONE." This is significant because Earthtone changed the logo when they switched from goatskin to calfskin several years ago. If you receive a head with the lowercase logo, it is very old stock and NOT calfskin.I am not a heavy hitter. I play these heads in blues, folk, jazz and worship settings and their sound is far superior to any fauxskyn plastic head The tone is well worth the extra effort and cost, and it must be experienced to be appreciated.

If you play jazz or any style of acoustic music where dynamics are essential, or if you play all brush gigs brushes often, this head is like a dream come true.What I love is the aluminum 'flesh hoop' that maintains an even tension on the head itself and allows it to seat the way a plastic head does. Of course you will not be able to retuck the head with this hoop, but at the price of these heads - less than forty bucks for the head at the time of this review - you don't need to.There is nothing like a genuine skin head when it comes to the way a brush sounds when you are doing quarter note patterns with a circle or back-and-forth swish. That's the main reason I purchased this head. Do be aware that these will project significantly less than a plastic head, so it's definitely not for heavily amplified music.There are some things you need to know if you've never played on claf (or other skin) heads. First, when the temperature and/or humidity changes, so does the head. Left under hot stage lights they can tighten to the point that your snare drum sounds like a bongo. In humid settings it will expand and sound like a 'thap' instead of a crisp, snare sound. In other words frequent tuning will become a way of life. I will say that due to the construction and the aluminum hoop this head is a little less finicky than those on my first drum kit in 1964. However, if you have never played real skin heads you need to know that there is work involved in owning and playing calf (or any other skin type.) To me the extra work is worth it.

Not as pictured in ad - giant logo - ruins look of vintage drum

I have had no problems with these (batter and reso) as far as tuning goes this winter. Just needs a touch up now and then, a bit more in the summer, but used indoors only. Drum Dial won't work with these, so ear tuning only. But I live in a Mediterranean climate (California). Lovely, thuddy tone, without the plastic sound of mylar heads. May or may not need dampening, depending. I need to, and use a Snare Weight junior and a Snare Weight M10 dampeners to get the sound I want and to reduce unwanted "overtones". Remember that back in the day when there were no mylar drum heads (before about1957) snare drums commonly came with dampener pads as standard equipment, and the heads were calf skin, or some other kind of animal skin. Snare drums are temperamental and overtones, ring, long sustain, ping and so forth are problematic. So, "taming the beast" is some times/many times needed and calf skin heads are no magical cure, in my experience. It's legendary that drummers used to put their wallets on the batter to tame (I know but not many female drummers back then). You may find using a calf head for the batter only will work for you, but for me calf top and bottom give the best sound.

There is no substitute bar none, the best drum head the only drum head for drum set. Perfect tone that you can tune to a pitch with perfect resonance not too much not too little. No hint of a plastic tinge that you get from every plastic drum head. Warm tone that sounds like a drum is supposed to sound . Durable with a great elasticity to the head that allows you to execute great clear double strokes with out over tones clouding and drowning out your efforts. I use Earth Tone for all styles of music . I am a freelance player expanding from rock, theater pit work , big band, and small jazz combos . I have been using calf skin Earth Tone for the past twenty years . In my opinion If you want your drums to sound like the real deal these are what you are looking for .