9Volt: I'd like to note that a head that is kept tuned, in the "in tune with itself" sense, will generally last longer than one that is neglected. If you get into the habit of tuning snares and tenors, at a minimum, once a week the heads will sound better over time as well as helping your BD shave a few dollars off the budget.

Anyway, if your heads are 3 years old you might need to replace the bottom heads, too. If they're plastic instead of fiber (if they're the original heads they probably are) they almost certainly should be replaced.

If you're after longevity you need to stear clear of plastic heads, so that pretty much leaves you with Remo Falam II and Evans MX5 or Hybrid, assuming your school isn't wedded to one brand. The fiber heads will cost ~3 times as much (~2 times for the Hybrid), but last 5 or 6 times as long (assuming you keep the bottom head tuned up.)

From "driest" to "least dry/wettest":
Falam
MX5
Hybrid

The Falam and MX5 are going to have about the same lifetime. I haven't used the Hybrid, yet, though it is designed to last longer than a straight plastic head.

Yea, our snare heads have been splitting, but I seem to be the only one on the line who can tune the drums. I have not taken the time to go and find snare side heads.

I know we are okay on those, the previous BD who originally ordered the drums actually took care of the percussion, granted, they were not very good at keeping the band disciplined, (and they sounded horrible) but she did take care of the percussionists. We have a nice stock pile of snare side heads, and some old mylar heads (batter) Would these possibly work for the bottom too?

Right now the problem seems to be, we have to buy these heads through the band boosters, if the band itself bought heads, we would have to buy from the local music shop. They sell everything at suggested retail price, so I could only imagine paying $60+ for a drumhead. I do believe they only sell remo too, they are not tied in with any brands, they just only stock certan brands. Example, they only recently started stocking vic firth instead of Ludwig sticks because they know we use(d) the Ralph Hardimons.

No, batter heads wouldn't work for the snare side. They're too thick. You'd get pretty much zero snare response.



Your band doesn't have to buy from the local shop. There are probably hundreds of reputable vendors who accept school district purchase orders. Maybe someone's just being too lazy to deal with the paperwork to generate a purchase order.

No, we do, somehow we have a contract with them or something, the band can not do things like, buy brass instruments, repair instruments, ect. They are the instrument provider to the schools, and I'm pretty sure there is a contract where the school has to go through the local shop. The boosters however can go wherever they want, exactly why I'm trying to order from steveweiss.

Working for a school district myself and being familiar with the purchasing process, I doubt the school locked itself into an exclusive deal with one vendor -- much less one who's charging full MSRP.

But I digress... In the meantime, do what you gotta do to get some heads.

Well, Ill ask my BD about that, becuase if he can be buying percussion stuff from other dealers, We should definatly take that route. Well, It actually won't matter, my school systems broke, we have been self funded since we got the drums because we never get a budget.

Falams sound very nice in my opinion. But I usually play black or white max. They will last longer if you know how to tune them correctly. Which I would PM one of the mods like Toe or multi-Thomm in order to get a greater idea on perfect tuning.

There are also about a million posts about different ways to tune. My own personal tip, don't crank them right when you get them and make sure to lube up your lugs.

The fall season is only about three months for high school, and if someone breaks a white or black max in that about of time, they are playing wrong. From what I have seen from most high schools is that the player plays don't play through the head enough to come close to breaking the head.

Also I would shoot for Columbus Percussion. They are much faster and cheaper than Steve Weiss during the fall in my personal experience. ;-D

In conclusion, you should be fine with a white or black max as long as you tune them slowly throughout the season. That's all I have for now. Have a nice day.