Anybody who regularly uses two-ply Remo tenor heads knows about the pinhole trick: Some heads come with a bit of air trapped between the two plies, muffling them a bit. Poking through one of the plies with a sharp pin allows that air to escape and (usually) brings the head back to a normal sound.

So what does this have to do with Evans? I've never needed to use the pinhole trick on an Evans head and I've never heard of anyone else needing to do it, either. I just figured maybe their manufacturing process is a little different and they somehow kept air from getting in there. Well, while tuning up a set of Evans heads the other day, I found the trick -- Evans heads come pre-pinholed! If you look closely on the outer ply, somewhere just below the crown, you'll find a little hole about a millimeter across. I noticed it on one head and then checked all the other Evans tenor heads I could get my hands on. All of the school's MX Whites, MS Clears, and Corps Clears had the hole.

So I guess if we're supposed to learn something new every day, I'm done now and can go plant my lazy *** on the couch.

We're supposed to learn something new every day? I'm about a year behind then.

Nice observation though. Maybe remo could learn a thing or two...

The hole is on the outer ply? Wouldn't that let water between the plies if the drums were being used in the rain? I've always used remo, and I pin the bottom ply to avoid water.

Pinning underneath is a good idea, but probably a little harder to get to than just using the top layer. Chances are, if you're doing some drumming in the rain then you're going to get water in between anyway. It dries out and the tone comes right back good as new.

The other day, i checked the MX Frost heads on my tenors at school, and i didn't see the pinhole on the heads. there is a thin layer of oil in between the heads though which made me think they didn't want to dry out the oil (i may be mistaken though) so maybe these heads are different, evens missed pinning them, or i just didn't see the pin holes. i'll check again tomorrow, but i thought i would put the frost heads into the mix here.

I also looked at my schools Frosted heads, I found no pinholes. Apparently our drum tech did not either as he pinholed them himself last game.

On two-ply heads made with a clear film (Pinstripes, Emperors, and maybe Evans' two-ply heads as well), there's sort of a rainbow effect that looks like oil, but it isn't caused by oil. It's actually just diffraction of light as it passes through the two sheets of Mylar.

I haven't had my hands on any Frosts, but one of these days, I'll see if I can get a clear pic of the other heads.

the evans pinholed heads are worse. they get wet, they die. instantly. the water gets stuck in between the plies. with the manually pinholed remos, i haven't had to pinhole those much at all but when i have, i make the pinhole on the underside and the water stays out. when the water gets in, the sound is not affected either though; somehow. maybe remos just geniuses?