Hi,
I have been playing drums for 20+ years. New to the Forum. I have recently gotten interested in rudimental and drum corps type drumming as a personal hobby. Not knowing yet if I will pursue my interest...I chose to seek a used snare from eBay. I just received my 'find' which is a Ludwig Vector in decent shape. I want to replace the 'used' heads with a configuration that is compatible with this drum.
I have been perusing the Forum threads for ideas which have been very informative, especially the Snare Tuning thread. However...alot of the people here are using free-floating head drums (I know it's the way to go..)but most of the topics don't apply with the construction of my marching snare :-(
I guess I would like to get the sound and tone qualities the drum once had when new.
Appreciate any comments or suggestions from all and likely the guys that have been around for awhile and remember the Ludwig Vector, maybe !
Thanks.

Hi, and welcome! I hope you enjoy your foray into rudimental and marching percussion.

By the way, bonus point for realizing that your drum won't handle fiber laminate heads...well, not for long, anyway! The aluminum hoops would protect the shell; but, the tension casings can't take it.

The stock heads (i.e. what it comes with) on this drum are the Ludwig Silver Dot High Torque snare batter and Ludwig Exta Thin snare side. The Silverdot is a heavy single ply head with a silver reinforcing dot in the center.

For a more contemporary sound the Remo Powerstroke 77, which is a 2 ply with an small underlay ring around the edge and a clear reinforcing dot in the center, is the way to go for a batter head.

The P77 will be dryer and generally hold its tuning better, while the Silver Dot will have a "bigger" and more open sound.

Whichever head you choose, don't try to crank it up to where you want it all at once: take to so a sort of medium tension and let it settle for a day or so.

As for a snare-side head, the Extra Thin has some fans on this site; but, really any plastic snare-side will work - Ludwig, Remo, or Evans. Although a "normal" version will work, I recommend that you get a marching version as they have a lower collar (to account for more stretching at higher tension) and a reinforced head-to-hoop attachement (so the head doesn't pull out at high tension.)

Enjoy your drum!

thanks Drums11.
I appreciate the input and suggestions. I will look-up the Powerstroke 77 batter as I saw (read) here that it is favored by some. Should I stay with Remo for the snare side ie Hazy 300 or Marching Emperor or could I go Evans MS3 with a Remo head? Compared to standard drum kit heads...the marching percussion lines of heads are more costly and I don't really want to invest in 'experimenting' too much at this stage with different heads..for now at least. Cheers!

If you're more comfortable with an Evans snare side drumhead due to familiarity with products, by all means go for it. I personally use a standard Remo Hazy Ambassador snare side drum head and it works for my tuning ideas (Old Premier High Tension Tank, btw).

Go for what you are comfortable with at first. If after a period of time, the drum doesn't sound right anymore, then get into experimenting. As DRUMS11 said, the old Ludwig X-thin has a good number of fans on this side. Others will live and die with an Evans clear.

That's the glory of personal marching drums. You can work around what you have whenever you wish!

Good luck, enjoy your find and welcome to DLO.

Edit: There's nothing wrong with not having a high tension snare. The Mylar drumhead market has improved a little even with the invention of the 'Free Floating' drum. So you won't be TOO hard pressed to find a good batter/ snare side combination that would sound awesome on a Ludwig Vector or a Pearl Carbon Fiber drum.

The other guys have you covered pretty well: Remo Powerstroke 77 or Ludwig Silver Dot on top and an Ambassador-weight (3 mil) Mylar snare side head on bottom.

On top, the Powerstroke 77 would be my recommendation. The two-ply construction and underlay reduce overtones, drying the drum's sound like DRUMS11 described, and making the drum easier to tune for a good up-close sound. The single-ply Silver Dot tends to be a bit ringy, especially up close. That ring generally blends OK in the context of a whole drum line at a distance (how marching drums are usually heard), but at least to my ears, it's not so pleasing for a single drum up close.

On bottom, I'm one of those Ludwig fans the other guys warned you about. An Evans MS3 or Remo Ambassador will do you just fine, but the Ludwig C1114 seems a little more durable and resistant to stretching, while still giving excellent snare response.

A side note about Mylar snare side heads: Marching and "standard" Mylar snare side heads are generally the same, except for the collar height. The lower collar on the marching head just gives the head more room to stretch under high tension so the rim doesn't get cranked past the bearing edge or bottom out on your lug casings.

Remo and Evans heads are widely available, so you shouldn't have any problems finding them locally or online. Ludwig heads can be a bit tougher to locate, though. If you want to give them a try, you can order through Cascio Interstate Music.

Oh, and since you're a drum set player... Speaking of Ludwig heads, their coated medium heads are great on snare drums or as single-ply tom batters. Nice warm sound and the coating's really durable. I generally like them better than Remo Coated Ambassadors or Evans G1's.

Have fun with your new (old) drum!

...and have you picked up a pair of marching sticks?

Thank you DRUMMER85 for your comments.

Regarding SKYDOG's much appreciated recommendations..I am trying to get away from 'overtones' as I play alone indoors (not sure the neighbours would applaud my outdoor rendition of Crazy Army..just yet!!)

I have a Ludwig medium coated batter head on a 1975 all-wood Ludwig Parade snare I recently restored to original that sound great. I get a nice deep warm tone. I have G2s on my drum kit and a Powerstroke 4 on the snare. I get a really dry and crisp articulation from my Pearl all maple snare with that head.

Sticks???...yes... I'm trying a few models on a pad currently (while I decide on the new head combo). They're Vic Firth: SD1; Jeff Queen Corpmaster SoLo and a pair of Ted Atkatz persimmon that go great with the vintage marching snare. I am going to order a pair of Ralphie Jr. to try also.

Nice to get all the support from you guys. Cheers!