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Vintage Emperors changed the art of drumming in the '60s

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• Review

Cranked up, the heads sang fairly well but it was obvious that a mid-range tuning suited the heads better. Slackening the heads off let the feel come to the fore, and at a moderate tension the tone was strident and full, decaying fairly quickly with no harsh overtones. That said, the Vintage Emperors didn't struggle to cut through, but the mids and lows were accentuated by the natural twin-ply damping.

The heads proved particularly adept on the two floor toms - 14" and 16" - skillfully controlling that excessive rumble you sometimes get on a 16"x16" with thinner heads.

Compared to standard Emperors, the Vintage was warmer, with a slightly quicker volume drop-off, which is possibly attributable to the thicker film. The Vintage also appeared to offer a marginally brighter fundamental tone.

With some twin-ply heads you get a slightly plastic-y initial attack – a sort of 'thwack!' sound that is subsumed into the main body of the tone, but this isn't evident with the Vintage Emperors. It's one distinct tone, very warm and full, and on our test kit the heads lacked the harsh overtones that lead to an over-abundance of gaffa tape.