Evans’ UV1 heads may be something you’ve read about. They’re coated heads, similar to some of the other coated heads the company offers, but they’re manufactured/finished in a different way.
The level 360 collar technology stays the same, but the UV1’s start life as translucent film as opposed to the clear film used with the G1 line. The UV1 coating is then silkscreened onto the film and is then cured with high-intensity ultraviolet light; Evans’ regular coating is applied via spraying and is then air dried. The result of this process is that UV-cured finish is said to be more resistant to scratching and chipping, both of which are longstanding issues for coated heads.
The heads themselves come in sizes 8 to 18” for the top of the kit and 16 to 26” for EMAD and EQ4 models and 16 to 24” for coated bass heads. Not sure why there isn’t a 26” there too, but there you go. The review heads were 10, 12 & 16” toms, 22” EMAD kick and a 14” snare.
Durability is something I’d heard a lot about with these heads. In fact, that seemed to be one of the key selling points of them.
So first off, I will say that I didn’t play these heads long enough to test the durability as far as how they hold up after multiple gigs. But, that said, I did play them for a good few hours at my normal playing level and was very happy with how they sounded and how the coating lasted.
I’ve done gigs before (not using Evans heads) where the coating has come off my main mounted tom in the first set and I’m not that hard a player andI don’t use big sticks either. In fact, the sticks used in the video are bigger than my regular gigging ones.
I really like coated heads, but the coating coming off too easily has always been both annoying and costly. I therefore, like many I’m guessing, completely welcome coated heads that are both durable (in terms of tone) but also keep their coating.
I took the heads off the drums after the review to see how they faired; there wasn’t really any signs on them to show they’d been played.
Apart from a few dirty marks, none of the heads showed any signs of wear or scuffing. In fact, I could have probably have wiped them down with a damp cloth and said they were brand new and no one would have known any better.
On top of that, I found these heads to be very easy to seat and tune, the Level 360 design allowing plenty of scope for the head to move freely on the shell.
The heads are lively, with good sustain and tone, and the response is excellent. In addition, they didn’t feel to me (either in the hand when putting them on or playing them) to be any different to Evans’ regular coated heads when using sticks.
All in all, if these signs – and all the feedback I’ve been hearing and reading about durability as well – are anything to go by, the slightly higher price you pay for these heads may well be worth the extra saving you’ll make in the long run.
More details at http://uv1.evansdrumheads.com and http://www.evansdrumheads.com/EvansHome.Page?ActiveID=1194
David Bateman
July 2018
