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Billy Blast Okay, so we may have been underwhelmed by Billy Blast’s “string vest” single ply, but the new three-ply Ballistech II takes the quirky US online trader into the big league. Sure, at $25, it’s more than twice the price of the original, but this white head is rugged, good-looking, durable and realistic under the stick. At first glance, there seemed little point to the third layer – besides avoiding Roland’s patent restrictions, but it did give the head more substance and a mylar-like feel. Interestingly, the controlled strike gave an almost identical noise reading to that of the original single-ply Blast head, but this one was a tad quieter on full-strength hits – around the mid-range of all the samples. The heads are characterised by a low-pitch thwack, but the addition of a third layer seems to have largely eliminated the two-ply buzz, giving this head a unique sonic signature. The third layer also appears to provide some muting, with less rebound than some of the other samples – although more than its predecessor. It did not, however, detract from positional sensing, which was spot-on. This head looks built to last, so all up, it’s a hands-down winner over its predecessor.
ddt German trigger maker ddt makes a range of double-ply and single-ply heads, but we only looked at the dual-layer since the single wasn’t available in our test size of 12”. At €21.90, the snow-white, tight-weave mesh head is not cheap, but it is well made, snug fitting and feels great. Past users say the new generation of ddt heads is a significant improvement on the early versions which were also available in black, and if you were previously disappointed, it may be worth trying again. On the drum, the ddt head feels robust, with excellent rebound (the most pronounced in the current batch) at reasonable tightness levels. Positional sensing was spot-on. The heads were fairly quiet (especially by two-ply standards) in both controlled and forceful play, but do exhibit the characteristic dual-ply buzz – albeit to a lesser extent than some rivals. They have a mellower tone than many of the dual-ply rivals. 18
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