This year, we are trying the the Evans MX bass heads for the first time. I would love to hear how all of you out there have utilized the dampening system. we are marching 16"; 18"; 22"; 26";. Any advice and/or experiences that you would like to share would be appreciated!
Thanks!

It seems that most groups use ALL of the muffling for the most part, if they use the muffling at all. Many choose to do their own foam muffling. I believe that you may see a change in the Evans muffling system in the future offering more significant options with a greater variety of articulation options.

FYI

I work in conjunction with Joe and while they project, they are a bit too dry for me.  I am a big fan of the Remo Powermax, so I assume getting that level of muffling/overtone/projection comes from fiddling with the muffles.

I used the MX1 (white and black) with Aimachi. Because we only ever performed inside (fall marching band season and WGI), I opted not to use the rings and instead glued foam to the inside of the shell. I love a more open sound for outside, but I couldn't get the articulation I wanted inside just using the rings. To open that sound back up just a little more, I drilled more air holes in our drums.

I was really happy with the end result.

I used the MX2's last year and did not like them at all. I've used the MX1's up until then and regretted the switch. The overtones were less and the impact of the bottom two drums felt very dull.

Has anyone played around with the Evans MX2's?  I usually go with the MX1's, and was curious to see if anyone has compared them yet.

I would want to know what kind of notes your line is playing. Becuase if they play alot of articulated runs and so forth (sextuplets/32nds), I would suggest using ALL of the muffling. Crank those babies up and get all the attack you can. If the bass lines are more ";walking"; or ";groove"; oriented then I'd say you're right on the money with the previous suggestions. my 2 cents.

I use the felt in two arcs for the top 3 drums (same as Joe), then all the way around for the bottom 2.

They're a good choice, especially if your budget can't handle new heads for fall and winter.  Super easy to adjust dampening between seasons without having to scrape off and try to apply new foam.

We march 16";, 18";, 20";, 22";, 26";, and 30"; bass drums.�� On the bottom 2 I use about 3/4 of the felt ";circle";, and on the top 4 I use about 2/3 of the felt ";circle";.�� We play on artificial turf with concrete wall around the field and concrete stands.�� Overall, we get very good definition and tone.

We put felts everywhere but two sections, 90 degrees from each other. I think felts all of the way around takes away too many overtones for outdoor playing.

The first time I heard bass drums with these heads I fell in love, and when we got them ourselves I didn't change my opinion. We have had some problems with too many overtones on the 28"; bottom drum, though. We're not using it this year, but if we go back to it I will try doing felts all of the way around.

One thing...

If you feel like using fewer felts on the bottom drum makes it to boomy, try using felts from the smaller drums all the way around the bottom drum.  I have heard of people doing that with good results.

I have always put felt all of the way around.

My 2 cents.

Good luck.

I've found that you normally best sounds if you use about half of the foam inserts on each head.  It seems to give a nice balance of tone and articulation.  The Evans heads do tend to be a bit boomier than the Remos, so putting some spray shellac on the mallet heads would help... if you are in fact wanting more articulation than they give you.  I can't remember the name of the stuff we used at Cavaliers when I marched, but I'll see if I can get that for you.

Hope this helps!