Re: New heads are the best thing that ever was.
Snare is the Ludwig Accent(older Accent, nicer than the newer ones) 14x6.5" steel jobber. Put a cast hoop on top years ago to replace the one that exploded on too many rimshots with drum corps sticks.
It is a solid cheapo snare. I just have not had the results i want so far in recording it. Some of it is cymbals/hi-hats/frequency incompatibilities, some of it is i am now thinking related to just running the wrong shit on the bottom side.
Thinner bottom head with more snare wires seems like the right angle at the moment though.
At its crux, i am leaning these days towards more of a John Bonham sort of concept WRT head arrangements and tunings. Not neccesarily going for a straight up bonham sound(neither a huge kick nor a massive floortom is in the plans right now) but just that sort of idea about how a snare or tom should sound. Pretty open but with a certain retained heaviness to it.
Cheatsheet on that for me has been reso heads tuned slightly higher than batters, across the board. Sealed heads on the kick, with felt strips, but nothing else to dampen.
Recording will be the proper test.