Oh my god! What have I done?

[The popes love child]

Ok, so I'm a little shaken up right now. I was in my basement tuning my bass drum (Why, I don't know, the sound wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good) It's a 26 incher, so it sounds good if it's tuned higher than most bass drums. Anyways, I was cranking up the lugs on the reso side (It has the double-ended lugs), which was already ready pretty tight. I hear a crack, and I figure I kicked something walking around my cluttered basement. Then I looked at the lug next to the one I was tuning and it was snapped in half! Ahhhh! I love that drum! I mess with my other drums all the time and have never had this happen! Where did I go wrong? How can make sure this NEVER happens again? Because, it's a pretty traumatic experience.

[rodie]

the whole lug? or just a tension rod? sounds like the rim holes weren't lined up with the lugs straight, and you had a weak rod which side loaded and snapped...if it was the whole lug, then a bad casting, maybe?

and wow, is that tight for a bass head!

[The popes love child]

the whole lug? or just a tension rod? sounds like the rim holes weren't lined up with the lugs straight, and you had a weak rod which side loaded and snapped...if it was the whole lug, then a bad casting, maybe?

and wow, is that tight for a bass head!

The tension rod is fine, it snapped on the lug directly in the middle. I know, I feel like such a rookie because I went down and felt the head and literally yelled "What the F@#&$! Why the F@#&$ is it that tight?" It really tight, I must have got carried away.

[Deathmetalconga]

Just replace the lug or whatever is broken. It would be really, really bad if it ripped out of the shell! That would basically destroy your shell.

[The popes love child]

Just replace the lug or whatever is broken. It would be really, really bad if it ripped out of the shell! That would basically destroy your shell.

The shell and everything else is fine, except for the lug. It's a 50 year old drum, the lugs are zinc or some crap like that. I should probably replace them at some point, but sense there are already holes in the shell I would have to find the exact size. From now on I'm going to be much more careful 1/4 turns only, and I'm not going to make it near as tight, it's impossible to get a good sound of of a bass drum tuned that high, unless I go 70's and heavily muffle it and take off the reso head.

[hawk9290]

damn that sucks, but you can't expect a high pitch out a 26" monster. search ebay or google for the lugs, I'm sure you can find a replacement of the same model if you look hard enough

[thumper]

Wow man, that really sucks-especially on a vintage drum like that one. I'm assuming that you tune "by ear?" Try using a DrumDial tuner, or something similar...I swear by mine, because it prevents over tourquing on each tension rod, and it makes your drums sound like they should without the guesswork. (I never could tune by ear worth a damn)

[The popes love child]

Wow man, that really sucks-especially on a vintage drum like that one. I'm assuming that you tune "by ear?" Try using a DrumDial tuner, or something similar...I swear by mine, because it prevents over tourquing on each tension rod, and it makes your drums sound like they should without the guesswork. (I never could tune by ear worth a damn)

I thought I could up until today, because all my drums sound pretty good, it must be luck. I do have a system though. I'm not going to be reckless anymore, I'm going to check to make sure every lug is at the exact same tension, and I'm not going to make any turn over 1/4 no matter how low it is. I really anxious to get my drum re-tuned though. I think I'm going to make both sides at finger tension, turn the batter to wear a smaller bass drum would be, and then maybe 2 1/4 turns above that, and then to the same thing to the batter plus 1-2 1/4 turns. I might put in a little more muffling in as well. right now I have a 1" foam pad resting on the bottom that barely touches each head, and a bed sheet rolled up. I might just go with a pillow or something a little less drastic.
My dad and I J-B welded a bolt with the head cut off inside the lug, it should hold until I find a new one. Right now I just want to have a very careful and insightful tuning session so I can just play and not worry about it.

[Deathmetalconga]

I thought I could up until today, because all my drums sound pretty good, it must be luck. I do have a system though. I'm not going to be reckless anymore, I'm going to check to make sure every lug is at the exact same tension, and I'm not going to make any turn over 1/4 no matter how low it is. I really anxious to get my drum re-tuned though. I think I'm going to make both sides at finger tension, turn the batter to wear a smaller bass drum would be, and then maybe 2 1/4 turns above that, and then to the same thing to the batter plus 1-2 1/4 turns. I might put in a little more muffling in as well. right now I have a 1" foam pad resting on the bottom that barely touches each head, and a bed sheet rolled up. I might just go with a pillow or something a little less drastic.
My dad and I J-B welded a bolt with the head cut off inside the lug, it should hold until I find a new one. Right now I just want to have a very careful and insightful tuning session so I can just play and not worry about it.

This drum is old and fragile. You're lucky a lug blew out and not your shell. I would replace all the lugs ASAP. The shell is the most important part of the drum.

Regarding the Drum Dial, I agree with thumper. I use it to tune, but I had never thought of its potential to save stress on really old drums and hardware.

[The popes love child]

This drum is old and fragile. You're lucky a lug blew out and not your shell. I would replace all the lugs ASAP. The shell is the most important part of the drum.

Regarding the Drum Dial, I agree with thumper. I use it to tune, but I had never thought of its potential to save stress on really old drums and hardware.

The shell is stainless steel, so I don't think thats going to happen anytime soon, I suppose too much stress could warp it, but my garage is practically a metal shop. Yeah, I'm looking to replace them, I just need some that are of the same size and made better. Hopefully this won't happen again. All I can do in the meantime is be careful and hope the old hardware holds up. I'll look into the drum dial, I know it will get my drums sounding great, but there's a certain satisfaction with ear tuning.

[ludwigvondrumcrazy]

What kind of drum is it? Rogers?? Just curious............

LVDC

[harryconway]

If you're gonna experiment with tuning your 26" higher than most bass drums, you might want to switch out all the old, stock lugs for newer high tension lugs. You don't mention what make your kick is. Quick visual fix, move the damaged lug to the bottom of the kick. Swap it out with a good one and at least it won't be staring at you. Check eBay for used high tension lugs. I just sold 12 Yamaha high tension lugs for $26. Shipping was $8.10. Just to give you a ballpark cost.

[The popes love child]

What kind of drum is it? Rogers?? Just curious............

LVDC

I honestly don't know. I got it off a guy who knew nothing about drums and it was one of his relatives. There's no badge, it was used in a pipe band at one point.

[crazyhorse]

Yea I was going to say... stainless bass shell... sounds like a converted marching bass. Those see a LOT of stress and typically get cranked up pretty good. I'd measure the holes for the lugs and check with drumfoundry, etc to see about replacing all of them. Just keep the originals around but having updated hardware never hurt anyone.