The Felt strip for Bass Drum thread!!!! Yay!!!!

[fijjibo]

EDIT - Check out post 13 for the results.

Anyone here remember/still use these wonderful fabric strips?

I just picked some up - surprising since they were discontinued....

Where do you place yours on the heads, and any other tips/tricks?


For those of you who have no idea what Im on about - heres some pics:

http://www.vistalites.com/other/asba10.jpg

http://www.adcdrums.co.uk/uploads/images_products/584.jpg

[fourstringdrums]

The Gibraltar ones might be discontinued but you can get strips like that at any fabric store.

I haven't used them in years but when I did it was on the resonant head and I would usually put it vertically about 8" from the edge of the head.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Back in the day I used to use a two inch wide piece of an old sheet of pillow case on the front head running vertically about three inchs from the side. May try it again and get rid of the blanket now that the real felt is back out again.

[fijjibo]

Yeah the Gibraltar strips were discontinued - you can still get them though - I just scored a pack for 3 quid in the English equivalent of Guitar centre.

So, do you just use them on the front head?

Or can you use them on both heads?

(There were two strips in the pack)

[mikei]

Yeah the Gibraltar strips were discontinued - you can still get them though - I just scored a pack for 3 quid in the English equivalent of Guitar centre.

So, do you just use them on the front head?

Or can you use them on both heads?

(There were two strips in the pack)

I read that you use them on both heads. I haven't used them yet, but will soon with my 26 kick.

[fijjibo]

I read that you use them on both heads. I haven't used them yet, but will soon with my 26 kick.

Cool - thanks.

Im going to try it out in the morning.

I think Ill just experiment....

Ill let you all know though.

[fourstringdrums]

You can use them on either. You get a really old school sound by using one on each head (or maybe two on the batter, one on the front), but sometimes people will just use on in the front. Say if they have a muffled batter head and just want a tad of muffling on the reso.

[mikei]

Cool - thanks.

Im going to try it out in the morning.

I think Ill just experiment....

Ill let you all know though.

I just bought 2 packs of 2 from samash.com. I figured since they are discontinued, I should just pick up a couple of pack if they had them in stock.

Please let me know how it goes.

[iamtak]

i payed $.84 for enough felt to cover both sides of my 26" Bonham style with at loads left over, i reccomend not wasting your hard earned money.

I've seen pics of people who, instead of putting the felt betweent the shell and the head, put the felt between the hoop and the head. Obviously not as visually appealing but makes a bit more sense. It gives the bearing edge contact with the head for all 360 degrees and i would imagine muffling is unchanged and would probably be easier to adjust. Anyone have any comments or experience with such a method?

[mikei]

i payed $.84 for enough felt to cover both sides of my 26" Bonham style with at loads left over, i reccomend not wasting your hard earned money.

I've seen pics of people who, instead of putting the felt betweent the shell and the head, put the felt between the hoop and the head. Obviously not as visually appealing but makes a bit more sense. It gives the bearing edge contact with the head for all 360 degrees and i would imagine muffling is unchanged and would probably be easier to adjust. Anyone have any comments or experience with such a method?

So you recommend drum, head, felt then hoop?

That is the way that I thought it was meant to be.

I didn't think to go to the fabric shop so I paid $10 for the gibraltars. Didn't break the bank, but I wish I would have thought of that before I spent the cash. Oh well.

Out of curiosity, what heads are you using on your 26???

[Cymbalrider]

I cut felt strips out of well big things of felt and put them behind the batter and resonant side of my bass drum. Vertical and a bit off-center to the left. Works great, and the drum isn't heavy like it would be if there was something inside the drum.

[fijjibo]

I cut felt strips out of well big things of felt and put them behind the batter and resonant side of my bass drum. Vertical and a bit off-center to the left. Works great, and the drum isn't heavy like it would be if there was something inside the drum.

So what kind of sound are we looking at here?

I like a bass drum with lots of low end, and not alot of muffling, as I say if you spend lots of money o a kit, why not enjoy the woods tone....

Would I get my low end?


EDIT - Rob, nice new avatar btw.

[fijjibo]

Hello all.

Just did a little test.

I put a strip on each head, about 10cm/5" from the center of the head, vertically.

I also decided to tune my bass about an eighth of a turn more than usual up.

The sound - very deep, almost thunderous in its cavernousness....

I can imagine this is perfect for my prog stuff, plus tuned up a bit for jazz.

The beauty of this type of muffling is that because there is nothing touching the inside of the shell (as a pillow would), there is no loss of tone or depth to the drum.

I would recommend this to anyone!!!!

[JoeyWaters]

On my 22" Starclassic I have a clear Remo PS3 on the batter and a coated Ambassador with a vertical felt strip about two inches from the edge on the reso side. This is one of the best sounds that I have gotten out of my kick. It sounds more natural than having another pre-muffled head on the reso. I feel like I have finally found the perfect combo between old and new school. I can't wait to try this on my 26" maple Ludwigs (when I close a big deal to afford them that is).

[jking]

I have a horizontal felt strip between the shell and the head about 6-8 inches up from the bottom. Both the batter and the reso are muffled this way in addition to a pillow up against the reso. It was set up this way when I bought my set years ago & I've never changed it. I used to like the sound, but, when I set the kick back up this year after not playing for quite a while it has all the tonal qualities of plastic bucket...

I will caution one thing, however. My bass has been this way for years & looking at it now, having the thickness of the felt in there may have forced the hoop out of round. I hope it's not the shell. Something to think about.

[fourstringdrums]

I'm looking forward to trying this. I was planning on using maybe a coated Evans G2 Batter and Remo Fiberskyn Reso on my 18" with a felt strip on each head (maybe two on the batter).

[stickers]

Go to walmart and buy a yard of felt. That way you can cut different width for less or more dampening.

[fourstringdrums]

Go to walmart and buy a yard of felt. That way you can cut different width for less or more dampening.

How wide is the felt from Walmart? Is it already cut into strips or is it a sheet?

[fijjibo]

I will caution one thing, however. My bass has been this way for years & looking at it now, having the thickness of the felt in there may have forced the hoop out of round. I hope it's not the shell. Something to think about.

Hmmmm....

Is this a genuine risk? I have hard Birch drums, so could they be affected by the felt?

Rob - Im not sure If a yard is long enough to cover an 18" bass drum (mind you, Im English)
Let me know how it turns out.

[fourstringdrums]

Hmmmm....

Is this a genuine risk? I have hard Birch drums, so could they be affected by the felt?

Rob - Im not sure If a yard is long enough to cover an 18" bass drum (mind you, Im English)
Let me know how it turns out.

A yard is 36" (3 feet). I would have to get a tiny bit more, in order to have some overlap at the edges of the drum.

The felt isn't going to damage your drum. If it ever did, we'd hear more about it now and drummers would no longer do it. When a drum goes out of round, it does so because of pressure on the side of the drum causing the shell to become more of an oval shape. The same goes for the hoop. The felt isn't causing pressure on the side of the drum, it's sandwiched between the drumhead and the bearing edge, so if ANYTHING it would cause a rise in that section of drumhead, but it doesn't. When you tighten down the head, the felt is soft enough and thin enough that it's going to flatten out and the extra amount of area between the head and bearing edge is going to be miniscule.

[Cymbalrider]

I've done the pillow thing before, an EMAD head, but the felt strips work best for me. One strip gives you a deep boomy sound while two (one on the batter one on the res) gives you still a boomy sound but you can play quietly too. My drum is 22x18 and it now can play anything from big band to small combo jazz in dynamics and control. It's also controlled enough for rock/pop/funk too while still being resonant enough to project and not sound like hitting a sofa with a broom. Most of what felt will do for you depends on the size of the drum too. Many jazz combo guys use one on their 18" basses and guys like Rich, Bellson, Krupa used them on 22-24" basses. Bonham being an example of using felt on a 26". The idea of putting felt on the outside makes sense too although I think inside gives you more options. The tighter you make the head the more sustain you get but at the same time the felt keeps the plastic tone out and you maintain a low dynamic sensitivity. I think the worst that could happen with the felt situation is that the felt would break but that isn't a big deal at all really. I was wondering if you could make tiny strips like a centimeter or so wide for use under tom heads near the edges, I'll have to try that one.

[fijjibo]

Rob - cool, thats comforts me. I like the sound the felt gives me, so I would hate to have to pay a price for that in damage to my shells.
Its true in that if it was bad, people wouldnt have been doing it for so long.

Cymbalrider - Yep, its the versatility of the strips I like. If you really hammer the drum it sounds good. If you feather the drum, it sounds good.

[drumtechdad]

Felt strips come from the days when all you could get for bass drum heads were single ply without any built-in muffling. Many pictures of Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa--and John Bonham--clearly show the felt strips. (Steve Smith apparently uses them on his small-bass "jungle" kit, too.) Some drummers used 1" wide felt under the resos of their floor toms, too.

It's a great way to add some muffling without killing the tone of the shell, as pillows/blankets do. I'm convinced that the huge, boomy Bonham bass drum sound is owed to a big drum with single-ply heads and felt strips. And why no one else gets that sound today.

I currently use PS3s on both batter and reso and find a felt strip is too much muffling--I like boomy BDs when not miked. If for some reason I went to a 1-ply unmuffled head I'd reach for the felt in a heartbeat.

I've never seen any evidence for felt strips pulling a BD out of round. Given the weight of a couple of rack toms and the associated hardware I would think a felt strip is the least of your worries.

Ditto for installing under the head. I've never had a problem doing so, no funny business about the bearing edge being covered by the felt. BD heads are typically tuned so loose I wouldn't worry about it.

There are a couple of manufacturers still making them; one is Muffelt by Slug Percussion (pricey at about $10, but very well made) and another whose brand escapes me right now. Seems like WalMart felt is the way to go for those who want to experiment.

[nickg]

i also agree with the idea that felt strips wouldn't cause any problem to the shell in any way. especially with two rack toms or anything else mounted on the kick would cause more stress on a shell than a felt strip (jeeeezzz....)

plus i could never understand the fact of someone whining about putting a felt strip in between the bearing edge and the head while muffling and stuffing their kick full of foam, pillows, whatever, etc......that just boggles the mind.

after many years, when i got my Pro M kit last year, i went back to the felt strip on front and back with NO port on the front head. last week at our annual reunion gig my bass player was just amazed at how boomy the kick was while still having a nice tight sound. he said "i never heard a kick sound that good before". it's an 18 x 22 and sounds great!!

[fijjibo]

after many years, when i got my Pro M kit last year, i went back to the felt strip on front and back with NO port on the front head. last week at our annual reunion gig my bass player was just amazed at how boomy the kick was while still having a nice tight sound. he said "i never heard a kick sound that good before". it's an 18 x 22 and sounds great!!

Man I love that sound.

And it sounds extra nice on a mapex, right?

sure does...