Remo's Falam Slam Pad and it's effect on my bass drum...

Drummertist

Silver Member
I recently bought a falam slam pad at my local music store. I had never heard of it before but decided to try it anyway. I put it right where my beater hits on my Tama Superstar 18x22 bass drum.

Now my drum sounds like a box. It's not giving me much of a note now. I did want a punchy sound, but with more of a musical sound in the background...now I have...a box.
Can you trim it down and affect the sound that way?
Is there other ways of placing it on your drum head, such as the inside side?
Also, I still have the stock head on my bass drum. That's probably affecting it right?
I want some Powerstroke 3's but they're too much for me to buy right now.

Those things are stinkin' expensive for what they are, so I don't want to just go trimming them up and slapping them anywhere.

THANKS in advance!
 
Cut a piece of it off down to a small square just the size of the actual contact spot of the beater. Did this for my 18" bubinga kick with a wood beater combo and the falam pad. Having the smaller size square pad won't effect the sound much and your head will last longer as desired. Just make sure you have a VERY sharp pair of scissors for the job because this multi-layer material is very tough to cut to size.
 
I got a free Falam pad with my Powerstroke 3 heads. I put it on and immediately HATED the clicky attack sound. It took all feel away as well.

I removed it (took FOREVER, and thankfully came off clean in the end) and replaced it with an Evans clear kick dot. Now I'm good!
 
Better get some lighter fluid and a bunch of rags to get the glue from the patch off the head. They rarely ever just come off.
 
I much prefer the Aquarian Kick Pad. Don't know why, but for some reason, it sounds better to my ear on my 22".

Originally, I was using a regular felt beater. Hated it. It gave me a good "Oom" but no "B".

Next I switched to a plastic/felt hybrid beater. Better. Closer. Now I got "boom" but no click.

Finally, with the addition of the Kick Pad, I got Boom and Click.

Ironically, on my 20" bass drum, the plastic/felt beater gives me too much click. I have to use the old felt beater on that drum.
 
I have a falam slam and powerstroke 3 head and i love the sound. It could be the tuning or perhaps try another beater,such as felt (if your not already using a felt beater :p)
 
After reading this, I realised how stupid I've been in leaving my Falam Slam on my Coated Powersonic. It sounded a bit like a box too. I tuned the head nice and loose to get that 'slap' sound and ripped the Falam Slam off. The glue came off fairly easily with a bit of rubbing. I'm now much happier with my bass drum sound :D

Lloyd.
 
I loved the clicky attack I got out of it. The Danmar metal click pads were awful, they always fell off. But woods beats + falam slam + powerstroke 3 = pefect sound bass.


Anyway, maybe try to take it off and check out the Aquarian kick pad. No extra sound, just protects your bass drum head and makes it last longer. The falam slam is supposed to give lots of attack, and click, the Aquarian isn't.

So give that a checking out.
 
what are your thoughts on the gibraltar impact pads?
i use them on my Premier olympic 22" (lol) and with a coated amb they really make the drum sound amazing! it gives a great, strong, but not overpowering click with a powerful punch. they don't stay on for very long though lol.
 
I recently bought a falam slam pad at my local music store. I had never heard of it before but decided to try it anyway. I put it right where my beater hits on my Tama Superstar 18x22 bass drum.

Now my drum sounds like a box. It's not giving me much of a note now. I did want a punchy sound, but with more of a musical sound in the background...now I have...a box.
Can you trim it down and affect the sound that way?
Is there other ways of placing it on your drum head, such as the inside side?
Also, I still have the stock head on my bass drum. That's probably affecting it right?
I want some Powerstroke 3's but they're too much for me to buy right now.

Those things are stinkin' expensive for what they are, so I don't want to just go trimming them up and slapping them anywhere.

THANKS in advance!

They are around 30 right now on MS
 
It must be spreading. I just took mine off of my bass drum two days ago and cant believe the difference.
I had cut it down to about the size of the beater, but as one who still buries the better, the pad made my beater bounce. I took it off and the bounce is gone and the drum sounds much better now.
 
It must be spreading. I just took mine off of my bass drum two days ago and cant believe the difference.
I had cut it down to about the size of the beater, but as one who still buries the better, the pad made my beater bounce. I took it off and the bounce is gone and the drum sounds much better now.


WOW! I never would have thought that it would make the beater bounce!


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw
 
I stopped using all the brands of patches--never liked the sound of any of them (Aquarian's was about the best though).

I use a small (a little bigger than the beater head 2-ish x 3.5-ish) cut piece of a used drum head.

It gets a fat, punchy, full, natural sound.
I just tape it to the head.

kickpedalmuffle.jpg


I've done this for about 6 years now, and I've not even had to change a kick head, because the patch is changed fairly often.
I just cut squares out of old Ambassadors and I can get about 10 or 12 pieces out of the outside edges of an 18" head.

This is what drummers used to do before the commercially available patches from what I was told, and since they are from used heads, they are FREE!
 
I'm a huge fan of the PowerStroke 3 and I always put the falam patch on mine...I love 'em. In my opinion, it doesn't change the sound of the drum (at least not dramatically) and I like the attack it gives me. It seems to sharpen the note just enough...and since I play a deep kick drum (18") it sounds and feels just right to me.

I like Karl's idea though...that's good thinkin' man!
 
i got my kit from the drummer for Josh Grobin. i don't know this guy's music well, but considering he's a 'professional,' i lean towards trusting his setup more than mine;)

so basically he put a piece of duct tape in place of a Falam Slam patch. it's very small and i'm hoping it will prevent quick wear on my kick batter. the sound is great to my ears, my only question is whether or not the head will wear quicker without a larger patch....
 
Back
Top