Few questions about tension rods, heads, and other general ones..

A

AsWeWept

Junior Member
So I've been "Drumming" for around 7 or 8 months now without having any formal training. Mostly I just picked things up and read up on questions I had, but I can't find any direct answers about a few things.

Anyway, first things first, I have a Legion Drum Kit which I received secondhand and is still in fair shape. After the head of one tom ripped I bought some Evans Hydrolic heads for all three of my toms. Recently I found out that the cause of my tuning issues with these heads was due to dirty tension rods. I took them out and cleaned them, but some of them still have issues. I have rather limited funds and am in need of a new snare head and 16" Crash, but that won't do me any good if I need all new Tension Rods as well.. So...

1. Some of them are just not tightening with the other Tension Rods and this was after cleaning and lubricating them (The lubricant I used was a Silicone Super-Dry Lubricant). What else could be causing this?

2. I'm not certain but it seems that some of my tension rods loosen while playing. The only reason I suspect this is because the tone changes a bit and the resonance goes away almost completely. I spent around a minute hitting them to see if there was any difference and I didn't notice anything. I'm not sure what to make of this.

3. I have an Evans Torque Key, and I want to know just how tight is too tight for my Snare and Toms? Currently my Snare is at 12 and my Toms are at 8, 8, and 8.5.

4. The bottom cymbal of my high-hat pops up with the top cymbal when I release the pedal. I have a metal disc in there but that doesn't seem to be enough, am I missing something?

Sorry if I have the wrong forum, but thank you for reading if you take the time!
 
With regards to question 1....about the tension rods not tightening....have a look at the threads and make sure they still look good. Inside the lug (the thing the tension rod screws
into) is often times just a small square nut that is mounted inside...sometimes the threads
on the nut get stripped and the nut can easily be replaced if you remove the lug from the drum. (at least this is the case on drums I have worked on, it might not be true for all drums).

If you replace a nut, take the tension rod with you to make sure you get not only the correct
size, but also the correct threads per inch. This could be a US size or Metric.

Hope this helps!
 
AsWeWept said:
So I've been "Drumming" for around 7 or 8 months now without having any formal training. Mostly I just picked things up and read up on questions I had, but I can't find any direct answers about a few things.

Anyway, first things first, I have a Legion Drum Kit which I received secondhand and is still in fair shape. After the head of one tom ripped I bought some Evans Hydrolic heads for all three of my toms. Recently I found out that the cause of my tuning issues with these heads was due to dirty tension rods. I took them out and cleaned them, but some of them still have issues. I have rather limited funds and am in need of a new snare head and 16" Crash, but that won't do me any good if I need all new Tension Rods as well.. So...

1. Some of them are just not tightening with the other Tension Rods and this was after cleaning and lubricating them (The lubricant I used was a Silicone Super-Dry Lubricant). What else could be causing this?

2. I'm not certain but it seems that some of my tension rods loosen while playing. The only reason I suspect this is because the tone changes a bit and the resonance goes away almost completely. I spent around a minute hitting them to see if there was any difference and I didn't notice anything. I'm not sure what to make of this.

3. I have an Evans Torque Key, and I want to know just how tight is too tight for my Snare and Toms? Currently my Snare is at 12 and my Toms are at 8, 8, and 8.5.

4. The bottom cymbal of my high-hat pops up with the top cymbal when I release the pedal. I have a metal disc in there but that doesn't seem to be enough, am I missing something?

Sorry if I have the wrong forum, but thank you for reading if you take the time!
Click to expand...

Ok,so like you said,first things first.You need at least a few lessons,or you may be saddled with technique problems that will hamper your ability to progress.

Check your lug inserts(nuts inside the lugs),and make sure they have ample threads and clean them also,and avoid excessive lube.

Get some metal or nylon washers,and put them under the head of your tension rods.That will maintain some tension,making it a little harder for the rods to back out.Hitting too hard is another cause of detuning.

If I had an Evan torque key,I would give it away.Use a standard drum key and learn how to tune.Sorry but those numbers mean nothing to me.I would be careful not to over tension an inexpensive lug.Check out Bob Gadsens youtube tuning videos.They will teach you proper tuning.

The reason your bottom cymbal is coming up is you're not suppose to just completely release the hi hat pedal during normal playing.You seem to be getting air lock.There is an adjustment screw under the base,to adjust the angle of the bottom cymbal,which should take care of the problem.Also ,if you press down too hard,it creates too tight of an air seal, between the two cymbals,which is something you don't want.Goog luck.

Steve B
 
tamadrm said:
Ok,so like you said,first things first.You need at least a few lessons,or you may be saddled with technique problems that will hamper your ability to progress.

Check your lug inserts(nuts inside the lugs),and make sure they have ample threads and clean them also,and avoid excessive lube.

Get some metal or nylon washers,and put them under the head of your tension rods.That will maintain some tension,making it a little harder for the rods to back out.Hitting too hard is another cause of detuning.

If I had an Evan torque key,I would give it away.Use a standard drum key and learn how to tune.Sorry but those numbers mean nothing to me.I would be careful not to over tension an inexpensive lug.Check out Bob Gadsens youtube tuning videos.They will teach you proper tuning.

The reason your bottom cymbal is coming up is you're not suppose to just completely release the hi hat pedal during normal playing.You seem to be getting air lock.There is an adjustment screw under the base,to adjust the angle of the bottom cymbal,which should take care of the problem.Also ,if you press down too hard,it creates too tight of an air seal, between the two cymbals,which is something you don't want.Goog luck.

Steve B
Click to expand...

I did have a few friends show me proper technique and I have looked up quite a few videos and things. Other then that I have no money for formal lessons, but I can find some people who play and have taken quite a few lessons.

I also made sure to wipe off the excess after I sprayed them, and mine already have washers underneath them. I think this may also be another cause of the issue since the washers seem to be creating alot of friction on a few of the Rods. The lugs, however, I'm not even sure how to take them apart so that I can clean them.

The Torque Key works perfectly well on my high and mid tom (Great sound!) but the floor tom is having the issues since either the rods or lugs are dirty.

I also actually recently fixed that issue with the high-hat, I didn't actually think about it for some reason even when writing that...
 
So I realized I had no clue what I was talking about before when I mentioned lugs and tension rods. I understand exactly what each one is now after taking out the lugs and cleaning them. Also, one of the holders for the lug was about to fall completely off the screws were so loose, that was probably my problem all along. After cleaning them and fixing that issue, the floor tom tuned perfectly!
 
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