Ported or Non Ported Bass Reso?

nightraider43

Senior Member
I am not planning on doing any recording or miking of my drums. They will only be played in my house only. So is there any benefit of having a ported or non ported bass reso. It will be on a Saturn drum kit. I prefer a deeper, punchier sound. I am just getting back into drums again after a few year hiatus. Traded in couple guitars and a Marshall stack to get these new Saturn IV's and a Black Panther Phat Bob. I know everyone says just keep buying ones that you like but I really don't want to have 10 heads laying around that I won't use. I always liked the Aquarian SKII bass batter on my previous drum kits and never changed the reso from the manufacturer. In all honesty I love Mapex drums, especially the Saturns but the new one square acre logo on the bass reso is just too much. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
 
If you are content with an un-ported head on your bass drum then do not port.
Porting is an option that some drummers choose because they like the sound and response of a ported bass.
Some drummers like the sound and response of an un-ported head.

The Mapex logo can be removed from the stock head with "Goof Off" or a similar product.
You can buy an older style Mapex logo sticker on eBay if you desire.
There are several people who make and sell them there.
 
If you're not gigging you won't have uneducated sound people putting pressure on you to port the head just to find out where to put the microphone, lol. If you have the response from your pedal that you like and especially the sound, just leave it unported. Once ported you really can't unport it unless you replace the head. I have a ported 20" and 22" resonant heads that never get used. Every bass drum I own is unported because I really like their sound live and recorded.

Dennis
 
Thanks guys and I appreciate your knowledge on helping me out. I'm well educated when it comes to the guitar side of things but I just have more fun with drums and is reason why I am getting back into them again. Just the whole thing of resonance, attack, focus I never really messed with so much. Just picked good recommended two ply heads and went with them. Now I'm more concerned about how the heads will interact with my specific drums and go by what my ears tell me. But it is the outside knowledge from all of you that get me pointed in the right direction again. Thank you all and once I get everything set up the way I think sounds very good I can also start to reply on how certain heads work with certain woods, etc...

Steve
 
Yea Steve another vote for unported, just because it sounds so badass. Tune your front head much tighter than you would think, keep the batter head, not flappy but tuned low. A little above "just above wrinkle". No muffling. Totally dominating kick sound.

I like a non pre-muffled 10 mil front head and an Emad 1 on the batter with no foam ring. Big honkin bass drum tone.
 
If you're not gigging you won't have uneducated sound people putting pressure on you to port the head just to find out where to put the microphone

Isn't that the truth! I prefer unported as well, but put ported heads on my kicks due to to uneducated sound guys. I even had one guy so frustrated with mic placement that he actually put 1 mic BETWEEN the 2 kicks. Then he couldn't figure out why the snare and rack toms were coming through the kick channel.
 
For acoustic playing?
 

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Potential long-post warning here! lol

I'll start with the kernel of advice and then ramble afterward - Unported drums will provide a rounder, deeper-sounding bass drum tone and is what I prefer.

Now the ramble - I went to a show Friday night at the Knitting Factory in Spokane, that featured three bands that had drummers, plus a solo guitarist and a bunch of visual artists. It was great fun, and a good opportunity to compare drum sounds and critique sound men. The first band had a 4 piece kit, fairly muffled sounding, with a ported kick. The sound man was able to achieve a clean, fat tone with lots of punch and body, but little attack. It was pretty one-dimensional, though, and not very lively.

The second band had a drummer using just kick and snare. Ported kick, again, and sounded clean and one-dimensional. The snare was tuned much higher than the first band, and cut through like no tomorrow, but the eq was horrible - all midrange, no brightness or liveliness - it sounded like an e-drum. But the end of the set I couldn't wait for it to stop.

The headliner used an unported kick and the snare had a little ring to it. About halfway through the first song I heard the sound man throw a heavy gate on the snare, rendering the best snare sound of the night almost unlistenable. And the kick drum was deep sounding, but there was almost no attack - you heard more attack in the room echo, and it was very disconcerting.

My conclusion - terrible sound man + a ported drum at least gives an attack you can hear.

So, just for giggles, I threw my ported head (yes, I have one, though I haven't used it much) on my kick the next day. God, I hate the dead dry sound and lifeless response!

OK, ramble over!
 
I for one prefer the feel of a ported head, mostly because I don't like the rebound of a non ported head. It just doesn't suit the way I play.

Although I do like the sound of unported heads and the way they BOOM, the way you can feel the bass resonating.

I've been experimenting with really small holes on the reso head, trying to get maximum resonance but still getting that ported feel.

It's all about what suits your playing style / taste.
 
Thanks to all who responded. I believe I will go with the non-ported head since I will only be using these drums in my living room.

Steve
 
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