Lambswool beaters

some1

Junior Member
Hi

I am trying to keep the volume of my 20" arbiter flats lite bass drum down,. Someone must know where i can get a pair of lambswool beaters with a wooden core, repercussions.org used to sell them but they are no more, and a few places in the UK used to sell them but they are out of business too.

I know there is the vintage bomber by Vater, buts its overpriced and has cork at its centre, not wood. Danmar make some but i am unsure if they have wood in the middle or what.

There must be somewhere i can get these, any help appreciated.
 
haha yeah a wool sock and some duct tape! i made a patch one time with a lot of tissue and duct tape it gave a similar sound as the old school wool beaters. a heavy blanket over the bass drum cuts the volume down the heavier the better..
 
Currently i have a old cotton sock wrapped around a crystal ball beater, sounds ok i guess but its not the same, for obvious reasons, it works to a degree though.
 
I use this every once in a while. It gives the bass drum a nice vintage sound depending on how it's tuned. I find that they do wear fairly quickly. I'm not sure of the manufacturer, but I have several new in the package that I could check.

DSC_0631-1.jpg


Dennis
 
I use this every once in a while. It gives the bass drum a nice vintage sound depending on how it's tuned. I find that they do wear fairly quickly. I'm not sure of the manufacturer, but I have several new in the package that I could check.

DSC_0631-1.jpg


Dennis

Thanks Dennis, if judging the sound of a sock rapped around a crystal ball beater is anything to go by, it will sound great, arbiter flats have a lot of attack so getting rid of most of that will give it that deep sound i am looking for, it has a Aquarian Impact II drumhead on there tuned to G1, kinda sounds like a electronic bass drum, almost like a 808... i like it anyway.
 
I just checked it. It's made by Vater and it's called the "Vintage Bomber".

Dennis
 
I just checked it. It's made by Vater and it's called the "Vintage Bomber".

Dennis

You say they wear out quickly, are you using a coated batter head by any chance? If you do that might be why they wear out so fast, but i suspect they are just not as well made.
 
You say they wear out quickly, are you using a coated batter head by any chance? If you do that might be why they wear out so fast, but i suspect they are just not as well made.

Originally the beater was hitting against a DW (Remo) smooth white head. When I changed batter heads the first time, it was impacting an Evans coated EQ 4 with a smooth patch. With my third batter change I'm now using a Remo coated Powerstroke 3 with a clear patch. I do switch between the "powder puff" beater and felt beaters, usually using one of the Tama Iron Cobra beaters to get a more focused sound when I need it. The nice thing about the powder puff beater is that you can rotate it so the wear isn't just at one spot on the beater.

I'll try to get pictures up as soon as I can.

Dennis
 
Here's one picture of the typical wear pattern of the beater. The beater shown has four of those bald spots. Like I said, it does help being able to rotate the beater to get more life out of it. The powder puff beaters really do have a sound quality all of their own.

DSC_0246-1.jpg


Dennis
 
I don't think the drum head has anything to do with it. I use a lambswool beater on an Evans Hydraulic and I have the same issue. I just keep rotating it and, when it is all worn out, I just replace it. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business
 
Here's one picture of the typical wear pattern of the beater. The beater shown has four of those bald spots. Like I said, it does help being able to rotate the beater to get more life out of it. The powder puff beaters really do have a sound quality all of their own.

DSC_0246-1.jpg


Dennis

After 4 years, my beater has one bald spot like the one shown. I have rotated the beater to a fresh area. I should get a few more years of use. Not bad for a $20 beater.

GJS
 
Try socks for little feet or mittens for small hands. Whatever beater you start with, you can come up with a whole new range of sound variations. You can layer them to get the sound you want. Experiment with your muffling and the possibilities are endless. I use a bomber beater and love it. A snug fitting sock on a bomber beater gets a great sound. It might look funny but who cares? If you like cajons, please check out the youtube channel "mediumsizedog". I use fine cabinetry and woodworking techniques to build instruments that make sounds way beyond the cajons you know. Let me know what you think.
 
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