22 x 14 bass drum ?

G

garethfoxwilliams

Member
If your favourite drum manufacturer started producing (again ? ) a 22 x 14 bass drum, who out there would buy it?

Who has got a kit with a 22 x 14 and do you like it?

Have you got some pictures of it?

Any other comments?
 
Yes! I very much prefer the responsiveness, feel, and sound of a 22x14 bass drum over a 22x18 or even a 22x16. I have a 60s Ludwig 22x14 that just THUMPS. I can't get that quality of sound out of my DW 22x18, but that's a whole different beast in and of itself...

Yes, 22x14 bass drums are GREAT!
 
I bought a 22x18 kick about 10 years ago and last year had it cut down to a 22x14. My first kit had a 22x14 as did the vast majority of 2nd hand kicks back in the early '80s.

I grew to dislike deep cannon-style kicks after playing on them for years. I much prefer the more staccato punchiness of shallower kicks. My latest is a 24x14.

There are drum manufacturers who will make them if you ask. Although the only one's that come to mind at the moment would be Tama, Ludwig, and DW (and any of the "custom" makers). There are probably others.
 
My 14x22 Slingerland sounds bigger and deeper than my 17x22 Yamaha Oak and my 18x20 Tempus Fiberglass. It sounds almost bigger than my 18x24 Tempus.

Shallower bass drums make the resonant heads work harder. In my experience, the low end you receive from the reso head cannot be duplicated.

Shallower bass drums also give rebound and response you can't otherwise get from a deeper drum.
 
I waffle on this, regularly. I started on a 22x18" and I just keep going back to it, for some reason. Otherwise, I love the feel and sound of my 24x16" Classic Maple.

I had a 22x14" CM and I hated the sound of it, from behind the kit. I didn't like the feel either, honestly.

I LOVED how it recorded though - much cleaner and nicer tone than any other 22" I've recorded at home.

I set up my 22x18" last night and fell in love with it all over again...it has it all and plays well under my foot. They're not as easy to tune but once you get it just right, I think I like the sound better than a shallow kick.
 
I would not change a thing about my 22" x 20". They are not boomy at all. Very nice tight feel, and great pedal response. Plus I love the look of them. Don't like the big shallow basses of the good old days.
 
I sometimes wish my 20x18 bass drum were actually 20x14. sometimes I think I'm pushing more air than you can actually hear. My last kit was a Ludwig Vistalite with a 22x14 bass drum and since I grew up with that size, making it sound good was almost too easy for me to do.
 
Bo Eder said:
I sometimes wish my 20x18 bass drum were actually 20x14. sometimes I think I'm pushing more air than you can actually hear. My last kit was a Ludwig Vistalite with a 22x14 bass drum and since I grew up with that size, making it sound good was almost too easy for me to do.
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My Vistalite is a 24x14 and it just tunes itself. Plenty of boom, punch and definition.

My 22x14 Pearl Fiberwood kit from the 70's sounds good to me if it's stuffed with a pillow or something. Hollow, it sounds just odd.
 
My school's got a '56 radio king set (a beauty unto itself) but possibly my favorite part of the whole set is the 22x14 kick. my god that thing is the finest instrument i've ever laid my foot on, it just sounds amazing *drift off into happy memories* plus like zambizzi said, it records like a dream, i've had the good fortune to be in good enough terms with my band director that i've been able to use it on some recordings in the past and WOW, thats all i have to say
 
There is a size issue as well. If you have a two-door car, you can fit a 14x22 bass drum behind the seats to get it into the back. I used to do this when I owned a '72 VW Bug.

I always wondered if Alex Van Halen could ever get his bass drums back into his house once he made them so long....probably not.
 
Big fan of 14" depth bass drums...used 14" x 22" as well as 14" x 24". Like others say, I think it's a more defined sound. I also use full heads on my bass drums.

I've used a 20" x 22", 18" x 22", and have even fooled around on a 24" x 24" foot cannon. I'm glad to be using a 14" x 22" right now.

The older I get, the more I find I prefer the classics...in what I play, what I read, and what I listen to.
 
Bo Eder said:
I sometimes wish my 20x18 bass drum were actually 20x14. sometimes I think I'm pushing more air than you can actually hear. My last kit was a Ludwig Vistalite with a 22x14 bass drum and since I grew up with that size, making it sound good was almost too easy for me to do.
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I completely agree. I want to cut my 20x18 down as I firmly believe the small diameter heads don't move enough air to get the reso head going.
 
Ian said:
I completely agree. I want to cut my 20x18 down as I firmly believe the small diameter heads don't move enough air to get the reso head going.
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Say what!? Are you playing heel-down? Really softly? Are you letting the beater rebound off of the head?
 
zambizzi said:
Say what!? Are you playing heel-down? Really softly? Are you letting the beater rebound off of the head?
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Full throw full tension and full stroke on an IC with the Danmar wood beaters and I do let it rebound. I'm convinced the drum sounds lacks low end due to the depth. I've messed with shallower Tempus 20" kicks with the same heads and the diff is night and day. I have no low end, they have plenty. I also tune quite well.
 
I wouldn't change my 22" by 18" kick. The perfect size!

I wonder, why did manufactures change their deepth of the 20" and 22" kicks? Because almost everyone did this...
 
Cameo said:
I wouldn't change my 22" by 18" kick. The perfect size!

I wonder, why did manufactures change their deepth of the 20" and 22" kicks? Because almost everyone did this...
Click to expand...

The history of the deeper bass drum started in 1979 or so. Ludwig introduced a 16" depth bass drum, selling us on the more 'boom' principle because it's deeper, and that's when all this silliness really began. Jeff Porcaro at the time very popular because of that new band he was in, Toto, was constantly in magazine ads with his Pearl power toms and deeper bass drum. (Although I did find it ironic that Stewart Copeland, didn't go to deeper-sized drums for the entire run of the Police. Hmm...). I believe Sonor was really the first to offer the square-sized toms and deeper bass drums. The new depth was just that: new. Up until that time, every manufacturer had basically the same sizes. I suppose it was a cool thing happen, because now there are all kinds of sizes available to folks. You didn't have these size choices at all in the 70s. But having all these choices created the biggest headache for consumers, though!
 
I have a Rogers 70s 22x14 and I love it. Also records nicely.
And also - check the depth of BD of one of the masters of drum sound - Simon Phillips...
 
The only 22's I will play are 22x14's. Got two of them, and I love them! I just don't like the feel or sound of 22x18 or 22x20 drums. I find my 22x14's to be punchyer, and cut way easier. Besides if I use a big drum then I increase diameter not depth! I don't own any bass drums deeper than 16's and have no plans too.
 
To explain my interest in this, I have recently been investing in a few vintage Premier kits, from the early 1980s back to the 1960s; both for my own interest and for my hire stock.

I do find that the 14" depth gives everything I feel one needs in an average setting, and most of the time I'm micing them up in my capacity of sound engineer - my 'real' job.

That goes for the both the 20" and 22" sizes.

I often get to work with function bands on very small stages in hotels and when everyone is fighting for space, especially depth, on the stage, those 18" bass drums are pesky things. I'm also interested how many drummers complain about having to lug the things around and say things like " I keep meaning to get a smaller one" but are a bit afraid they won't make enough noise!!
 
Bo Eder said:
The history of the deeper bass drum started in 1979 or so. Ludwig introduced a 16" depth bass drum, selling us on the more 'boom' principle because it's deeper, and that's when all this silliness really began. Jeff Porcaro at the time very popular because of that new band he was in, Toto, was constantly in magazine ads with his Pearl power toms and deeper bass drum. (Although I did find it ironic that Stewart Copeland, didn't go to deeper-sized drums for the entire run of the Police. Hmm...). I believe Sonor was really the first to offer the square-sized toms and deeper bass drums. The new depth was just that: new. Up until that time, every manufacturer had basically the same sizes. I suppose it was a cool thing happen, because now there are all kinds of sizes available to folks. You didn't have these size choices at all in the 70s. But having all these choices created the biggest headache for consumers, though!
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Let's take a look at this, Bo. This trend started presumably because shells were getting thicker at the time. More depth on thick shells was a way of maintaining some of the "oomph" and low-end of the sound that thinner shells inherently had, at more shallow depths.

All of this was driven by *consumers*, not pushed onto people by drum manufacturers. What was in demand was being supplied. All of these characteristics required more materials, new machinery, techniques, employee training, etc. The entire production recipe had to change. These things add significant cost...so those efforts weren't undertaken frivolously in some attempt to force people to buy thicker, deeper shells.

The power toms went away but the deep bass drums stuck around. What does this tell you? Deep bass drums are still very popular and in demand. I think the market has overwhelmingly spoken in support of the 22x18" bass drum, since it is the most prevalent size available from almost any drum manufacturer, big and small.

More choices isn't a bad thing, it's a sign of prosperity. Your hard-earned buck goes much further (in the drum industry) than it did even 10 years ago, and you now have much more to choose from.
 
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