looking for a double bass practice pad

DustinB

Member
I've never used a practice pad for double bass and I think I want one lol.

I was able to speak to a friend about his pad briefly, but he's....difficult lol.

Anyways, what I was able to manage to get out of him was that he wished he bought a heavier one(he said to go for the $100+ ones).

I have seen the ones where you attach the pedals to the pad, but then i also have seen the ones that attach to the actual bass drum. I'd assume the independent pads would be quieter though, since the bass drum would still pick up some of the vibrations from the ones that attach to the kick.

HQ SOUNDOFF BASS DRUM MUTE is the one i seen that attached to the kick itself.

So any advice on which one to go with for a sturdy and quiet pad?

I have a backwards sleep schedule most of the time, so I often practice in the middle of the night, or super early mornings making quiet a top priority, next to a realistic feel of course, which is number 1.

Browsing the youtube I came across this guys video and was really interested in the pad setup, but apparently they don't make them anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51qKh74G0xY

thanks in advance
 
I've seen those, and I've looked at lots of different ones in that price range, but I want some opinions from people who use them often. I don't want the thing to be shaking around when I'm practicing or rattling or have a odd rebound feel. I would think the rubber surface material would make a huge effect on the feel, same as practice pads for sticks.
 
I use that one often. I wouldn't have bothered posting it up if I didn't recommend it. I'm not in the habit of posting things I have no experience with for the sheer sake of it.

I prefer it to the Pearl style pads: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/pearl-bd10-bass-drum-practice-pad as I found those far too hard with a very unrealistic response. The Gibraltar style is that little bit more spongy feeling and I find it closer to an actual drum head (that is, as close as a practice pad actually gets.....nothing feels exactly like the real thing). I've even wrapped an old t-shirt around mine to better tailor the response.

As always, get your feet on some though. Only way you're gonna know which style suits you.
 
That Gibraltar pad is considered one of - if not - the best kick practice pads here on DW.

Unfortunately I never checked that one out. But from my experience, the HQ RealFeel kick practice pad is quite nice, too. I wasn't too happy with the stock condition though - the orig. rubber was showing a lot of wear quite quickly, plus I didn't like the sound so I did some modifications (to my cheapo pedals as well - still using those).

Double pedal (dw2002) & HQ kick practice pad mod
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97507&highlight=dw2002

The principle is the same though. You can experiment with adding material/layers of foam/cloth for various sound and rebound feel. Nice option if you have to keep the volume down.
 
thanks guys.

Found a used gibraltar pad on GC website for 20 bucks so i went with that without looking much further. They said condition was "great"....think i can return it if it's straight up not working 100% within 30 days.
 
Back
Top