Andy
Honorary Member
Great input Larry! It's both an issue & a non issue at the same time. I won't go into detail here, that's for another day, but the entire drum resonating as a whole is a very important consideration. In fact, so important, it's the foundation consideration in our new design. The lugs are an integral part of that.I like my lugs small and smooth, with no detail lines or ridges (like Ludwigs large classic and imperial lugs) for instance) that are hard to polish.
Andy, if the lugs are isolated from the shell...
You've said many times that everything needs to vibrate as a whole. I would think that if the lugs are isolated from the shell, that a rimshot might not sound as good because the vibrations imposed on the rim goes down the tension rod to the lug, then from the lug to the shell to get the added shell sound from a rimshot. If the lugs are isolated from the shell, how are the vibrations transferred to the shell? Is this a non issue?
As a side note, our isolation of the lugs is way beyond rubber grommets, washers, or other largely pointless gaskets between a standard lug & a shell. It's usually better in a standard drum construction, IMO, to bolt the lug directly to the shell. Gaskets just add mass without any benefit, in fact, I think they just make things worse by adding non resonant mass.
Anyhow, science crap out of the way, keep those aesthetic opinions coming, it's really helpful!