Why I play the Breakbeats!

Wow Bo, these guys have no faith. I believe that you will keep the Breakbeats at least until February :)
 
Why have we not heard a video of these little babies yet??

I'm actually still geeking out about the Ludwig Classic Maples I just got recently as well. I'm still jazzed by the amount of mojo I get with those, especially for them being new. They don't feel perfect, and it takes a bit of work to get them to sound really good, but when you do....they stay that way!

I used to like how on a Yamaha or Pearl kit (back in the day) you could throw heads on them and they'd always sound the same. You'd get that really attack-y low tone all the time with almost no work. Now that sound and feel is too generic. When I re-discovered the Ludwigs (thanks to Harry) I had wondered if I'd get the same mojo from a new kit - and I do! It's awesome. Although it's time I put some black dots on.....

Larry and Bob here have the older 3-plies with re-rings, so I would say they're getting a bit more of the mojo than I am. I would've loved to have done a new 3-ply with rings but that would have been a special order. My Classic Maples were right off a store's floor.

But I'll do a video with the Breakbeats soon enough. I'm discovering that it does quiet samba really well!
 
Recently purchased a Breakbeats kit and I really like it, almost love it (still stock heads, I'm sure that will change everything). Played with the kick quite a bit, and un-muffled really seems to be the way to go...and I really recommend trying out the Vater Vintage Bomber with this kick it really makes the kick sound great. The high tom I absolutely love, I have it tuned right in the 130hz range and it's amazing. The floor tom is nice, no complaints really, just not blown away (but again stock heads).

My big issue is one that's been noted a lot, but I'm curious if anyone has found a solution for, the kick pedal chain hitting the hoop using the riser. I really don't want to cut a hole out of the hoop. I'm curious if anyone has tried that rubber bass drum lift that's on the market?

It's usable now, if you really keep the pedal back, which causes the beater to hit at more of an obtuse angle rather than around 90 where I would normally like it.

Thanks for any advice you might have.
 
Recently purchased a Breakbeats kit and I really like it, almost love it (still stock heads, I'm sure that will change everything). Played with the kick quite a bit, and un-muffled really seems to be the way to go...and I really recommend trying out the Vater Vintage Bomber with this kick it really makes the kick sound great. The high tom I absolutely love, I have it tuned right in the 130hz range and it's amazing. The floor tom is nice, no complaints really, just not blown away (but again stock heads).

My big issue is one that's been noted a lot, but I'm curious if anyone has found a solution for, the kick pedal chain hitting the hoop using the riser. I really don't want to cut a hole out of the hoop. I'm curious if anyone has tried that rubber bass drum lift that's on the market?

It's usable now, if you really keep the pedal back, which causes the beater to hit at more of an obtuse angle rather than around 90 where I would normally like it.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

Yeah, mine are running the stock heads and they sound great. I did replace my snare batter with a regular ambassador and am debating putting a real snare side head on it, but I'm happy with how that little kit sounds.

Now, you might not like my solution to the pedal problem, but here's what I did: I replaced the bass drum hoops with wooden ones. Pro Drum in Hollywood happened to have two wood 16" bass drum hoops, and I painted them gloss black and put them on. The pedal riser attachment now fits better (as it should) and I don't have a problem attaching my Tama Iron Cobra Jr. pedal to it and playing. I also modified the pedal riser a bit by replacing the cheap wing nuts for the height adjustment with nylock nuts and cranking it together. The riser will not come loose height-wise. And with the wood hoop, you don't really have to crank on the drumkey to attach it to the hoop. It fits as it should.

It's kind of an expensive option at $70 for the two hoops, but its the best one, I think. The cool thing with the wood hoops is that they're sized for regular tom heads - you do not have to get 16" bass drum heads with the bigger collar, a regular floor tom will do - so I guess you could consider that as a 'savings over time'.
 
Yeah, mine are running the stock heads and they sound great. I did replace my snare batter with a regular ambassador and am debating putting a real snare side head on it, but I'm happy with how that little kit sounds.

Now, you might not like my solution to the pedal problem, but here's what I did: I replaced the bass drum hoops with wooden ones. Pro Drum in Hollywood happened to have two wood 16" bass drum hoops, and I painted them gloss black and put them on. The pedal riser attachment now fits better (as it should) and I don't have a problem attaching my Tama Iron Cobra Jr. pedal to it and playing. I also modified the pedal riser a bit by replacing the cheap wing nuts for the height adjustment with nylock nuts and cranking it together. The riser will not come loose height-wise. And with the wood hoop, you don't really have to crank on the drumkey to attach it to the hoop. It fits as it should.

It's kind of an expensive option at $70 for the two hoops, but its the best one, I think. The cool thing with the wood hoops is that they're sized for regular tom heads - you do not have to get 16" bass drum heads with the bigger collar, a regular floor tom will do - so I guess you could consider that as a 'savings over time'.


Thanks for the note Bo. Yeah, all in all really love the kit minus this problem (although I'm now getting used to playing the adjusted kick so maybe I'll just deal). The wood hoop option seems like they way to go. In fact it looks like DW has already figured this out. I was just watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-LHvoXpwms#t=853
check out at 9:09. They offer the hoop pre cut. Curious if you can buy a 16 straight from them?

Thanks again.
 
Thanks for the note Bo. Yeah, all in all really love the kit minus this problem (although I'm now getting used to playing the adjusted kick so maybe I'll just deal). The wood hoop option seems like they way to go. In fact it looks like DW has already figured this out. I was just watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-LHvoXpwms#t=853
check out at 9:09. They offer the hoop pre cut. Curious if you can buy a 16 straight from them?

Thanks again.

I'm sure you could, but I'm also pretty sure they won't charge you just $35 for the one hoop! I think if you ordered a wood hoop from www.drumfactorydirect.com or somewhere similar and pay $20 for one, you're probably better off.
 
I'm sure you could, but I'm also pretty sure they won't charge you just $35 for the one hoop! I think if you ordered a wood hoop from www.drumfactorydirect.com or somewhere similar and pay $20 for one, you're probably better off.

That's way cool! Thanks for the tip, I'm going to look into this. Sorry if this is a bit of a newb question but would you get two? Aesthetically, I wouldn't really care if only one side had a wood hoop, but did you notice any sound difference with changing both? I'll measure it out, looks like they come in inch and a half and inch and 3/4 sizes.

Thanks again!
 
That's way cool! Thanks for the tip, I'm going to look into this. Sorry if this is a bit of a newb question but would you get two? Aesthetically, I wouldn't really care if only one side had a wood hoop, but did you notice any sound difference with changing both? I'll measure it out, looks like they come in inch and a half and inch and 3/4 sizes.

Thanks again!

Well, I got two because I like the look, and I really think wood hoops make the bass drum sound better (could be hogwash depending on who you ask). On Ludwig standard bass drums, 1 3/4" wide is the size, but you could get away with 1 1/2" for the Breakbeats, that's what mine are. The drum doesn't have that subtle 'metallic' hum now (if you could hear it at all ;) Go for what you like, I'm not sure it makes a difference on a bass drum this small.
 
Bo - I was wondering if you can give me a little insight into the quality of the application of the wraps. I love taking the wraps off drums and refinishing the shells. I love the look and sound of an unwrapped kit. Does the glue seam seem cheaply done? Is there any way to tell if they applied glue to the whole shell or if it is only on the seam? Should I even bother with such an inexpensive kit? I love crazy drum kits - just look at my blog - crazydrumkits.blogspot.com
I read your posts regularly and have come to view you as something of a Ludwig authority. Thank you!
 
Bo - I was wondering if you can give me a little insight into the quality of the application of the wraps. I love taking the wraps off drums and refinishing the shells. I love the look and sound of an unwrapped kit. Does the glue seam seem cheaply done? Is there any way to tell if they applied glue to the whole shell or if it is only on the seam? Should I even bother with such an inexpensive kit? I love crazy drum kits - just look at my blog - crazydrumkits.blogspot.com
I read your posts regularly and have come to view you as something of a Ludwig authority. Thank you!

Thanks! I appreciate the trust. However to answer your question, "I don't know" how Ludwig affixes the wrap. I think it might be safe to assume they're doing it at the seams and the hardware holds down the rest (I mean, it is a budget kit made in China). But what the shells look like without the wrap, I don't know if I'd want to see that ;)

If you wanted an unwrapped (but nice) kit, I'd pick up a Sonor Jungle kit in a nice stain ;)

I hope that helps!
 
They glue it all around the shell. Ludwig glues the wrap an all of their drums. Like any wrap the seam shows as a clean line.
 
Sometimes I prefer to carry my drums that way instead of my wife besides me, hahaha.
Nice set man!!!
 
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