All my kits have the same lug loosening.

Timmy_G

Senior Member
What up, I own 5 drum sets, 2 ludwig, 1 Tama rockstar, 1 DW collecors, 1 pearl export and every one of them I play after a while the same lug on the bass drum gets loose. The one 4 o'clock. I'm left handed so it's the one near the bottom of the snare. I think it must be the way I kick, any suggestions how to stop it from happening? Theres been a few times while packing up after the gig I see it completely on my drum carpet.

Thanks
 
I have never seen such a thing occur. I suggest that you invest in a locking tension rod for the bass drum lug that loosens up while you play.
 
Make sure the room isn't full of flies and then hold an exorcism.
 
Buy a 6th kit and see if it happens to that one too.
 
The lugs each side of the pedal gradually loosen off when I play, something to do with the pedal pushing and pulling at the rim all the time, and fairly loose tension to start with.

Each time I set up I check them, as I'm attaching the pedal. They last a few gigs before getting too loose. I tried the plastic 'top hat' washers from Hendix drums. I think the've slightly reduced the problem.
 
I use one drop of BLUE LocTite on the first few threads of my tension lug screws. It stops the "auto-magical" loosening of the tension lug screws. It is available at almost any auto parts store for a few dollars.

Never use RED LocTite on drums -- it is for permanently mounted fasteners ONLY. You need to use a blowtorch to break loose RED LocTite.

Here are some links for the various types pf LocTite:

http://www.na.henkel-adhesives.com/industrial/red-threadlockers-permanent-high-strength-12892.htm

http://www.na.henkel-adhesives.com/industrial/blue-threadlockers-medium-strength-13231.htm

http://na.henkel-adhesives.com/industrial/purple-threadlockers-small-thread-low-strength-13233.htm

http://www.na.henkel-adhesives.com/industrial/green-threadlockers-pre-assembled-wicking-13227.htm

Tim
 
Last edited:
Buy a Sonor. Had my prolite for over a year and no lugs have loosened at all.
 
Buy a Sonor. Had my prolite for over a year and no lugs have loosened at all.

Is Sonor's thread lock patented?

I don't see many other brands doing anything as simple, or even bothering to use a detuning mechanism.

What other brands have something in the lugs to stay in tune without having to buy it later?
 
Remove your bass drum head, rotate your head and bass drum hoop a full one quarter turn, re-assemble and see if it continues to happen at the 4 o'clock lug.
Just kidding. For all 5 kits to do it, this is the weirdest thing I've ever heard of.
Perhaps you snare stand is hitting it or rubbing against?
 
Is Sonor's thread lock patented?

I don't see many other brands doing anything as simple, or even bothering to use a detuning mechanism.

What other brands have something in the lugs to stay in tune without having to buy it later?

Aye, tune-safe is patented.

It only used to be on the top level designer kits, now it's on the prolite too.

When i had a Delite, the lugs used to loosen, but no-where near as much as my pearl/dw/mapex kits used to. Actually, Pearl is the worst for me. I still have an Omar Hakim and the lug where I hit a rim shot comes undone after almost 1 song.

Darn annoying!

So I'm going to check out some of the above suggestions myself as I don't always play a Sonor snare

Edit: Hmm, don't like the idea of putting glue on my tension rods
 
I used to have a hell of a time with all my snare drums. The tension rod closest to where my stick would hit on rim shots would back out after half a song, and the rods on either side of that would back out after a few songs too. On the drums with tube lugs, the bottom rods would back out too and sometimes I would find one or two rods lying on the floor.

I tried lug locks, but even they would back out. I tried Teflon tape, which did nothing at all. I thought about using blue LocTite, but didn't like the thought of introducing that stuff into my lug inserts, as it would make finger tightening my lugs difficult. The only thing that worked for me was locking the rods against the top of the lug inserts with 12-24 nuts. You can get the nuts made by Pearl like what comes on the Ian Paice snare drum, but for what they are, they are kinda pricey.

I got a box of 50 nuts from an industrial fastener supplier for $2.50 and they do the trick; no ifs, ands, or buts. You just have to be careful not to over-tighten them- just snug them up to the top of the lugs slightly. The first time I used them I locked them in fairly tightly and it roughed up the treads on my rods a bit. I chased the threads back and forth in the lugs a few times to clean them up again after that, but I realised that after I finger tightened the nuts, all they required to lock up effectively was maybe only a little more than a 16th of a turn. Since I started using them I've never had a single rod loosen, even on snare drums that were tuned really low.
 
I used to have a hell of a time with all my snare drums. The tension rod closest to where my stick would hit on rim shots would back out after half a song, and the rods on either side of that would back out after a few songs too. On the drums with tube lugs, the bottom rods would back out too and sometimes I would find one or two rods lying on the floor.

I tried lug locks, but even they would back out. I tried Teflon tape, which did nothing at all. I thought about using blue LocTite, but didn't like the thought of introducing that stuff into my lug inserts, as it would make finger tightening my lugs difficult. The only thing that worked for me was locking the rods against the top of the lug inserts with 12-24 nuts. You can get the nuts made by Pearl like what comes on the Ian Paice snare drum, but for what they are, they are kinda pricey.

I got a box of 50 nuts from an industrial fastener supplier for $2.50 and they do the trick; no ifs, ands, or buts. You just have to be careful not to over-tighten them- just snug them up to the top of the lugs slightly. The first time I used them I locked them in fairly tightly and it roughed up the treads on my rods a bit. I chased the threads back and forth in the lugs a few times to clean them up again after that, but I realised that after I finger tightened the nuts, all they required to lock up effectively was maybe only a little more than a 16th of a turn. Since I started using them I've never had a single rod loosen, even on snare drums that were tuned really low.

Now thats some quality advice, nice 1

When you think about it, seems like an obvious solution. I didn't know that those nuts on the Ian Paice were locking nuts. Time for a visit to B and Q this weekend!

cheers
 
Back
Top