Beater talk...

Mad About Drums

Pollyanna's Agent
Hi Drummerfriends

I like to change my beater when I want some different sounds, feel and/or power.

Currently I have these beaters, and according to what I play, I just swap them round, it's quick and very efficient, I can tell the change of feel, sound and power depending which one I choose.


1. The old type felt beater, for that classic, slightly more boomy sound, it brings out the low frequencies of the kick, with less attack than the modern felt beater. Ideal for jazzy music.

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2. The Iron Cobra felt beater, much more focussed than the old type above, more attack and more emphasis on the medium frequencies, you can slide the little weight up or down the beater shaft for more or less inertia, a good "general" playing beater.

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3. The Mapex Falcon beater, a very modern and versatile beater, reversible with either rubber or felt (the felt sounds different than the two above), it comes with 2 weights (10g & 20g) that you can insert in the beater (or none at all, for that super light feel), and like the IC it has a little weight you slide up or down for that perfect balance, I really feel the difference, and this beater can cover most type of sounds, my current favorite beater.

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What about you, do you swap different type of beater? You just stick to one type? You prefer to change your tuning to altern the sound of your bass drum?

Lets have some beater talk...
 
same beater ...always....for all styles

Danmar Felt...best beater made in my opinion

hard enough for rock and funk......just soft enough for jazz

exactly what I need

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I love the stock DW beaters. I use one of the cheapo' PDP double pedals at the moment, and I play with extremely loose spring tension. The weight of those beaters gives me the feel of balance. I also like being able to rotate them for a softer sound, or more slap. As long as I have those beaters, I don't need anything else.
 
The stock DW beaters are powerful as hell and well balanced, agreed. The Pearl Quad Beaters are decent too. Right now the DW is all I need because I love the feel and sound.
 
I've only played three beaters in the last 20 years.

The Danmar red wood beaters for when there is no such thing as too much attack. Heavy, though, and wears through a kick head quickly.

The stock DW beaters - as mentioned, they seem to have an ideal mix of balance, versatility, and playability.

For a while I used the Stagg reversible beaters shown here - on top of having a nice attack, they were incredibly light. However, that cost me a bit of volume, and I let them go when I sold my old Pearl double pedal.
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I use a number of different beaters on my pedals.

The standard Felt on the Sonor Perfect Balance pedal ( JoJo Pedal)

I use the following on my Trick Pro 1V and Axis X Longboard in additio to the stock beaters
I like the DW Hardcore beater and the DanMar Zoro square felt beater.
 
DW felts but that one you show looks good GVD. A little softer? I like the deepest possible not from my kick at this point and softer is better. I dont like anythinig too heavy either. Want to be as quick as possible with my meat foot.
 
Really like the Puresound felt lined beater. On the lighter side compared to the DW beater but not as tiny as the Iron Cobra things. Also has the sliding weight thing. But has a larger contact area, more like the plastic side of the DW. Gives a great sound and feel.

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Now this is a topic I can sink my teeth into.

Right now I'm using the old-fashioned 'round' felt beater and it really sounds great on my bass drum at the moment. Full and boomy with a nice feel. I used a Vater 'Vintage Bomber' for about four years and it served me very well but I started to crave more punch. When I want a lighter feel it's all about the old Pearl double-sided beater that I've had since about 2005.

My beaters last a very long time!
 
Put me down for the DW beaters as well. Good volume and attack using the plastic side. I like their weight, and they feel pretty balanced overall.

I just recently (like, two days ago) picked up a Trick Dominator pedal, which has metallic beaters. I do like the feel of these (a bit heavier than the DW due to the slightly longer shaft), however, they are not quite as loud as the DW's (because of their rounded shape, I presume).
 
The standard dw felt beater really offers the lowest note I have found. Never tried a bomber but it looks like it would need to be shaved or something to get any attack no? Sounds funny. Shave your beater for more attack...
 
I use a standard felt DW beater. I had to file off the bottom of the rod so it would fit into my Trick pedal. Trick makes great pedals but they have strange little stock beaters:

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At the time I couldn't play drums at home but the beater seemed to hit my foot practice pad at an angle, like the bottom of the flat front surface would dig into the head if I put it on the drum.

I also have a fluffy woolly beater called a Vater Bomber. It's great in very low volume situations but once things get a tad louder you need the definition of a harder beater.
 
I also have a fluffy woolly beater called a Vater Bomber. It's great in very low volume situations but once things get a tad louder you need the definition of a harder beater.
+1. I love my V. Bomber. Sounds awesome on my 26" kick.​
 

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I use the traditional felt beater. Just nice for me...though for some reason my kick sounds abit clicky from the drummer's POV but I like that ;)
 
I use the traditional felt beater. Just nice for me...though for some reason my kick sounds abit clicky from the drummer's POV but I like that ;)

Usually in Malaysia all surfaces of a room(our houses, shop lots, etc.) is hard - tiles, concrete or gypsum board.
So the drums automatically gets a hard, usually unpleasant, sound. In a larger room we get Phil Collins drum sound for free -)
 
i use two beaters.

my main beater is a round yamaha, very similar to the first beater the OP uses. its very light but still gives a good amount of volume. feels amazing.

for lighter stuff, soft jazz and ballads i will switch to my vater bomber. gives a really nice soft "boomy" sound.

when doing gigs or rehearsals i always have the other beater in my stick-bag so that I can adjust my sound to the room.i think its good to have more than one beater available at any time so that you can adjust your sound. sometimes i even switch the beater for a specific song and then back again afterwards. it only takes a minute or so.
 
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