Felt beaters

T

trkdrmr

Guest
Do many of you still use a felt beater? I don't mean just the jazz guys, but rockers and so on.

As many beaters as I have tried, the deepest thump comes from the narrow felt side of a pearl quadbeater. I am looking around for a replacement beater (as mine is quite worn) that is not the lightweight IC type felt, but something with more old school oomph. I think that implies felt, but with a slightly narrowed impact area vs just a large block.

Ideas?
 
I haven't played out in a long time...
but I do Practice with a felt beater. I am currently using
the felt side of my Tama Cobra Jr.s and I am Okay with it.
I also second the vote on Danmar beaters...
back in the 80's I used their wooden model & it was a Killer.
I went back to their felt model because their wooden beater was eating away
my bass drum head...lol
 
Chazz said:
I haven't played out in a long time...
but I do Practice with a felt beater. I am currently using
the felt side of my Tama Cobra Jr.s and I am Okay with it.
I also second the vote on Danmar beaters...
back in the 80's I used their wooden model & it was a Killer.
I went back to their felt model because their wooden beater was eating away
my bass drum head...lol
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention. I have a couple of Redwood beaters (Vic Firth I think) that are splintered.

Two votes for Danmar from the felt crowd. After looking around, I decided on a pair of the classic 206. I have two on order from west coast drums. DAMN shipping is expensive!!!

But then again, they are $24.99 each plus tax at my local shop (when they have them), so no matter what, shipping is cheaper.
 
trkdrmr said:
Funny you should mention. I have a couple of Redwood beaters (Vic Firth I think) that are splintered.

Two votes for Danmar from the felt crowd. After looking around, I decided on a pair of the classic 206. I have two on order from west coast drums. DAMN shipping is expensive!!!

But then again, they are $24.99 each plus tax at my local shop (when they have them), so no matter what, shipping is cheaper.
Click to expand...

Hope you dig them. I've used the 206 for as long as i can remember. I also tried a wood beater yeasr ago after seeing Dean Castronovo play one. That lasted two minutes.
 
Muckster said:
Hope you dig them. I've used the 206 for as long as i can remember. I also tried a wood beater yeasr ago after seeing Dean Castronovo play one. That lasted two minutes.
Click to expand...

I grew up old school where most everyone used felt, and on rare occasion (Bonham) used wood.

I am growing nonplussed by the clickety-click kick drum sounds. I like that deep, round heavy punch. Harder materials like wood and plastic add a high-pitched attack that I end up eq'ing out anyway.
 
trkdrmr said:
Do many of you still use a felt beater? I don't mean just the jazz guys, but rockers and so on.

As many beaters as I have tried, the deepest thump comes from the narrow felt side of a pearl quadbeater. I am looking around for a replacement beater (as mine is quite worn) that is not the lightweight IC type felt, but something with more old school oomph. I think that implies felt, but with a slightly narrowed impact area vs just a large block.

Ideas?
Click to expand...

I make my own beaters from superballs glued to the shaft. They probably aren't the most durable beaters, but I've never had one wear out, although I'm not a really hard player.

You'd think the superballs would be hard to control, but just the opposite. They are pretty light. You get a very snappy rebound (I like loose bass heads) without much intertia behind it, so your feet don't have to fight them. Superballs are giving yet smooth, so the drum produces a lot of chomp. I stick a bit of fuzzy velcro on one side for a softer sound, giving just as much thickness but less definition.
 
Deathmetalconga said:
I'm not a really hard player.
Click to expand...
but...but...but Zambizzi said you were the hammer of the Gods kind of hitter...

You'd think the superballs would be hard to control, but just the opposite. They are pretty light. You get a very snappy rebound (I like loose bass heads) without much intertia behind it, so your feet don't have to fight them. Superballs are giving yet smooth, so the drum produces a lot of chomp. I stick a bit of fuzzy velcro on one side for a softer sound, giving just as much thickness but less definition.
Click to expand...

As long as the material is dense enough to withstand playing without shattering apart. It would be a good compromise between wood and felt. Then again, tama and others do use rubber. Hmm.. DIY beaters... I think I have a few killed-in-action beaters to experiment with.
 
trkdrmr said:
I grew up old school where most everyone used felt, and on rare occasion (Bonham) used wood.

I am growing nonplussed by the clickety-click kick drum sounds. I like that deep, round heavy punch. Harder materials like wood and plastic add a high-pitched attack that I end up eq'ing out anyway.
Click to expand...

OOH will you sell me the Trick beaters???!!!


Sctatch that, I'm totally broke. :(
 
There is appearently a nationwide shortage on the Danmar beaters. They are in fact, the most popular felt beater in the USA. Every site I went to said "out of stock" with an estimated arrival date in a couple weeks.

My Danmars are on backorder, I'll probably have them in 2-3 weeks.
 
Last edited:
trkdrmr said:
There is appearently a nationwide shortage on the Danmar beaters. They are in fact, the most popular felt beater in the USA. Every site I went to said "out of stock" with an estimated arrival date in a couple weeks.

My Danmars are on backorder, I'll probably have them in 2-3 weeks.
Click to expand...

You're not the only one that's old school!
 
I prefer the felt beaters too. I'm still using the one that came on my Tama Camco w/footplate that I bought in '91. My Speed King has a wooden one that I don't dig, but I'm gonna hang onto it 'cause it's original with the pedal (which, although I'd hesitate so say "vintage", is older), unless someone wants to trade an original SK felt beater for it...?
 
I think felt beters fell out of favor with some, especially in the metal genre. They tend to go for the ultra-low mass beaters so that if they twitch, the beater moves more easily. Outside of the constant high-velocity double kick genre, I find those beaters completely inadequate. They slap the kick, and you *really* have to stomp them to get the resultant moderate thump.

The heavier felt really makes a kick sound much deeper.
 
trkdrmr said:
but...but...but Zambizzi said you were the hammer of the Gods kind of hitter...
As long as the material is dense enough to withstand playing without shattering apart. It would be a good compromise between wood and felt. Then again, tama and others do use rubber. Hmm.. DIY beaters... I think I have a few killed-in-action beaters to experiment with.
Click to expand...

"Hammer of the Gods hitter." Hey, I like that. I get lots of sound mainly through technique, not so much effort, but that sounds cool.

Try the superball beaters and you might like them - at least it would be a fun project. Use balls that are very large, almost two inches in diameter. Sometimes you can find them in gumball vending machines for a buck; usually they have a psychedelic swirl but sometimes they are a solid color. Mark the drill bit so you come to within 1/8 inch of the other side of the ball. You don't want to go all the way through..

Shafts are 1/4-inch steel so use a 15/64 drill bit for a snug fit and epoxy for lubricant. I also grind the sides of the shaft that goes into the superball to roughen it a bit to hold the epoxy better.

I've been playing about two years with these on my Duallist and never had any breakage, ball coming off the shaft or other failure.
 
I have always used felt on my personal pedals, along with an Evans clear kick dot on the batter head.

I don't like the feel or minute rebounds I get using wood,rubber, or anything else. Plus, felt sounds best just like others have said!
 
Trip McNealy said:
I have always used felt on my personal pedals, along with an Evans clear kick dot on the batter head.

I don't like the feel or minute rebounds I get using wood,rubber, or anything else. Plus, felt sounds best just like others have said!
Click to expand...

One of the things that caught my attention...

People who pley a 20" kick can get much more appearent low end (and thump) than with other types of beaters.

Using modern beaters like the iron cobra, the 20x16" kick sounded physically smaller. Putting in old-style felt, that sucker would punch you in the chest. It almost sounded like going from 20-22" just by using the felt.
 
trkdrmr said:
One of the things that caught my attention...

People who pley a 20" kick can get much more appearent low end (and thump) than with other types of beaters.

Using modern beaters like the iron cobra, the 20x16" kick sounded physically smaller. Putting in old-style felt, that sucker would punch you in the chest. It almost sounded like going from 20-22" just by using the felt.
Click to expand...

I agree completely
I've experienced the greater thump I get with felt on both of the drum sets I play on
both the sets have 22" bass drums, but the one at my school came with a modern plastic and hard felt and honestly, it gets a completely plastic sound. I can't feather at all with it (I do that even in rock because it warms and gives more power to the beat when not doing strong accents) so I brought in my felt beater from home and it did wonders for the sound
I just love the sound, feel, and versatility of the felt beater
 
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