24" vs 26" bass drum, AKA "Useful vs a deep desire to 'just have'."

I owned a 26" for many years. While it looks and sounds great, it is a problem on the road. In addition to the space it takes up in the trailer, not every stage can accommodate. Now I have a 24" and am much happier with it. I will still use a 22" for backline on fly dates just for convenience, and I also own a 20" for small er venues and clubs where space may be an issue.
 
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I love my 24x14 Ludwig Classic Maple. It's perfect to my hears.

If there's a better-sounding kick drum out there, I've not heard it yet.

190270456_10226500225712481_4563405633334691498_n.jpg
 
I love my 24x14 Ludwig Classic Maple. It's perfect to my hears.

If there's a better-sounding kick drum out there, I've not heard it yet.

190270456_10226500225712481_4563405633334691498_n.jpg
I've said it before in another thread, but a 24"14 ludwig classic maple is my perfect sounding kick. Playing it felt like I was whacking a hippo with a paddle too, in a nice way.
 
Thank you for this post, and to all who replied. My son and I are both percussionists, and are trying to decide the exact same thing! Lots more 24” out there, but not as many 26”. What did you wind up getting??
 
Thank you for this post, and to all who replied. My son and I are both percussionists, and are trying to decide the exact same thing! Lots more 24” out there, but not as many 26”. What did you wind up getting??
22. I am a drum scruncher, with everything as tight and close as I can possibly get it without touching. I have a very low tolerance for rack toms that stick up over my snare, and 22 is the absolute max for me, and I probably should have just gone 20 when I bought my Ludwigs but I do like a 22 better.

On the other hand, I love hearing others with bigger kicks, and glad to see they made a comeback. A guy I used to work with hated anything smaller than 24, but when he wanted a new set in 1998, was dismayed that 24’s were so hard to get. He said the sales kid told him, “With micing, nobody needs a kick that big anymore, and only old guys want 24s anymore.”

I was surprised when the guy told me he bought it from the kid anyway, because he’s hostile and goes out of his way to be offended by others. But that’s a story for my shrink ;)
 
Some quick background:

1) I play a 22". I know it can do everything I need a bass drum to do. I know I can change heads and tunings to get a very broad swath of sounds from it for all different styles and music settings. I acknowledge I do NOT need a bass drum size other than the 22"...other than maybe a 20", but that's another discussion for another time. :)

2) I've owned 24" bass drums and kinda miss the inherent bigness of those.

3) I REALLY like the look of 26"x14" bass drums. There's a local group whose drummer uses one and every time I see them perform I catch myself saying, "Man, that's a great looking bass drum." And mic'd up, it sounds great (I haven't heard it unmic'd). Having played 26's before, I know they're limited in sound and tuning, especially compared to a 22". BUT, I really want one.

So my two questions are these:

1) Do I get a 24" bass drum, which I would likely use much more than the 26" or do I get the 26" which I would use only for outdoor gigs or larger venues and satisfy my deep desire to have that size?

2) Those of you who added or went w/ a 26" (that wasn't deeper than 16"), did you end up regretting it or not using it as much as you thought you would?

Ideally, I'd have a bank of 20-26 bass drums, but I can't go toooooo overboard.
Buy a 14X24 or 16X24 first. Make sure you adjust for size for the case getting into your car for gigs. Soft cases are much better for transporting inside small vehicles, and hard cases add a lot of inches so measure ahead of time. Once you and your son have a good mental handle on your 24, THEN buy a 14X26 or 16X26, but only if you still have that terrible GAS, or you really still feel that you're not getting enough whatever from the 24. Sorry my advice isnt as much fun as the others that just say "GO FOR THE 26!!! WOO HOO!!" lol
 
Some quick background:

1) I play a 22". I know it can do everything I need a bass drum to do. I know I can change heads and tunings to get a very broad swath of sounds from it for all different styles and music settings. I acknowledge I do NOT need a bass drum size other than the 22"...other than maybe a 20", but that's another discussion for another time. :)

2) I've owned 24" bass drums and kinda miss the inherent bigness of those.

3) I REALLY like the look of 26"x14" bass drums. There's a local group whose drummer uses one and every time I see them perform I catch myself saying, "Man, that's a great looking bass drum." And mic'd up, it sounds great (I haven't heard it unmic'd). Having played 26's before, I know they're limited in sound and tuning, especially compared to a 22". BUT, I really want one.

So my two questions are these:

1) Do I get a 24" bass drum, which I would likely use much more than the 26" or do I get the 26" which I would use only for outdoor gigs or larger venues and satisfy my deep desire to have that size?

2) Those of you who added or went w/ a 26" (that wasn't deeper than 16"), did you end up regretting it or not using it as much as you thought you would?

Ideally, I'd have a bank of 20-26 bass drums, but I can't go toooooo overboard.

I'm in the "if you're gonna get a 24 might as well get a 26" camp. Same with 20... just go 18 if you want a smaller one. There's almost no scenario where a 20 has an inherent advantage over a 22 (if you stick to 14" classic depth, a 20 doesn't save any space once you're setup with the rest of the kit), and if you're going to oversize it just bite the bullet and go 26".
 
I'm in the "if you're gonna get a 24 might as well get a 26" camp. Same with 20... just go 18 if you want a smaller one. There's almost no scenario where a 20 has an inherent advantage over a 22 (if you stick to 14" classic depth, a 20 doesn't save any space once you're setup with the rest of the kit), and if you're going to oversize it just bite the bullet and go 26".
For me the 20” has the advantage that I can put the toms low enough.

So 9” deep toms only just work with a 20” kick.

When using a 22” with two or three rack toms, I need 7” deep toms max.

If I would need more boom like a 22x16, I go 20x18.

In that way a 26” can be too high to where a 24” can sit perfectly with one rack tom.

So its also a personal height thing.
 
Some quick background:

1) I play a 22". I know it can do everything I need a bass drum to do. I know I can change heads and tunings to get a very broad swath of sounds from it for all different styles and music settings. I acknowledge I do NOT need a bass drum size other than the 22"...other than maybe a 20", but that's another discussion for another time. :)

2) I've owned 24" bass drums and kinda miss the inherent bigness of those.

3) I REALLY like the look of 26"x14" bass drums. There's a local group whose drummer uses one and every time I see them perform I catch myself saying, "Man, that's a great looking bass drum." And mic'd up, it sounds great (I haven't heard it unmic'd). Having played 26's before, I know they're limited in sound and tuning, especially compared to a 22". BUT, I really want one.

So my two questions are these:

1) Do I get a 24" bass drum, which I would likely use much more than the 26" or do I get the 26" which I would use only for outdoor gigs or larger venues and satisfy my deep desire to have that size?

2) Those of you who added or went w/ a 26" (that wasn't deeper than 16"), did you end up regretting it or not using it as much as you thought you would?

Ideally, I'd have a bank of 20-26 bass drums, but I can't go toooooo overboard.

I have a 24x18 & can tell you that is the maximum size to lug around for gigs. A 26 sounds great, but having played on both the 24 & 26, I didn't hear much difference. But there's a lot of difference in handling it.
 
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