Best Lug Lock Recommendations?

[Rimshot-]

Hi all - I am a guitarist with a nice new Gretsch Renown Kit and Black Dawg 14x6.5 Brass snare - I'm not a drummer per say, but I have great drummer who comes in to my studio and plays/records on my kit for productions.

I am very pleased with the sounds I've recorded thus far - however, loose lugs on the snare drum have been a real problem - I tried the weaker version of locktite for a few lugs and that works ok - but I am wondering if there is a better solution?

Someone recommended these: https://tunerfishluglocks.com/ and I am looking for a consensus from all you drummers as to whether these locks are good or I should look elsewhere!?

All tips and suggestions are very welcome! BIG Thank you in advance!

 

[rbtech]

I’ve found that Tuner fish lug locks rarely lock the lug in place as it’s tuned. You usually need to turn the rod slightly to have the tuner fish lock snap over the rod and touch the hoop. Unfortunately that defeats the purpose of keeping the drum in tune if you have to sharpen or flatten a lug to get the lock in place.

I’ve had very good success with Tama TTL10 lug locks as well as Cardinal Percussion lug locks. The Tama ones hold very tight and do not stick out like the Cardinals can… so visually they are a bit more discrete. I’ve used the Tama locks reliably now for about 140 show dates and have had zero detuning issues.

 

[force3005]

These work nice. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TTL10--tama-tension-lock-10-pack

 

[Tracii]

I’ve found that Tuner fish lug locks rarely lock the lug in place as it’s tuned. You usually need to turn the rod slightly to have the tuner fish lock snap over the rod and touch the hoop. Unfortunately that defeats the purpose of keeping the drum in tune if you have to sharpen or flatten a lug to get the lock in place.

As there are 8 possible positions for a fish on a lug, you will never need to nudge it further than 1/16th of a turn. But yes, that adjustment is usually necessary.

I've been using Tuner Fish for years. Inexpensive, reliable, easy to apply/adjust/remove. The only thing that bugs me is the flimsy elastic bands to hold them in place - apart from that, they work like a charm.

 

[cbphoto]

Do these come in various thread sizes? Not all tension rods have the same threading.

 

[roncadillac]

Do these come in various thread sizes? Not all tension rods have the same threading.

Take one of your tension rods to a local hardware store and match a regular nut then buy a bag. At hardware store prices you could 'lock' every single lug on your entire kit for maybe $20 tops, a single snare drum should be a few bucks.

 

[Rimshot-]

Thanks to everyone who has replied! So far my research from other online threads has pointed me towards:

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs, wird auf Spannschraubenkopf montiert, verhindert ungewolltes Verdrehen der Schrauben, mit Stimmschlüssel trotzdem Stimmen möglich, passt auf alle Flanged und Die Cast Spannreifen, außer Wood und Grooved Hoops, 10er...

www.thomann.de

Since the lugs on my snare only get loose on the side facing the player (5 - 7 o'clock lug positions) I am thinking of buying a set of the Tama's and putting on 5 on the batter side and 5 on the reso side in the - again on the side facing the drummer.

Is there any reason this sounds like a bad idea? i.e. not putting them on every lug?

Thanks!

 

[roncadillac]

Thanks to everyone who has replied! So far my research from other online threads has pointed me towards:

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs, wird auf Spannschraubenkopf montiert, verhindert ungewolltes Verdrehen der Schrauben, mit Stimmschlüssel trotzdem Stimmen möglich, passt auf alle Flanged und Die Cast Spannreifen, außer Wood und Grooved Hoops, 10er...

www.thomann.de

Since the lugs on my snare only get loose on the side facing the player (5 - 7 o'clock lug positions) I am thinking of buying a set of the Tama's and putting on 5 on the batter side and 5 on the reso side in the - again on the side facing the drummer.

Is there any reason this sounds like a bad idea? i.e. not putting them on every lug?

Thanks!

Any of those plastic style ones that slip on top that I've ever used always end up falling off during transport so for the sake of not having to replace them all every few weeks I would say it's not a bad idea to only put them on the rods that come loose the most

 

[cbphoto]

Thanks to everyone who has replied! So far my research from other online threads has pointed me towards:

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs, wird auf Spannschraubenkopf montiert, verhindert ungewolltes Verdrehen der Schrauben, mit Stimmschlüssel trotzdem Stimmen möglich, passt auf alle Flanged und Die Cast Spannreifen, außer Wood und Grooved Hoops, 10er...

www.thomann.de

Since the lugs on my snare only get loose on the side facing the player (5 - 7 o'clock lug positions) I am thinking of buying a set of the Tama's and putting on 5 on the batter side and 5 on the reso side in the - again on the side facing the drummer.

Is there any reason this sounds like a bad idea? i.e. not putting them on every lug?

Thanks!

I use the Tama tension locks, too. But only on the batter side, at the 5–7 o'clock positions. I've never lost any during transport or gigs.

Does your resonant head loose tension while you play? (I've never experienced this)

 

[Yamaha Rider]

Am I right in thinking that it's rimshots momentarily de-tensioning the rods where you hit that causes the detuning?*
In which case the reso should be unaffected - and only the batter lugs closest to you?

*It seems to me that a rimshot has the opposite effect to a head hit, which increases tension on the rods.

Thanks to everyone who has replied! So far my research from other online threads has pointed me towards:

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs

Tama TTL10 Tension Lock 10pcs, wird auf Spannschraubenkopf montiert, verhindert ungewolltes Verdrehen der Schrauben, mit Stimmschlüssel trotzdem Stimmen möglich, passt auf alle Flanged und Die Cast Spannreifen, außer Wood und Grooved Hoops, 10er...

www.thomann.de

Since the lugs on my snare only get loose on the side facing the player (5 - 7 o'clock lug positions) I am thinking of buying a set of the Tama's and putting on 5 on the batter side and 5 on the reso side in the - again on the side facing the drummer.

Is there any reason this sounds like a bad idea? i.e. not putting them on every lug?

Thanks!

 

[roncadillac]

Am I right in thinking that it's rimshots momentarily de-tensioning the rods where you hit that causes the detuning?*
In which case the reso should be unaffected - and only the batter lugs closest to you?

*It seems to me that a rimshot has the opposite effect to a head hit, which increases tension on the rods.

I can absolutely confirm this from two different view points:

1. In my early years I was a heavy hitting "always rim shot" guy and my snare rods constantly went out of tune in those exact areas. As I got older and learned to play with more finesse I rarely ever have rods go out of tune.

2. I recently played an hour long set and my snare stayed perfectly in tune, the drummer after me (a friend of mine and a solid experienced drummer) asked to use my snare because the strainer on his was on the fritz. I didn't mind and knew he would take care of it so I agreed. We frequently share stages locally so it's common for us to share some gear. Now, he does hit a fair bit harder than I and does frequently utilize a rim shot and sure enough after his hour long set the batter and reso side rods near that area had de tuned a bit. Not at all implying he abused my drum, he simply plays it in a different way and I had noticed this caused minor reasonable detuning.

 

[bermuda]

The Tama plastic locks are economical, and they work. Simnple enough to stick over the square top of the rod. The only drawback is that they must be removed when tuning or changing a head, and must be kept track of. (Of track they must be kept.) that is, they're easy to lose. I don't know if the Tama locks on the bottom heads will stay on when upside-down.

I prefer the Pearl lock nuts for a few reasons. They stay on the rod, so they won't disappear when changing heads. They can be used without concern on bottom head rods, and the bass drum as well. They hold extremely well - it's rare that one will loosen - and they don't look too bad. Note that they're for the most common 12-24 threaded rods and won't fit the DW True-Pitch rods, and Sonor may be different as well.

 

[cbphoto]

The Tama plastic locks are economical, and they work. Simnple enough to stick over the square top of the rod. The only drawback is that they must be removed when tuning or changing a head, and must be kept track of. (Of track they must be kept.) that is, they're easy to lose. I don't know if the Tama locks on the bottom heads will stay on when upside-down.

I prefer the Pearl lock nuts for a few reasons. They stay on the rod, so they won't disappear when changing heads. They can be used without concern on bottom head rods, and the bass drum as well. They hold extremely well - it's rare that one will loosen - and they don't look too bad. Note that they're for the most common 12-24 threaded rods and won't fit the DW True-Pitch rods, and Sonor may be different as well.

View attachment 134624View attachment 134625

Do you have them on every tension rod on every drum, Mr. Slammer?

 

[jaykaydrums]

pearl tension lockers, tunerfish lug locks, tama tension locks, them circular ones, all good ones.

or if youre wanting something more permanant, get some loctite thread lock

 

[force3005]

The Tama plastic locks are economical, and they work. Simnple enough to stick over the square top of the rod. The only drawback is that they must be removed when tuning or changing a head, and must be kept track of. (Of track they must be kept.) that is, they're easy to lose. I don't know if the Tama locks on the bottom heads will stay on when upside-down.

I prefer the Pearl lock nuts for a few reasons. They stay on the rod, so they won't disappear when changing heads. They can be used without concern on bottom head rods, and the bass drum as well. They hold extremely well - it's rare that one will loosen - and they don't look too bad. Note that they're for the most common 12-24 threaded rods and won't fit the DW True-Pitch rods, and Sonor may be different as well.

View attachment 134624View attachment 134625

The TAMA TTL you can tune without taking the lock off.

 

[Yamaha Rider]

I can absolutely confirm this from two different view points:

1. In my early years I was a heavy hitting "always rim shot" guy and my snare rods constantly went out of tune in those exact areas. As I got older and learned to play with more finesse I rarely ever have rods go out of tune.

2. I recently played an hour long set and my snare stayed perfectly in tune, the drummer after me (a friend of mine and a solid experienced drummer) asked to use my snare because the strainer on his was on the fritz. I didn't mind and knew he would take care of it so I agreed. We frequently share stages locally so it's common for us to share some gear. Now, he does hit a fair bit harder than I and does frequently utilize a rim shot and sure enough after his hour long set the batter and reso side rods near that area had de tuned a bit. Not at all implying he abused my drum, he simply plays it in a different way and I had noticed this caused minor reasonable detuning.

But why the reso too?

 

[bermuda]

The TAMA TTL you can tune without taking the off.

Have not had good luck with that. Maybe with a taller rod head, there's more for the key to grip.

 

[bermuda]

But why the reso too?

On toms in particular, the reso head controls the tone. Just a slight detuning can change the sound drastically. A tom reso will detune partly from the drum's vibration, but also from being set down on the bottom hoop, as we all do, especially with floor toms.

A snare is particularly susceptible when being struck, because the bottom hoop is forced against the stand's support arms, and lugs will loosen slightly. Because a snare is normally mic'd on the top and bottom, a change in the snare side affects what both mics hear.

 

[roncadillac]

But why the reso too?

Just on the lugs taking most of the impact from the rim shots. Shallow snares with single lugs for both batter and reso, I'm assuming it vibrated down the lug.

 

[A J]

Here's my opinion. I'm just a weekend bar-band kinda guy.

No need for any sort of lug locks. Every drum is a moving, living instrument that will, by definition, change with every strike.

That's why the drumming gods gave us drum keys. In between gigs, sets or songs, simply re-tune as needed. Easy fix.

Again... I'm spouting off my "expert" advice in the presence of professionals, REAL experts and people in the know. Please take my advice with a grain of salt.