Dead Drum Fads

Son of Vistalite Black

Son of Vistalite Black

Well-known Member
There are several hobbies where enthusiasts who have also studied engineering are constantly coming up with new gee-gaws and doo-dads designed to improve the user experience. Good examples include bicycling -- where riders' choices now range from functional $200 examples from Wal-Mart to $5,000 or $10,000 super-light (carbon fiber) two wheelers with better suspension than your Grandaddy's Cadillac.

In the experience of Son of Vistalite Black, sailing and motorcycling are other pursuits where innovators promise breakthrough innovations at impossibly high prices cobbled together in their makers' garages.

Drummers, however, appear to be among the world's most gullible consumers (probably second to golfers) when it comes to embracing technological (or style-based) inventions where the benefit is, at best, marginal and in many cases simply not present. No matter how silly we once looked in specialized drumming shoes or gloves, those experiences don't seem to deter us from going all in on supposedly innovative sticks, tapes or gels that will somehow improve our sound.

With that said, SoVB (who plays a rare VB Sound Projectors Kit with Concert Toms) is proud to present a partial list of once-promising percussion products that are now Dead Drum Fads. For the moment, these are not ranked and there are sure to be additional contributions to these drumming anachronisms:

RIMS® and DynamountTM Isolation systems: GPI discontinued manufacturing in 2021.

Heavy cymbals

26" Bass drums

Trash Can Bass Drums -- In the 80s, you could get these 32" long!

Drum racks

Piccolo snares

Power toms and square toms

Concert toms (and single sided bass drums)

Octobans

Free floating snares

Oversized snares

Enormous holes drilled in snares

Simmons and all the other Flock of Seagulls drums
 
was thinking Tie-dyed t-shirts
 
many of those - in my lifetime - have come and gone a couple times....which really just means that I am old

but the only thing on that list that seemed "frivolous" or unimportant is the large holes drilled in snares and trash can bass drums

all of the other things did actually leave a mark on the drum world that influenced other decisions/ideas etc. And most of those are still in use/vogue today depending on the genre....
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
many of those - in my lifetime - have come and gone a couple times....which really just means that I am old

but the only thing on that list that seemed "frivolous" or unimportant is the large holes drilled in snares and trash can bass drums

all of the other things did actually leave a mark on the drum world that influenced other decisions/ideas etc. And most of those are still in use/vogue today depending on the genre....
Click to expand...


From Dictionary.com:

fad​

[ fad ]SHOW IPA

See synonyms for: fad / fads on Thesaurus.com

noun
a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group.
 
jda said:
was thinking Tie-dyed t-shirts
Click to expand...
As a kid, I didn't even like them when they first came out in the 60's

Far and away, the most butt ugly shirts I ever saw lol
 
  • Haha
Reactions: jda
Larry said:
As a kid, I didn't even like them when they first came out in the 60's

Far and away, the most butt ugly shirts I ever saw lol
Click to expand...

truth...
 
While the RIMS company itself stopped manufacturing suspension mounts, a quick search in just one online music store found suspension mounts available from several companies, including:
Ludwig
TAMA
Pearl
Gibraltar
Trick
and Ahead

That was just one vendor. I expect that given a little more time, more options would appear.

I'd have to venture that suspension mounts aren't a passing fad, at least at this point.
 
Last edited:
BruceW said:
While the RIMS company itself stopped manufacturing suspension mounts, a quick search in just one online music store found suspension mounts available from several companies, including:
Ludwig
TAMA
Pearl
Gibraltar
Tirck
and Ahead

That was just one vendor. I expect that given a little more time, more options would appear.

I'd have to venture that suspension mounts aren't a passing fad, at least at this point.
Click to expand...

yeah...it has been a pretty "standard offering" since the early 90's for sure
 
remote learninfg.

lol
 
BruceW said:
While the RIMS company itself stopped manufacturing suspension mounts, a quick search in just one online music store found suspension mounts available from several companies, including:
Ludwig
TAMA
Pearl
Gibraltar
Trick
and Ahead

That was just one vendor. I expect that given a little more time, more options would appear.

I'd have to venture that suspension mounts aren't a passing fad, at least at this point.
Click to expand...
AM Radio 61Xcxab3JOL._AC_UY218_.jpgAM radios, a superhot fad of the 60s, are still sold on Amazon.com, but demand has substantially cooled.
 
BruceW said:
While the RIMS company itself stopped manufacturing suspension mounts, a quick search in just one online music store found suspension mounts available from several companies
Click to expand...
Agreed, there's no shortage of isolation mounting systems that are more elegant than RIMS. Some proprietary (such as DW) and others more universal (Ludwig's Atlas mounts, INDE mounts, etc.)

And while there are many other faddish and of-the-era things on that list, some have certainly not gone away. In particular, I think that racks have maintained a steady growth/acceptance since they were introduced about 45 years ago. Obviously a significant number of touring drummers use them, but I also see full and partial racks at some club and bar gigs, even when the amount of cymbals and toms don't really warrant or benefit from that kind of hardware IMO.

I was a late-comer to racks, I probably should have used one on tour in the mid-eighties. Instead, it was 1993/4 until I first used a rack, and then I was hooked.
 

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