Does Taylor Hawkins play a 20" bass drum?

LittleLegs

Senior Member
I was thinking about whether my next bass drum should be 20" or 22" (mainly play at home but play some rock out and about) and if he can get away with it, I can!
 

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20" drums are fine but you might still want to consider a 22" for gigging. All other things being equal, a 22" drum moves more air.
 
I think it's nice to have a few different sized matching bass drums depending on what room I am playing. I could definitely use my 20" unmiced in the rooms I play with fine results, but I prefer a 22. If the bass drum is miced, even a 16 can work. Unmiced, a 20 is the smallest sized bass drum that I am comfortable with. Me and 18's or smaller don't get on well, miced or not. That said, a 20 x 14 is a great sized bass drum. Punchy.
 
Those are really old photo's. He plays a 24x18 now. And he was mic'd in all those photo's, as well. You can play almost anything, run is through a 10,000 watt P.A., and it'll sound like cannon fire. Ginger Baker played a 20 and a 22, and Cream was loud AF. But again, a P.A. did the heavy lifting.

What are you competing against, volume wise? What kinda guitar and bass rig? Also .... the musicians you play with. Some cats understand the volume knob turns in two directions. Some don't.
 
Those are really old photo's. He plays a 24x18 now. And he was mic'd in all those photo's, as well. You can play almost anything, run is through a 10,000 watt P.A., and it'll sound like cannon fire. Ginger Baker played a 20 and a 22, and Cream was loud AF. But again, a P.A. did the heavy lifting.

Hi - that's what I thought too as that's what the the Gretsch website says, but these photos are from 201 so who knows. You're so right though, the P A makes all the difference, so maybe it doesn't matter so much? 20" would be much better for home and I'd only be playing with a mic on the kick.
 

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He is playing a 22 or 24 in all of those photos, hard to see on the pink kit. A 22" Gretsch kick and larger has 10 lugs per side.
 
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