Ludwig classic maple bass heads and Tuning thoughts

Robzildjian

Robzildjian

Member
Hi Ludwig friends,

I played a gig of a few hundred people last night at a corporate event. We used a very experience sound and lighting crew with a very good digital PA set up. The sound guy was the owner of the studio and very experienced as a sound man was very complimentary about the sound of my maple classic kit, especially toms and particularly the black beauty 14x6.5. However, we both agreed that the 22x14 bass with clear Remo PS3 batter and ludwig factory reso with an evans pillow did not sound very deep and was a bit ‘middy’. Any thoughts on what could depend the sound? Present Tuning is JAW on batter side and med tight on the reso. Any suggestions from ludwig experts? The sound is great it just needs to be a bit deeper.

Thanks all,
 
Depends on music you were playing. Middy doesn't sound appropriate for Zeppelin, but is very desirable for jazz. What genre was it?
 
More Zep, Foos, Rush, Stereophonics, on so on. I have a C and C that I use for jazz gigs.
 
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I've got a 16x26 Legacy Maple kick that I run unported with nothing in the drum. It actually has a lot more bottom when I tune the batter up a bit. It has a lot more boom that way than when I have a JAW tension on the batter. I also tension the reso up quite a bit higher than the batter.
 
Ghostnote said:
I've got a 16x26 Legacy Maple kick that I run unported with nothing in the drum. It actually has a lot more bottom when I tune the batter up a bit. It has a lot more boom that way than when I have a JAW tension on the batter. I also tension the reso up quite a bit higher than the batter.
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It’s a 26-inch drum. “Boom” is all it does. Even its mid-range is in the sub-basement.
 
Go a quarter to half turn tighter on both heads---do the batter first, and test it. I have (2) 22 x 14 bass drums with PS3 batters, and single ply resos and nothing inside---one is ported, and one is not---both of them have bottom end that will thump your chest. Tuning both heads the same seems to work best for me!
 
I'd recommend trying a Remo muff'l ring on the batter w nothing in the drum. I normally don't like those because they sit on the bearing edge but I had one on my ludwig classic maple bass drum and it sounded amazing.
 
In my experience JAW tunings only sound good from the driver's seat if they sound good at all. You need to get some more tension on the batter head. I always start any tuning of a drum with both heads tuned to the same tension/pitch. On my bass drum i think i've currently got the reso tuned up a little further than the batter to get a punchier sound. Of course the fine details of tuning will depend on your specific drum. Still i would avoid JAW tunings as they don't tend to translate well to the audience as a general rule.
 
Push pull stroke said:
It’s a 26-inch drum. “Boom” is all it does. Even its mid-range is in the sub-basement.
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Surprisingly, no...When I first got it I went for a JAW tuning on the batter, because that's what I had always used with my smaller drums, and was initially surprised by how flat and slappy the drum sounded. I thought it was a real bummer until I figured out that all the boom and bottom started to come together once Itensioned the batter up a bit.
 
MJD said:
In my experience JAW tunings only sound good from the driver's seat if they sound good at all. You need to get some more tension on the batter head. Still i would avoid JAW tunings as they don't tend to translate well to the audience as a general rule.
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THAT is very true. In very small room, rehearsal, JAW would be enough, but in concert situation where you want projection : tune up, even if from the seat, you don't have the sound you're seeking. And the less muffling as possible.
 
Push pull stroke said:
It’s a 26-inch drum. “Boom” is all it does. Even its mid-range is in the sub-basement.
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Negative, Kemosabe. 26” bass drums are tensioned higher than you realize. The cool thing is is that I work a lot less on a tighter bass drum, but when you really have to slam it, it can go with you and still have enough bottom.
 
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