Many Ways to Skin a Cat? ...Or your Bass Drum?

Tell me about your bass drum strategy

  • Full reso, no dampening

    Votes: 13 22.8%
  • Full reso, felt strips

    Votes: 13 22.8%
  • Full reso, pillow or laundry

    Votes: 6 10.5%
  • Ported reso, no dampening

    Votes: 3 5.3%
  • Ported reso, felt strips

    Votes: 8 14.0%
  • Ported reso, pillow or laundry

    Votes: 24 42.1%
  • Something else... Tell us what

    Votes: 12 21.1%

  • Total voters
    57
Got a question, folks...what makes these special bass drum pillows a better choice than some random pillow?
The bass ones are usually sized and shaped to fit with a lower profile and less contact with the heads. Some of the bass ones are weighted, which is claimed/believed to give a deeper tone.
 
Evans EMAD batter, on 22" or 24" bass drums, with a felt strip on the front head. Absolutely no laundry inside the drum. That's such an outmoded way of muffling, now that we have pre-muffled heads.
 
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RWP 66 14x20 Gretsch bass- Powerstroke Fiberskyn batter- Clear Pinstripe full front- no felt (pratt removed)
AQSF 66 14x20 Gretsch bass- Fiberskyn Amb batter- Black Amb. full front- batter felt -Pratt present
SWR 05 14x18 Gretsch bass- Powerstroke Amb Batter- Remo coated ambassador full front- no felt
I never assume I'll be mic'ed - and really by mid 80s escaped -by playing pick up jazz and older swing outfits - broke away from that rock era my fellow rock mates pursued- So I like a lively sound and the feel a full front head has

up to 74 I was into the "rock" "here's your mic's" but 75-79 I was in Music school. When I returned disco sheraton bands were the thing and mic'ing and no front head was still in. By 84 I dropped out of that scene and went with older jazz musicians. One grouping were very hip pro's the other were commercial dance Jazz swing era WW2 gen musicians So I didn't have to pursue the mic and the "of course I port" scene. The rock scene has been at arm's length to me since about 79 and when I would dip into there (as my old 1st band was still rock based) I would take my jazz set up into their scene and then jump back out. So even tho I began as a rock drummer I jumped that ship and never had to carry mics and wires and be concerned with as I was playing mostly acoustic front or minimally electrified groups settings with minimal production
 
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Got a question, folks...what makes these special bass drum pillows a better choice than some random pillow?
Mostly looks, but on the other hand those have some weight so they pretty much don't move once placed. and some are designed to hold a kick microphone (the flat type like the Shure Beta 91A).
 
Got a question, folks...what makes these special bass drum pillows a better choice than some random pillow?
The Evans EQ Pad has a very light pillow section, much lighter than a towel or blanket. This allows for head movement, but still has a dampening effect. It can be moved easily to add more or less dampening.

The effect of the KickPro really surprised me. It dampens the shell vibrations giving the drum a much tighter sound. I assume this is more noticeable on an 18" deep bass drum than a 14". I've also placed the KickPro agains the batter head and there's no resonance, producing a very tight bump/sound.

With these two devices I can produce a wide variety of bass drum sounds from open & boomy to a very tight, short punch.
 
can you imagine I picked and specced those out of a catalog? I went there with thermogloss Ludwigs in mind but was sold on the Premiers (because of price.../ owned them from 1971-1996. (along same time I found a 66 Gretsch Progressive Jazz Set in 1975 I still own)

this - standing at the counter- pic sold me I had no idea what I was getting. I specced an extra floor tom and the color but otherwise; just fate I got a 22 instead of 20 bass, (catalog spec says 20) these were at the time cheaper than the Ludwigs
This was Rock set for my big rock career that fizzled never happened

premier 303.jpg

 
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Evans EMAD batter, on a 22" or 24" bass drums, with a felt strip on the front head. Absolutely no laundry inside the drum. That's such an outmoded way of muffling, now that we have pre-muffled heads.
Agree, I bought the drums in my avatar, they came with the Evans muffler head, it was just the right amount to have a very powerful kick and very little sustain. I never liked to have all kinds of junk inside the drums, tape leaves residue, fabric just detracts from the drum looks (if you have a see-through head and other methods seem to all be difficult to apply. The Evans head doesn't drastically alter the drum sound just gets it to a sweet spot, you could always add more muffling but as is I believe it would work just fine for most genres No felt strip needed in my case, just tune your drums every so often and maybe treat the room you use. Room acoustics have a lot to do with how much or how little you would want to muffle...
 
Got a question, folks...what makes these special bass drum pillows a better choice than some random pillow?
+1 what others have already said. I use the Evans EQ. The two sides are made like little hinges, so they press lightly against both heads. I can’t see them while I’m playing, of course, but I can imagine the batter side bouncing up with each hit, opening the head up a bit, then settling back against it… a pillowy noise gate.

The two sides are different sized, so you can orient it as you like for more/less muffling for batter/reso.

Finally, it has Velcro underneath, so once you’ve found your sweet spot, you can keep it there. I’d advise against using that, though. I did it in my Gretsch kick, and when I removed the velcro it also removed some silver sealer. Now I keep it loose in there and just adjust it before I play.

 
An old well loved, retired pillow full of lumps from the foam getting all matted is my favorite muffler. So easily adjustable from completely dead to wide open just by how I place it, so yes a port 4”
I play rock & roll and folk, half our shows are miced.
 
In an ideal world I like my bass drums open with the only dampening being pre-dampened heads. Sadly we don't live in one of those so most of the time it's a trusty pillow in the kick and mic it up live. It's convenient and keeps sound engineers happy.

I've used that many ways to get a good bass drum sound from felt strips, taking the front head off, little port holes all the way to pretty much the rim of the head to stop all the fitting rattling. The Simon Phillips towel trick on big bass drums is amazing. I had a 26x20 that i used that on and it was perfect.
 
My 24" bass drums have a Calftone EMAD batter/ Aquarian Regulator ported combo, with a small piece of mattress foam in the bottom to soak up any remaining "boing" from inside the drum. My 22" bass drum is super resonant, so I run that one with virtually no front head and again just a piece of mattress foam in the bottom.
 
The Simon Phillips towel trick on big bass drums is amazing. I had a 26x20 that i used that on and it was perfect.

I've seen this. How to you affix it to the drum, or do you?

I ask because it seems to me that it would get rattled out of place pretty quickly. At that point if you don't have a ported head, you're hosed.
 
I've seen this. How to you affix it to the drum, or do you?

I ask because it seems to me that it would get rattled out of place pretty quickly. At that point if you don't have a ported head, you're hosed.
Tape it to the head and the drum.

There's a vid from the man himself on YouTube
 
I must be one of only a few peeps on here who enjoys the heavily muffled “classic” sound of the large center port/no reso bass drum. Pre-muffled heads like PS3 and EMAD are great at what they do, but they don’t make the same sound. Yeah, the sound is outdated, but so am I and so is the music I play. 🤪 :ROFLMAO::cool:
 
Yes it's Friday how many gigs have you done so far today... :D
 
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Yes it's Friday how many gigs have you done so far today... :D
None today, Joe! Got a couple tomorrow and one on Sunday. I am up at Bentley’s at the moment, though, working on another 602 flat ride pick up. Does that count for something? :D
 
working on another 602 flat ride pick up. Does that count for something?
it sure does you're not going to be "that guy" that plays 2 and 3 flat rides at the same time are you? I forget his name but he existed!!! Lol
 
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Here’s one for you, Joe! Beautiful looking Gretsch with fully intact reso head. Cypress something outer veneer. :love:

IMG_3862.jpeg
 
Something Else was my choice.....................
Full reso, no other muffling on either head except the built in muffling on the head, like a Remo Powerstroke 3 or an Attack No Overtone. Always a coated reso (and batter). On smaller diameter bass drums (18" and 20"), I usually cut between 1/2" to 1" off the width of the muffling ring all the way around. That opens it up for my tastes. I like a full, warm and resonant bass drum sound that's controlled. I detest the cardboard box sound, where the sustain is .000001 nanoseconds. My bass drums are controlled (no basketball boing) but it still sustains between 1 and 2 seconds. Just right for me. I usually play quiter gigs where I am not miced. If I am miced and the sound engineer wants a little more muffling, I can always put a small bar towel on the front head. I used to be in a band with a female lead singer. She would put her purse against the head, and it was a perfect amount of muffling for a mic. Plus, she had access to all her stuff right there behind her!
Doesn't the purse/ towel vibrate off?
 
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