Mesh heads and triggers- Questions

wraub

wraub

Gold Member
Recently I've been thinking about putting mesh heads on my drum set and using triggers for recording purposes.
The RTom LV heads look pretty good to me, but I'm just learning about triggers and how they work in actual use, and have questions re setup and durability.

Any help would be appreciated. :)

Thanks.
 
So you're talking about doing an A2E conversion. The RTom's are indeed a mighty brand but there are definitely cheaper alternatives (as long as the mesh is 2-ply or more you're good to go IMO).

As for triggers, well that's a whole other can of worms so I guess we'll start with: are you thinking of internally or externally mounted?
 
Pintech "Reaction" series heads (single ply)
Roland RT-30H triggers - these mount to the hoop and trigger fantastically.

After trying all kinds of triggers (brands, types and positioning) this was the best setup for me, and the only one I was ever really happy with.
The RT triggers aren't cheap but they are superb.
And those Pintech heads are phenomenal. The single ply is surprisingly durable, they're very quiet, and you can tension them as loose as you want for a realistic rebound.
** Best rebounding mesh head according to Digital Drummer Magazine.
 
As an absolute novice to electronic drums, I decided to do an A2E conversion for my home practice set. Used Cen-Tec Real Feel 3 ply heads because I wanted an acoustic feel - not exactly cheap and may have been overkill. DDrum Red Shot external triggers - cheap ($99 for five piece set), 15 minute setup, and worked right out of the box. $500 for a used Roland TD-17 controller. Less than $300 (including shipping) for a set of Lemon cymbals - 18" and 15" ride/crashes plugged right in, though the hihats took some fiddling to get the open/closed action to work properly.

It was really simple, and everything worked as soon as it was plugged on. Less than a couple of hours for the drum conversion and another hour or so for the cymbals. However, the more I play I continuously tweak pad and drumset settings.

As for reliability, I did the drum conversion over a year ago, the cymbals about three months ago. No issues at all (yet).

A2E conversion.jpg
 
LarryJ said:
As an absolute novice to electronic drums, I decided to do an A2E conversion for my home practice set. Used Cen-Tec Real Feel 3 ply heads because I wanted an acoustic feel - not exactly cheap and may have been overkill. DDrum Red Shot external triggers - cheap ($99 for five piece set), 15 minute setup, and worked right out of the box. $500 for a used Roland TD-17 controller. Less than $300 (including shipping) for a set of Lemon cymbals - 18" and 15" ride/crashes plugged right in, though the hihats took some fiddling to get the open/closed action to work properly.

It was really simple, and everything worked as soon as it was plugged on. Less than a couple of hours for the drum conversion and another hour or so for the cymbals. However, the more I play I continuously tweak pad and drumset settings.

As for reliability, I did the drum conversion over a year ago, the cymbals about three months ago. No issues at all (yet).

View attachment 131444
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I'm impressed you got the Red Shots to work on a 18" (??) bass drum with mesh head.

I tried them with a 22" mesh head (after my internally mounted trigger wasn't doing the job either) and it was NOT happening....

IMG_1014.JPG
 
I went the internal route. This is years old, but I’m still playing them daily. I did some tweaking for awhile, but that was primarily the module and kit choices. Otherwise my main tweak issue was the kick and rebound.

Mac's A2E Project

Essentially a duplicate effort from Vdrum... I'm midway into my Acoustic to Electronic project. Thought I'd start writing about the journey. I'll get you all up date on starting and to where I'm at. Then add comments and ideas as things evolve. About mid winter some months back, I ran across...
www.drummerworld.com
 
wraub said:
Recently I've been thinking about putting mesh heads on my drum set and using triggers for recording purposes.
The RTom LV heads look pretty good to me, but I'm just learning about triggers and how they work in actual use, and have questions re setup and durability.

Any help would be appreciated. :)

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I personally used the very cheap Ddrum triggers : https://www.amazon.com/ddrum-Shot-5-Piece-Drum-Trigger/dp/B0002E36S2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=21A9L4Y98DGX8&keywords=ddrum+triggers&qid=1678390429&sprefix=ddrum+tr,aps,182&sr=8-3

With Remo Silent stroke heads except for the bass drum in which I used a Pintech head.
They worked very well for me . They mount to the side of the drum and are external, very easy to fix if you have issues and the price is right.
There are other more expensive alternatives of course, but for toms, that combination was great for me.

Now for the snare you can get this: https://www.amazon.com/Roland-Drum-Set-Clamp-RT-30HR/dp/B00SY11EA2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GIRLM43IAI19&keywords=roland+snare+trigger&qid=1678390573&sprefix=Roland+snare,aps,201&sr=8-1

The Roland trigger will work fine with most any module, but if your module has more advanced features then a center mounted internal trigger such as this: https://jobekydrums.co.uk/product/jobekys-adjustable-internal-trigger-system/ will take advantage of your module's features. Some modules can sense how far from center your are playing and adjust volume accordingly to better simulate an acoustic drum.

You can buy Lemon cymbals or get Roland or other brands depends on your budget (or mic your acoustic cymbals like 66Samus does in YouTube).



 
toddmc said:
So you're talking about doing an A2E conversion. The RTom's are indeed a mighty brand but there are definitely cheaper alternatives (as long as the mesh is 2-ply or more you're good to go IMO).

As for triggers, well that's a whole other can of worms so I guess we'll start with: are you thinking of internally or externally mounted?
Click to expand...
I was thinking external but am still comparing pros and cons. I was thinking external would offer ease of placement and adjustment also.
 
wraub said:
I was thinking external but am still comparing pros and cons. I was thinking external would offer ease of placement and adjustment also.
Click to expand...
That's 100% correct- they don't look as "neat" as internals but that's about it.
 
I now have the RTom LV heads. Research continues.
 
I opted for internal triggers because I have wood hoops on my toms and the typical rim-mounted triggers do not touch the mesh heads enough to make the triggering happen consistently. I think the internal triggers also maintain contact with the heads better during playing because the head is being pushed down onto them when being struck. I use eBridge internal triggers from UFO drums. They are a little bit more complicated to install, but they work and sound great. I also have an older external trigger on standby, in case one of my internal triggers stops working during a gig (which has never happened btw). I put double-sided tape on the old trigger pad and can stick it onto the tom head in order to finish the set or gig.
 
Poleaux said:
I opted for internal triggers because I have wood hoops on my toms and the typical rim-mounted triggers do not touch the mesh heads enough to make the triggering happen consistently. I think the internal triggers also maintain contact with the heads better during playing because the head is being pushed down onto them when being struck. I use eBridge internal triggers from UFO drums. They are a little bit more complicated to install, but they work and sound great. I also have an older external trigger on standby, in case one of my internal triggers stops working during a gig (which has never happened btw). I put double-sided tape on the old trigger pad and can stick it onto the tom head in order to finish the set or gig.
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Tom pads will rarely if ever fail. The pads that are more prone to failure are the 3 pads most used: Hi hats, bass drum, and snare. You should have an extra pad (even if it is a rubber pad) to be used as a spare either for a snare failure or for a hi hat failure, and an extra trigger for bass drum. (I am ordering the footblasters. Those seem great and the chance of those failing is a lot smaller than drum mounted triggers).

FootBlaster Kickpad | FootBlaster Kick Drum Trigger – FootBlaster, Next Generation Drum Gear

footblaster.com footblaster.com
 
I have Roland mesh heads with Extreme Drums internal triggers.

Now...how did I get there? I had a Roland TD-17 and wanted to convert a Ludwig Breakbeats A2E. First, I went cheap. Remo Silentstroke heads and ddrum triggers. I could not get good triggering. So I went full Roland with their mesh heads and RT-30 external triggers. They worked pretty good, but I had some troubles keeping them fully attached to the tom rims. So then I went with Extreme Drums (googled, read a little bit, even talked to the guy who makes them) internal triggers. They work great.
 
ric drumm said:
I have Roland mesh heads with Extreme Drums internal triggers.

Now...how did I get there? I had a Roland TD-17 and wanted to convert a Ludwig Breakbeats A2E. First, I went cheap. Remo Silentstroke heads and ddrum triggers. I could not get good triggering. So I went full Roland with their mesh heads and RT-30 external triggers. They worked pretty good, but I had some troubles keeping them fully attached to the tom rims. So then I went with Extreme Drums (googled, read a little bit, even talked to the guy who makes them) internal triggers. They work great.
Click to expand...
Did you get those internal triggers from Marshall at Extreme Drums? I bought a few triggers from him as well. He’s a great guy and provides excellent customer service. A couple of those triggers blew out on me during a couple of gigs though. At least he has a fair warranty.
 
Poleaux said:
Did you get those internal triggers from Marshall at Extreme Drums? I bought a few triggers from him as well. He’s a great guy and provides excellent customer service. A couple of those triggers blew out on me during a couple of gigs though. At least he has a fair warranty.
Click to expand...
Yes, it was Marshall.
 
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