REMO MUFF'L Q.
- Thread starter I-P
- Start date
I-P
Active Member
Right heads and tuning can save any drum.
C. Dave Run
Well-known Member
Probably so and this hints at one of the good points about the Muff'l, namely that it lets you keep the old school look (and maybe sound, to some extent) of say a coated ambassador if you're into that kind of thing. IOW it leaves you free to use whatever head you want and still get the dampening effect.
Something I'm curious about (and hope to test soon) is how the Muff'l compares to good old felt strips. Does it do anything that felt strips can't do? For that matter, do the newfangled muffling systems like Powersonic, Super Kick, EMAD, etc, do anything that felt strips can't do? (maybe a topic for another thread...)
harryconway
Platinum Member
I've only ever used a Muff'l once ..... on my Manu Katche Jr. 16" kick. Because that drum has triple flanged hoops. rather than wood hoops ..... and I was having a hard time finding a SK/EMAD type head for it. And I must say ..... it works as advertized.
Look no further than the Ronnie Tutt drum set in another thread, on here. I think the Pinstripe head came out in '74. Tutt had his heads all taped up, to get the muffking he desired. I think you probably could get the same (or close) results with felt & gaffer tape ..... but it might not be exactly the cleanest asthetic
Which thread is that? I searched but didn't see one that gave details about his kit treatment.Look no further than the Ronnie Tutt drum set in another thread, on here. I think the Pinstripe head came out in '74. Tutt had his heads all taped up, to get the muffking he desired. I think you probably could get the same (or close) results with felt & gaffer tape ..... but it might not be exactly the cleanest asthetic
The thing about felt strips is they've got a pretty clean aesthetic. You just sort of lay it in there and pull out the slack and the hoop clamps it in place and pulls it tight. I also think it looks cool. The recent Silk Sonic stuff made me a convert to the felt strip look. It's got pedigree with the real old school guys as well as the newer old school guys like Bonham.
The modern dampening systems like EMAD are nice in that they're totally unfiddly. You just bolt 'em on and you're good to go. The tradeoff is they're kind of expensive and they force you into a modern look.
Felt strips require a little technique to install but they can be used with any head of your choice. They will give an old school look.
MUFF'L is more or less bolt on and will work with any head. But if it's a clear head the result will not be pretty.
Of all the approaches, felt strips seem the most tunable in that you have total freedom to adjust the dampening through the width and placement (and maybe the tension) of the strips. MUFF'L has a fixed amount of dampening. The modern systems are fixed although some have an external device that's adjustable in coarse steps.
Searching through old threads it looks like felt strips get discussed pretty thoroughly every one or two years. There was a good thread here recently on them. What never seems to happen is a really good comparison between the sound of felt strips versus modern predampened heads versus MUFFL. Not surprising since it would be a lot of work but it does seem to be an area that's not fully mapped out.