Upgrading a Ludwig Breakbeats

S

Solowbeats

Junior Member
Hi all! I'm new here and this is my first post in this forum. I'm not a drummer, I'm a HipHop/soul producer and a bass player. The only experience I have playing drums is playing a little on my electronic Roland kit. I'm planning to purchase an acoustic kit. I think it's way more dynamic than my Roland E kit, and I need it for future projects. I needed something cheap, small and sounding exactly like what I heared in the Ludwig Breakbeats demo video with Questlove playing on it. I need a kit that sound tight and snappy for a Roots/neo soul.hip hop feel.

Now, I've watched countless review vids and read lots of forum topics on this kit, so I know what people think of it and how it's sounds. I've read it had plastic washers on all tuners and a plastic hoop on the bass drum ( is hoop the right word for it?, maybe rim?)

My question is,

How easy is it to upgrade this kit? Can I buy a good quality wooden rim for the bass drum and better washers? Is this even possible? Are there people that have changed things on this kit, and made it better?

Maybe it's not even necessary... I don't know.

I know people love it's sound for such a small kit, but is it build to last?

Thanks!
 
I upgraded mine to wood hoops for the bass drum, so that's not hard. I paid $35 a hoop and painted them black myself.

Not sure why you'd need better washers though, the plastic ones work just fine. The one thing I did have to upgrade is the bass drum pedal mounting device. The one that came with the kit is just not up to snuff for what I do and how I travel, so I purchased the one made by Gibralter and that one works great. I also changed all the heads to Remo pinstripes on all the batters, and put good ambassadors for the resos. The snare drum got a coated Emperor and a standard snare-side head, and I even replaced the wire snares on the bottom. The drums feel better now. They are my ultimate rehearsal/very small gig kit!
 
Thanx Bo! So what were the total costs for all the upgrades you made? And did the wooden rim make a big difference?
 
Solowbeats said:
Thanx Bo! So what were the total costs for all the upgrades you made? And did the wooden rim make a big difference?
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Well, it was $70, plus a can of black paint and a brush at the Home Depot for the bass drum hoops. The heads, and you won't believe this, but our Best Buy stores were trying to sell musical gear at one point and are now getting out of it. I walked in the other week and they actually had 10, 13, 16, pinstripes new in the box selling for around $7 each, and I found 14 heads for the snare (a coated emperor and snare side for $11 each), so I bought all of their stock, so that came up to around $66, and the Gibraltar bass drum pedal lift cost another $30 at Sam Ash. So it was a grand total of $171 - yours will be higher if you change out all the heads because I stumbled upon a steal and took advantage!

The wooden bass drum hoops make a big difference on the batter side where the lift is installed because the lift needs a flat surface to attach too. With the metal hoops, you have this channel and getting the lift on tight enough you have to over-tighten and the lift will actually start to bend, which is why I had to replace mine. Get at least a wood hoop on the batter side if you can only afford one.

But today I got the kit back up and running with new heads (I kept the front reso head on the bass drum, but all the heads are new), and this investment has paid off. In fact, the snare drum is much better now with proper heads and I upgraded the plastic strips holding the snares with actual light aircraft cable. I think this is the problem with cheap plastic holding the snare wire - it can't tighten the required amount without stretching and when you turn the snares off, it can't drop low enough. So definitely replace the plastic strips holding the snares too! Ahead makes this stuff that I got for $4 at Sam Ash. The snare drum actually sounds really good now.
 
...so I purchased the one made by Gibralter and that one works great...



I'm just curious, Bo, what type of pedal are you using? My Pearl and Tama IC pedals go past 90 degrees, and my Speed King doesn't clear the bass hoop. How is your pedal action? I didn't care for it on my Ludwig 14x20 Maple Classic with any of my pedals.
 
Supraman5x14 said:
...so I purchased the one made by Gibralter and that one works great...



I'm just curious, Bo, what type of pedal are you using? My Pearl and Tama IC pedals go past 90 degrees, and my Speed King doesn't clear the bass hoop. How is your pedal action? I didn't care for it on my Ludwig 14x20 Maple Classic with any of my pedals.
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I'm using three pedals right now depending on which one I grab for a job: a 1970s Tama Flexi-Flyer (cam and strap), a 1990s Tama Iron Cobra Jr. (sprocket and chain), and my new Pearl Demon pedal (direct drive like the Speed King), and they all work. I did modify my Gibraltar hoop lifter by dismantling it, and the plate that the pedal connects to was installed on the other side of the part that connects to the hoop, which pushes it out farther and away from the edge of the bass drum hoop. You can even extend it some by putting a nut on the bolt, and then putting the plate back on - and I did this at first, but it didn't need to be extended so far out. Because of the extension, everything clears the hoop, and it doesn't matter if your pedal reaches beyond 90-degrees. In fact, all of my pedals reach beyond 90-degrees too, I like the extra throw.
 
I have a Breakbeats kit and Bo's advice is spot on, he actually helped me a lot with his earlier responses.

The riser/hoop issue was the biggest problem for me...but actually I've just gotten used to playing with the beater at a different angle than I was used to (slightly further than 90). If you're going to leave it in the same spot you might get by with the Ludwig one (hoop and riser), but if I was gigging with it I'd definitely solve the issue. My chain is VERY close to my hoop, so if you were setting up and breaking down a lot this would be a pain. Also, I put a piece of felt between the riser and the hoop. Made me a little more comfortable clamping down on the hoop hard.

I replaced my snare head with an Evans HD Dry and I like it much better now. I still have the stock Ludwig heads on the toms, I actually don't mind them at all.

I love the high tom on this kit, I didn't love the kick until I started using a fluffy beater...now I really do. For jazz I let the kick resonate completely open and the feathered boom sounds great to me. For everything else I just lean a small pillow against the front head. Again if I was gigging with it that might be a problem, but for a home/rehearsal kit it's not...all in all...I couldn't love it more.

-Bryan
 
Have to find a place in the Netherlands where they sell those wooden hoops. Thanx for all the good tips. I think I will go ahead and buy me a Ludwig Breakbeats set in a month or two.
 
Thanks, Bo and Bryan for your input. Perhaps working with the tension a little more would help me with the Gibraltar riser in getting used to the added throw.
 
I installed new heads all around, installed wood bass drum hoops, and installed a DW Bass Drum Lifter (DWCP9908). I also had to machine the snare throw off mount as it hits the batter flesh hoop if you tune the head tight.
 
Solowbeats said:
Have to find a place in the Netherlands where they sell those wooden hoops. Thanx for all the good tips. I think I will go ahead and buy me a Ludwig Breakbeats set in a month or two.
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You may be able to order them from www.stdrums.de , otherwise there are are a few Brit custom shell builders, like Carrera, who would be able to help.
 
Guys did any of you shop the sonor safari special edition it has aur floor and vsnare and a 10 inch rack, wood is poplar, it looks like a wood hoop on the kick too but not sure. Jeff. I don't card about heads at the moment because I am going to trigger it for my apartment for a quiet practice kit and I have my 50 year old champagne sparkle Ludwigs cased up
 
hemiboy said:
Guys did any of you shop the sonor safari special edition it has aur floor and vsnare and a 10 inch rack, wood is poplar, it looks like a wood hoop on the kick too but not sure. Jeff. I don't card about heads at the moment because I am going to trigger it for my apartment for a quiet practice kit and I have my 50 year old champagne sparkle Ludwigs cased up
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Yep - I had a Safari too, and I believe my video sold a bunch of them for Sonor (I'm still waiting for that check).

The hoops are not wood, but it doesn't matter since you're not clamping to it, but I do think the Sonor is built better than the Breakbeats, though.

There is a deal at the Sam Ash in Puente Hills, CA on a used Sonor Players kit for $350 if anybody wants it. Much better sizes: 10/14/20 and 14 snare - it was the precursor to DW's Frequent Flyer hitting the market and sounds very good since it has a bigger bass drum. You can actually use it on a gig ;)
 
I too had a problem with the cheesy riser so i ordered a DW Bass Drum Cradle, it gets the drum a bit higher off the floor and my kick beater hits the batter right dead in the center, plus i put Aquarian Studio X Clears on my tom batters, really fat sounding lil kit!
 
Hey there Bo. I've searched for Gibraltar drum risers here in the UK and the only one I can find is listed as for use with 18 and 20 inch bass drums only.
 
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