Re-seating a Kick Drum Head?

[jimmyz]

Hi guys,

I recently bought a single ply batter-side head for my Kick drum (to replace a damaged Remo Pinstripe) & am struggling a bit with it. Trouble is, it has no interior dampening ring so its way to lively...

I was wondering whether I could take it off, put a felt strip between it and the hoop (ala Bonham) ad then re-fit the head? This might be a crazy idea (not sure if it would ever seat correctly again after that?) but I wondered if it would indeed be possible to do so to try and dampen the head some.

Or, any good methods of dampening down a single ply kick batter side head???

Thanks!

J

[biggator6]

It can obviously be done - as you mentioned, Bonham did it (as did just about every drummer before 1970). Finding the felt strips can be tricky, as not a lot of places carry them anymore - may be easier to try a different head.

[chrisso]

Once a head is seated you must seat it in the same position if you remove it and reinstall it.
So the tip is to make a mark on the head somewhere that corresponds to a certain spot on the shell (or mark both head and shell).
I find felt strips a little inflexible myself - all or nothing.
Pillows, whether for seeping on or drum specific (DW and Evans make them) are perfect.
You can move them back and forward to get just the right amount of damping, or even add more than one pad or pillow.

[dodgeaspen]

A good guy to learn tuning from is Bob Gatzen (I think that's how it's spelled) Go to YouTube and type in drum tuning and he should be one of the first videos on the right.

[AudioWonderland]

Originally Posted by jimmyz

Hi guys,

I recently bought a single ply batter-side head for my Kick drum (to replace a damaged Remo Pinstripe) & am struggling a bit with it. Trouble is, it has no interior dampening ring so its way to lively...

I was wondering whether I could take it off, put a felt strip between it and the hoop (ala Bonham) ad then re-fit the head? This might be a crazy idea (not sure if it would ever seat correctly again after that?) but I wondered if it would indeed be possible to do so to try and dampen the head some.

Or, any good methods of dampening down a single ply kick batter side head???

Thanks!

J

Easily done and is in fact not that uncommon even today. You will probably have to find a fabric store to get a good heavy felt and cut the strips yourself.

As an alternative, you could look into the Evans EQ pad as an example. IT accomplishes the same goal, is adjustable and doesn't put anything between the head and the bearing edge if that type of thing is important to you.

[biggator6]

No idea where to get them (check the website) but Slug makes drum felts
Felt Products

[jimmyz]

Fantastic, thanks for the replies guys.

I tried using a blanket up against the res head and it worked great. I find it not as sweet as the internal muffling ring - its more difficult to get the lowest tuning without distortion on the head. But when the drum is back in the placing position (after tuning) with the blanket pushed up against, it sounds pretty decent.

It is a little strange, however, as the head doesn't seem to go down as low without distorting/flopping out as one with an internal dampening ring. Makes it a bit more of a guess to when the head is gonna sound good with a blanket against.

Also stuck some moon gel gaffer-tapped to the head. Worked pretty well.

Again, thanks for the replies!

J

[dudeitsree]

The pillow was what I was gonna suggest. With the floppy sound I sometimes brought the tension rods near where the pillow was at the bottom lower than the top ones to lower the over all pitch of the drum and that would keep the other parts of the head from flapping from wrinkles. Also, I think I could order some felt strips for anyone who wants them.... I work for a drum shop in Dallas probably not too expensive... PM if you want some info.

[toolskid]

Originally Posted by dodgeaspen

A good guy to learn tuning from is Bob Gatzen (I think that's how it's spelled) Go to YouTube and type in drum tuning and he should be one of the first videos on the right.

AWESOME video!!