I play a drilled bass drum but I want to get an un-drilled one, mostly because i think it looks awesome.

Does it have any effect on the sound?








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well, i went from a 22'' drilled BD to a 24'' undrilled BD so i cant comment on sound but i agree it looks awesome!!!

i prefer undrilled as i dont like the idea of having alot of weight on the bass drum from toms etc.








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The actual tom mount itself doesn't seem to have much effect imo. The real difference in sound comes from whether or not you have toms mounted on your bass drum. The added weight, plus the additional shells resonating every time you hit the bass drum, will color the sound. I don't have anything mounted on the bass drum, and it seems to sound better to me.

i just put a gibraltar rail mount on my kick because i wanted that vintage ludwig look and it definitely deadened my kick.

it doesn't sound terrible, but it pretty much eliminated the need for ANY muffling at all.









Last edited by sarcasmsetyourhouseonfire on Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:44 pm; edited 1 time in total

Also, i supose if you use and un-drilled BD then you have a greater freedom of movement of your rack toms as you are using stands for them.








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Sabian AAX
Vic Firth

People who think a virgin bass drum is all the rage are the same people that put a pillow in their drum, no logic to this. I personally like having a tom mount on my drum. I hear no change in the drum and the tom placement is consistent every time. One added feature is the extra weight helps stabilize the drum eliminating or greatly reducing bass drum creep.








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I've tried it both ways, and I'd have to disagree heavily.

The toms being mounted on the bass drum has a big effect on the sound. Not only are you cutting down on the vibration of the shell by putting a lot of weight on it in a direction directly in line with how the shell vibrates, but you're also adding the vibration of the tom shells and heads to the equation. every time you hit the bass drum, the toms vibrate due to being attached.

I'm not really sure about the correlation you're trying to make between not mounting stuff on your bass drum and using a pillow for muffling, unless you're trying to make a claim that both indicate ignorance. All I have to say to that is: sometimes one is looking for that 70's "knocking on the front door" kick drum sound, in which case a pillow in the kick with the front head off is the best option. Personally I've only done it a couple of times when working with a singer songwriter who was looking for some "retro" 70's sounding drum tracks. I also detuned my snare drum and duct taped it. My drums sounded like cardboard. Are you appalled yet? Anyway, that "cardboard" sound was just what she was looking for, and I got paid extra for going that extra mile to get the vibe they were looking for.









Last edited by Alan_ on Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:27 pm; edited 1 time in total

rritter wrote:

People who think a virgin bass drum is all the rage are the same people that put a pillow in their drum, no logic to this. I personally like having a tom mount on my drum. I hear no change in the drum and the tom placement is consistent every time. One added feature is the extra weight helps stabilize the drum eliminating or greatly reducing bass drum creep.

gotta disagree with you...

virgin bass drums resonate much more and definitely have more 'boom'. as stated, i found this out first hand by putting a tom mount on a previously virgin bass drum.

also... there are plenty good reasons for dampening a kick drum. it might not be your personal preference, but it's far from illogical.

as far as tom placement - by mounting a tom on a cymbal stand instead of a bass drum, you're increasing your positioning options ten fold.

... and while i agree that having a tom mounted on a kick does add some stability as far as sliding goes, if you actually have a decent kick with nice spurs, your bass drum shouldn't go anywhere anyway.

there's also an argument i've heard many times that mounting toms on a kick can actually damage / warp the bass drum shell because of the weight and the constant vibration / banging.

Enlighten me: whats a virgin bass? Is it and undrilled BD?








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I think that's what's being referred to.

I just thought of the connection with that (virgin=undrilled). hold on while I put on my beavis mask.

ok...*uh huh huh uh huh*

Vanden wrote:

Enlighten me: whats a virgin bass? Is it and undrilled BD?

a virgin bass drum generally refers to a bass drum without any sort of tom mounting system drilled in to it.

If you use an open tuning, mounting a tom or two will make a difference. If you muffle your bass drum, and depending on how much muffling you do, it might not matter if you lose resonance from the extra weight.








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Alan_ wrote:

I've tried it both ways, and I'd have to disagree heavily.

The toms being mounted on the bass drum has a big effect on the sound. Not only are you cutting down on the vibration of the shell by putting a lot of weight on it in a direction directly in line with how the shell vibrates, but you're also adding the vibration of the tom shells and heads to the equation. every time you hit the bass drum, the toms vibrate due to being attached.

I'm not really sure about the correlation you're trying to make between not mounting stuff on your bass drum and using a pillow for muffling, unless you're trying to make a claim that both indicate ignorance. All I have to say to that is: sometimes one is looking for that 70's "knocking on the front door" kick drum sound, in which case a pillow in the kick with the front head off is the best option. Personally I've only done it a couple of times when working with a singer songwriter who was looking for some "retro" 70's sounding drum tracks. I also detuned my snare drum and duct taped it. My drums sounded like cardboard. Are you appalled yet? Anyway, that "cardboard" sound was just what she was looking for, and I got paid extra for going that extra mile to get the vibe they were looking for.

First I do respect your view and what works for you is all good. But this is my take on this. No disrespect intended.

I have been approached on more than one occasion and told just how good my bass drum sounds and this is with toms mounted. I have also played my Slingerland kit for years with no mounted toms. As for the sound maybe I just own two great bass drums but there is no noticeable difference. As for my comment about putting a pillow in a drum the biggest knock I’ve heard is that the down tub is what is affecting the resonance of the drum. Many times I have read post from drummers that claim it interferes with the movement of air in the drum. No mention of the weight of the toms being a problem. Take a look at all the companies that use a mount system that doesn’t penetrate the drum but adds weight as I mentioned. Mapex is a good example. http://usa.mapexdrums.com/drums/saturn/images/swbullet2.jpg This is from their Saturn Series. So my comment about the pillow is simple. If a down tub extending 8 inches in to a drum is tabu because it affects the air flow what would a pillow do.

Now take two drums and tune them as close as possible, mount toms on one and hang from stands toms for the other kit. Without looking strike up the band and have a drummer play both kits with the band. Hear any difference?








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rritter wrote:

People who think a virgin bass drum is all the rage are the same people that put a pillow in their drum, no logic to this. I personally like having a tom mount on my drum. I hear no change in the drum and the tom placement is consistent every time. One added feature is the extra weight helps stabilize the drum eliminating or greatly reducing bass drum creep.

alot of people use pillows in theyre bass drums. and alot of people who know alot more about drums than you do do it. so i wouldnt knock it. even if your not gonna have a virgin bass drum, your crippling yourself by mounting your toms off your bass drum. you have usually a few degrees to play with untill your bottom rim hits your bass drum.(unless you want to mount to toms at face-level) and if its not that problem its the fact that you cant move your toms further or closer to you without rotating them in some way. Those are the problems iv had anyway.









Last edited by xdoseonex on Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:58 am; edited 1 time in total
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i hate drilled bass drums tbh. disaster... it looks horrible if you want to mount your toms elsewhere... its an impurity in the shell... and my toms usually scratch the buggery if i have them how i want... much rather have a mounting post.








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