Tama True Touch snare drum practice pad

I scored this at a thrift store. They didn’t know what they had, and I paid far less than retail for it.

The original Tama True Touch snare drum practice pad comes with a fine mesh head and a quiet snare sound cartridge that is sealed inside a chamber. It can’t really be removed or adjusted. As it comes out of the box, it has a distinct feel and sound.

When this pad came out several years ago, I felt it was slightly overpriced for its design. I mentally filed it away and mostly forgot about it.

Then, Rick Dior tossed up a video on YouTube in which he took apart the True Touch pad and reassembled it using thicker inner foam and a regular Mylar head, and the difference was noticeable.

So when I found this for sale, I decided to buy it and see if I could make the same modifications and get a better pad out of it.

I couldn’t take this pad apart before buying it, but at a price of less than a quarter of new I figured it was worth the cost of the experiment — especially since it already came with a Mylar replacement head.

I took it home and took it apart. The foam insert was missing, and in its place the previous owner had put a folded black washcloth, which barely muted the pad at all. So I cut out two pieces of material, one from a yoga mat and the other from a thicker, firmer ensolite camping pad, stacked them on top of each other, replaced the head and reassembled it.

Interestingly, the snare sound was barely perceptible when I tested the pad before my modifications, and disappeared almost entirely when I reassembled the pad. But the feel was greatly improved, and I don’t miss the snare sound at all.

I’m not entirely thrilled with the tone of the pad, and I suspect that may have something to do with the head. I will likely swap in a Remo Ambassador had and see how things improve. I’ll probably experiment with a couple of different inserts too, before settling on a combination that makes me happy.

The pad is heavy, owing in large part to its metal and rubber construction. There’s no discernible difference on the platform or on a drum stand, and that may also be due to the weight. I like it and will hang out with it awhile.