DIY Project: refurbishing and improving a favorite practice pad

In 2023, I purchased a custom pad from Rudimental Control. When I got my pad, I was pleased with the appearance and the performance.

But I was also a little concerned about the potential for the pad eventually bottoming out with use and compression. The inner platform had a lower profile than subsequent versions and over time the metal hoop made contact with the wood outer platform, limiting my ability to achieve good tension.

After I purchased  a newer generation of a pad from the same company, with rounded edges and a taller profile, I knew that I would want to find a way to raise the profile on my first-generation pad. While Rudimental Control made the very kind offer of taking back my first generation pad for modification at no additional charge, I decided that I really wanted to make this a DIY project.

Since I don't own power tools, I knew I’d have to work entirely by hand. The plan as I envisioned it below was to slice the inner base horizontally, and add another layer of wood in between the two halves. I ordered a  13” diameter x 1/2” thick wood round from a guy on Etsy, and hoped it would arrive around the time the sawing was done.

I marked where I thought the line ought to be, a process made easier by following the edge between two layers of the ply. Then, I wrapped the edge of the outer base in several layers of shop towels and clamped that into my bench vise.

And I began to carefully saw through the center of the inner base. I began with a fine-toothed Japanese pull-saw, to take my time, maintain control and avoid damaging the wood too much.

Over time, I was able to switch to a standard (American-style) hand saw so I could make faster progress. It took several days of short sawing sessions, taking time and care and giving my hand a rest before resuming again in several hours or the next day. It took me about five days doing it this way, which made it easier on my hands and gave the Etsy order time to be shipped.

It was slow going, and I was fine with that.

Finally, a couple of days ago, I was able to separate the two halves. As I’d expected, there was some stray pieces of wood that came off on either side from the ply and the glue. I carefully chipped away the biggest pieces and sanded the rest reasonably flat on each side.

The Etsy order arrived early this morning. I sanded the edges slightly round, and roughed up the smooth sides of the new “slice” so the glue would adhere better. I knew that there would be gaps, but I wasn’t worried about those. Any small gaps would be filled in a little by the wood glue under compression, and any larger gaps could be filled in after that with some wood filler and sealed with more glue. I’m not a woodworker and don’t pretend to be; and as long as 90% of the wood was in contact with the first glueing and compression during drying, I wasn’t worried. 

Glueing, Part One: middle slice and bottom of inner base. Instructions said to keep clamped for 30 minutes. I let it sit for two hours while I went to grab some lunch with my sister.

Since I don’t have any fancy woodworking clamps, I applied wood glue, centered it carefully by hand and waited five minutes, then let go and set a wine case and a cinder block on top of it to weight it down. Using the wine case [empty] would spread the weight out over the surface of the base, and the cinder block would center the weight for a firm bond.

After lunch, I removed the cinder block and wine case, checked my work, and repeated the process with the top of the sawn base, glueing it to the “slice” and putting back the wine case and cinder block. I left this overnight.

Next step: applying filler to the biggest gaps between the middle and top sections and letting them dry. Knowing that there would be gaps around the outer edges of the layers, I saved all the sawdust, poured it into the gaps and chased it with Elmers Glue-All. When that stuff hardens, it’s a solid. 

Doing a quarter at a time and allowing gravity and drying to do the rest made a difference. Since Elmer’s has a relatively short drying time of a few hours, it took most of a day for this part of the process.

However, just to be on the safe side, I decided to let this application sit weighted down overnight and into the next morning.

When the Elmer’s had dried completely, I sanded it lightly and applied a clearcoat by hand to protect the edges and seal everything.

Then I was ready to reassemble with a new pinstripe head.

After I installed the new head, I let it sit for another half a day, in case any more glue might seep out. It did, and I carefully wiped it away.

Aaaand done. Pinstripe head didn’t make me happy so I swapped in an Emperor head and it’s *much* nicer now.

Arthritis hands post-lawn mowing, but I don’t care. I’m really happy with how this turned out.

And I’m honored that Rudimental Control included this pad in their custom gallery. It’s still a good-looking pad, I play it nearly every day and I would heartily recommend Rudimental Control pads to any drummer looking for a craft-made, serious practice tool.

And if you buy a Rudimental Control pad now, in 2026, rest assured that it will have rounded edges and a higher profile, so that it will never need to be modified in this way. 

Lesson? If you like a pad but want it to be even better, don’t be afraid to experiment and get your hands dirty. The worst thing that can happen is you might have to replace some parts. And you can do this with any well-built tunable practice pad (and, if you’re careful, some rubber-on-wood pads as well).

Product Review: Beetle Percussion Last Pad, Single-sided/concert

Early last year, I had an opportunity to put Beetle Percussion’s Last Pad through its paces. At the time, there was only a double-sided, marching focused version available. It was designed for modern marching drummers, able to take very high tension. You can read that review in two parts here, and here.

Eventually, after multiple experiments with that pad, I passed it along to a drummer with more experience playing modern, high-tension drums for further testing. Then, I turned my attention to other pads.

A few months back, I was offered the chance to try out the newer single-sided version of the Last Pad, designed for lower-tension concert and traditional marching practice. I readily agreed.

The single-sided Last Pad arrived this weekend, and I assembled it.

Beetle kindly sent the pad with two coated heads, one in single-ply Ambassador weight and the other in a heavier, two-ply Emperor weight. Since I already have a few pads with Ambassador heads on them for concert work, I chose to assemble this with the Emperor head.

The Last Pad comes with everything needed for assembly, including:

— Valchromat base, pre-drilled

— your choice of a lower-profile S-Hoop or a regular triple flange hoop

— all the necessary tuning bolts, nuts and washers

— a 14” insert consisting of 1/2” dense foam laid into a Valchromat base, designed to fit under the drumhead and on top of the primary pad base. You can order inserts made with recycled tire rubber if you wish, but the foam insert is necessary to make a lower-tension concert/traditional pad.

— a 14” head (not included in the base price, but you can buy one from Beetle for an extra charge or use one you already have)

You’ll need a standard drum key and a 5/16” open wrench. Beetle sells these as extras, too, if you don’t already have them.

The Valchromat primary base comes in multiple colors by request. My primary base is orange, and the insert (which is unseen once assembled) came in blue.

At left: the underside of the primary base, finished with foam discs for a nonskid experience on a tabletop.

Below: the top side of the primary base, inlaid with the same recycled tire rubber used on other Beetle pads.

The insert is inlaid with dense foam that, when placed under the drum head, provides a buttery feel that’s ideal for lower tings and coated heads.

Remembering my experience with the double-sided Last Pad and how the insert could wiggle slightly off-center, I put down a small rolled piece of clear tape between the primary base and the insert to keep it centered during tensioning. (Once it’s tensioned, the tape won’t affect the function of the assembled pad.)

The primary base comes pre-drilled to receive the tuning bolts, nuts and washers. I assume that two washers are used to provide greater strength and stability, with the larger washer going in first, followed by the smaller washer and then the nut. The holes of the washers have different inside diameters, so pay attention when assembling.

I took my time, using the overturned box as an assembly surface. Because everything came pre-drilled, assembly was very straightforward. However, you need to take your time and be patient because there are twelve nodes of contact. Tensioning and tuning properly will take longer, and you’ll want to make sure the insert doesn’t wiggle around while you put everything together. (The tape helps a lot with this.)

The holes are drilled to take counter-sunk washers on the bottom, and the elongated ovals make it easier to set up the tension bolts while you work your way around the pad. Once you assemble everything hand-tight, positioning each tuning bolt in or near the middle of the oval is straightforward.

After going around enough to ensure that nothing rattled anymore, I put the pad into a concert snare stand and began tuning more assertively. My concert stand of choice is a vintage Hamilton stand that is strong and heavy. The arms don’t line up with the cutouts in the primary base, but that’s not a problem here. A stand with three arms of equal length and distance will match up with the cutouts easily.

When it was all done, I tried it out. First, I used marching sticks:

Then, I turned to some concert sticks and tried some buzz rolls and a lighter touch:

Finally, I tried some brush strokes:

The foam insert definitely makes you put in a little more effort and thought to “pull” the strokes out of the head, just as you would when playing a traditionally-tensioned field drum or a snare from a drum kit.

That’s a feature of playing lower tensioned drums, and not a mistake. Anyone used to chopping on Kevlar will have to adjust their approach accordingly.

At some point, I may swap in the Ambassador head and try that out but honestly, I am so delighted with the feel and response of the Emperor head that I’m going to hang out with it awhile.

If you’ve been on the fence about the Last Pad, it’s worth the money and the time you’ll invest in it.

If you’re focused on marching snare and you chop on Kevlar, get the double-sided version and put different heads on each side. If you’re looking for a really fine concert or traditional pad, the single-sided is ideal. 

(Note: Beetle Percussion does not pay me to test and write about their pads, or to help market them. Now that they offer hoodies, though, I may just have to buy one.)

Happy drumming.