Full Review: Rudimental Control practice pad

My Rudimental Control pad arrived a couple days ago, and I have been putting it through its paces. My pad is custom-made to my specs, with a 13-inch head and eight tuning bolts.

Rudimental Control is the brainchild of drummer and teacher Nissan Ballard, who makes each pad himself here in the USA.

Here are my thoughts:

Construction. The pad is constructed very similarly to pads by Rudimental Drummers and Drumslinger, utilizing a wood platform, a real drum hoop and head with whatever padding or muffling material is placed underneath the head.

As with Drumslinger pads, the tuning bolts are topped with Allen heads that require a 3/16" Allen wrench. I'm not sure why SAE was selected over metric, but perhaps outside the world of bicycles (with which I'm most familiar) SAE is more commonly used. If I were building these pads I might favor actual lug bolts with a head that takes a standard drum key instead (like the ones found on Rudimental Drummers pads), but that's a personal preference and not a huge deal.

The bolts thread into nuts whose teeth sink into the wood from underneath. Each nut is covered with a thick felt pad for protection and so that the pad sits nicely on a tabletop. (I pulled back one of the felt pads, which are adhesive on one side, to see this for myself. The adhesive was fine for this brief peek and stuck back in place with no problem.)



One note: I found that the length of the nut's threaded portion is shorter than those used on my Rudimental Drummers Chop pad. (See photos for comparison.) I hope there's enough thread inside the depth of the wood to hold the tuning bolt steadily, and for now I'll assume that's the case. (I didn't want to disassemble the pad that much.)

I also noticed that the holes on the Rudimental Control pad don't appear quite as finished as the holes on my RD Chop pad. There are a few spots where a wood shaving was still stuck on an edge of a couple of the bolt holes. A carefully applied Exacto knife should sort that out.

Below: comparison between Rudimental Control bolt hole (top) and Rudimental Drummers bolt hole (bottom), showing finish of the hole and the threaded sleeve visible length.

The metal hoop is a standard, basic rim. I suppose if you wanted something fancier you could ask for it, but I saw no need for it here.

Appearance. I had inquired about a custom pad, personalized to my specs. In addition to my choice of paint (I opted for solid dark green with a white head, my college colors), I could also have my college crest incorporated into the design, by way of some sort of photo process that would imprint the design (also dark green in this case) onto a white surface that sits underneath the clear drum head.  My design was simple and clear enough for the photo process to come through clearly and cleanly. The design and its background do not seem to impede the sound or feel of the finished pad in any way, and it looks quite nice and centered.

Nissan had suggested that if I wanted to further customize my pad, I could have another design included on bottom. I chose to include my signature, and was able to send him a very clean copy to work from. Again, using some kind of photo process as a guide, he was able to incorporate my signature by leaving the green paint off that part. Is it "engraved"? It doesn't feel like it, so I'm guessing that the colored paint was excluded by a reverse stencil of some kind. The finish is very clean and neat and it adds an attractive touch to the pad.

The pad arrived in a box, wrapped in brown paper (both reused; thank you, Nissan, for thinking environmentally!). When I unwrapped the pad from its paper, I could see a few tiny spots(1/8" or smaller) where paint had either been nicked off or had not been fully applied. I believe it was something that probably happened in shipping. Since this is a pad that I intend to use anyway, those spots won't bother me. For future shipments, though, I would suggest wrapping in additional layers of paper and using crumpled paper in the corners to wedge it in the box more securely, to avoid this possibility.

Another thing I noticed is that the wood finish on this pad is more rough to the touch than the finish on the RD Chop pad. My feeling is that this is mostly a matter of personal preference, though an especially rough edge may catch and snag on something in transit, causing splinters to pull away and expose bare wood. Some sanding prior to applying the paint could reduce this risk.
Further, a more finished feel might be more in line with the price range on the market for this style of pad.

(Full disclosure: I paid full price for my pad and was in no way granted any perks by Rudimental Control.)

The other thing I noticed was that the plywood used as the base of this pad had been bumped on one edge of the round, resulting in this:

I can't say how this bump might have happened, but it is noticeable and may actually be an imperfection in the original round after it was cut. I was surprised to see this blemish pass through and get painted. If it happened during shipping, more packing material should help prevent this in the future. If it was a blemished board to begin with, perhaps better to use a different base (and cut the first one into a smaller round for a different pad).

Again, I won't quibble since it doesn't affect the function of the pad. But for the cost, someone else may squawk and it's worth slowing down the process a little to ensure consistent quality control.

How does it feel and sound? In a word, marvelous. Nissan and I are of the same generation, and we both came up playing on Mylar. When I told him I wanted a pad that felt like the drum I played in high school -- a 15-inch snare with a Remo Emperor head -- he knew exactly what I was talking about, and made a pad that matched my specs. The pad has a Remo Emperor head and a standard, basic rim that provide the feel I'm looking for. The head came a little more taut than I like and I was able to relax the tension a bit to suit my taste. It plays easily and beautifully, providing a very satisfying feel and sound.

Note: my Rudimental Drummers Chop pad was designed to be a quiet pad for use at home, and it does that job well. The Rudimental Control pad is MUCH louder, and the volume difference surprised me at first.

Here's an example of the sound and feel.



(Nissan tells me he is also able to construct a pad that will take greater tension, for modern drum corps players who need that tighter feel. If that's you, talk with him directly for the best results.)

Overall, I am pleased with the pad and will use it regularly and often.

Basic pads are available at the Rudimental Control web site.
Customized pads will cost more; reach out to Nissan with your questions and ideas.

Happy chopping!