When an expensive new pad is just… expensive

There’s a new pad on the market, by a company that just filed an LLC last month.

Live Edge Drum Company is marketing a practice pad made of a slice of tree and which uses a playing surface made of some kind of rubbery epoxy. 

Feel free to check out the company’s web site:

https://www.liveedgedrumco.com/

You won’t find much info there, or even any contact information.

You can watch this shiny new demo video, offered by a talented snare drummer who marched Bluecoats this summer. 

Be advised, though, that said drummer is sponsored by the company, which just means that he got his pad for free. How nice.

If you want one, it will set you back a cool $140 PLUS shipping.

Before you jump at the chance to own one yourself, be advised that the pad is being pre-sold in small batches, and you have to get on the list before you can see a meaningfully detailed photo of the pad.

Also note that we don’t know the manufacturing process at all, only that it’s “made in America.” We don’t know by whom, or where.

In the absence of any more info at the web site, I looked up their business info, and found a listing for Live Edge Drum Company’s incorporation in Florida dated October 11 of this year. That means the company became an LLC just seven weeks ago. It’s possible the pads are being made in Florida, but we have no way to confirm that.

We also don’t know what kind of wood is being used or what the playing surface is made of, because that’s not mentioned either. The grainy-resolution photo at the web site doesn’t help matters.

A clue comes in the video when the drummer tells us that the pad is very lightweight. So we know it’s probably not a dense hardwood because those are mostly fairly heavy. A softer wood could be coated with an epoxy and still weigh less than a fine-grained hardwood. And whatever the playing surface is, it can’t be terribly heavy, either. It may be a very thin layer of clear silicone, which wouldn’t add a lot of weight but still provide some bounce.

So in the end, I reached out to a friend with decades of professional woodworking experience, and I asked him what his impressions were.

He was underwhelmed: “I’m sure it’s a cheap trivet from somewhere we can all access. It’s really covered in plastic or epoxy or something when I zoom in. Bark should not stay on wood naturally like that. Reminds me of the stuff at like Michael’s or other craft stores. If it’s light it’s fast growth birch or balsa.”

I trust this guy and his response makes a lot of sense to me.

UPDATE: just got these, which explains things even better.

As with all things, Your Mileage May Vary.

But I’m not going to get excited about a cheaply-made pad that sells for $140.

Caveat emptor, kiddos.