Restoration, reconstruction: vintage Ludwig practice pad, 1960s

I picked up this vintage Ludwig pad in a bundle that also included some cool, old Rudimental instruction sheets. It’s one of the older pads with a plywood baseplate. It uses an insert inside, a smaller plywood disc cut to the size of the head and rim (8”). On top of the smaller disc is a layer of dense rubber foam that allows for a nice rebound when the head is tightened over the top of it.

The wooden disc does not attach to the baseplate. It simply rests on top of it, with the pressure of head, rim and tuning rods holding the pad together.

Older models of this pad used a thicker insert of foam rubber, set inside a circular metal band that was sized to serve as a bearing edge for the head to lay on, under the outer rim. This pad lacks the circular band and uses a plywood disc instead. I don't know which came first, but I suspect this version may be either a newer version without the metal band, or possibly someone's homemade revision because the metal band was broken or lost. I don't know.

I took the pad apart so I could clean the components and figure out how improve assembly.

The challenge with this make and model of pad is that Ludwig stopped making it over forty years ago, and stopped making replacement parts at least twenty years ago. So any fixes I chose to make to this pad today would have to be with an eye towards semi-permanence.

I took the pad apart, cleaned the head as best I could with warm soapy water and set it aside to dry.

Then I looked at the baseplate. The threaded posts were easily removable by gentle tapping out with a small hammer. The center threaded post hole, allowing the pad to be mounted onto a stand, took some more forceful tapping with a small punch. The plywood is soft and easy to damage, so I took my time. The three small “feet” also came off pretty easily with gentle prying of a tiny flat blade screwdriver.

Then, I flipped the baseplate over. The side hidden by the disc and rim was black and clean. I decided that reversing the baseplate might help mitigate some of the warping brought about by sixty years of one-way tension.

(My camera went on the fritz while I was doing all this disassembly and reassembly. Once I got it to work again, I didn’t really feel like doing the whole process over again. If you want to see one of these pads unpacked, check out Rick Dior’s awesome YouTube videos, and get thoroughly schooled on how and why these old Ludwig pads are so cool.)

After I cleaned as much gunk off the head as I could, I put it back on. Replacement heads are very hard to come by for these old pads, and since this head had no holes and only a few small dents, I felt it still had some life left. But to make sure I could get more mileage, After I tuned it up, I applied a black dot from Cardinal Percussion. It basically turns the head into an affordable mock-up of Remo’s CS Black Dot head, and offers some additional protection and durability for the center of the head.

I also added a second set of washers to take up some of the stack height on the threaded posts. Simple 5mm washers, available at any bike shop or hardware store, do the trick here.

I decided against reinstalling the original feet. They’re tiny and warn down, and offer almost no traction on a tabletop. I spot-glued four squares of thick mousepad material and will eventually replace those with the big white rubber feet I’ve used on other similar pads.

Once this is all done, it will make a nice portable pad I can use and enjoy anywhere.

You can find the 8” size now and then on Reverb, eBay and elsewhere. The 10” size is much harder to find, and when you do you’ll have to pay a lot for it.

Vintage Corner? Xymox convertible pad, early to mid-2000s

Yeah, okay, "vintage" is pushing it a little. But this was a cool find that I decided to spring for.

In the mid-2000s, Xymox Percussion began producing pads with a snare sound, created by cutting out a recess in the bottom of the baseplate and installing snare beads. For a time, The snare beads were encased in a removable metal box that could cling magnetically to a metal plate on the underside.

Later versions, simple placed the metal beads into the recess, which was embedded with screws, and enclosed them with a metal plate and nuts that attached to the screws. Those later versions were made in such a way that the nuts went on permanently, and removing them could damage the whole pad. This version of the snare sound assembly is found on Xymox's own pads, and has been licensed to other companies including Vic Firth and Ahead.

In the mid-2000s, HQ offered a gray, 8" RealFeel pad with the same removable box, on license from Xymox. It wasn't on the market for very long (possibly because that was when the HQ business was being sold to D'Addario/Evans, but I'm not sure of the exact dates). That 8" HQ pad is extremely hard to find today.

This 10" pad dates probably from just before the HQ version. Underneath the laminate is an actual gum rubber layer. This was subsequently replaced with neoprene in later versions, which doesn’t give as satisfying and response or sound.
The snare box is made of cast aluminum, with steel plates that cling to the magnetic panel inside the recess in the underside.

Note that this early version allows you to open everything up to adjust the number of beads you want inside, for a customized sound.

Sadly, this early version doesn't offer as obvious a snare sound, even when you remove a few beads to give the remaining beads more room to rattle. But when you remove the snare box, there is a noticable difference in sound without the snare beads.

It's a really interesting moment in practice pad history, and fun to play.

Vintage Corner: Billy Hyde Natural Rebound Pad

Billy Hyde was a noted drummer who was featured on Australian television in the 1960s and 70s.

He developed a practice pad design that proved so popular it became standard equipment for drummers throughout the British commonwealth. A number of British drummers still use this pad in their studio and on the road. Eventually, Hyde founded a music company that made and sold the pads, and which later expanded into a full retail music business.

The business went into receivership in the 2010’s and was later picked up by a relative who restarted the business. It continues to in Australia, though it was licensed the design and manufacture of the pad to other companies. Today, most of the Billy Hyde pads are made under the auspices of Stagg in the UK.

The original Hyde pad came in an 8” size. Today, they are available in 8”, 10” and 12” sizes.

The Billy Hyde Natural Rebound Pad was constructed of rubber fitted around a wooden baseplate, with a threaded hole on the bottom so it could be used on a cymbal stand. 

Here’s an original Billy Hyde pad that dates from the 1970s, and a copy made for Promark in the 1980s or 90s.

The Hyde pad has a softer, more supple feel, while the Promark copy is denser and harder.

The pads aren’t bad. While the difference in feel and tone is noticeable, both offer a decent rebound that’s good for concert and drumkit players. The 8” size is nice for travel. While all sizes include a threaded hole underneath, I would probably use the largest size in a snare basket for stability.

The originals can be found on eBay, but expect to pay higher prices for shipping and VAT if you’re ordering from the US.

Update: Ludwig aluminum practice pads

I currently have four Ludwig aluminum practice pads in my collection, ranging from the 1950s through the early 1980s. One of the pads came without the rubber suction cup feet on bottom.
Without the rubber feet, I could only use this pad on a stand. I wanted to replace the feet.

After contacting Ludwig and learning that replacement feet for this pad had been discontinued long ago, I went looking for another solution.

After looking at length, I finally found a solution online.

These are sold by multiple outlets (including the evil Amazon, which I will never use). I found mine on eBay and the price was right.

Update: they arrived, and I installed them. See below.

The feet fit the threaded holes fine. However, they run a bit long. Two solutions are to either cut the posts shorter (though this could be difficult without bolt cutters, and then you'd have to clean up the top of the threads to screw them into the pad base); or to use washers to take up the stack height. I chose the latter solution and it seems fine.

Two pads, one company: Ludwig aluminum practice pad

 #practicepadhistory

L to R: two pads, one company.

On the left, a WFL practice pad from the early 1950s.

On the right, a Ludwig practice pad from the mid to late 1950s, after William F. Ludwig Sr. was able to buy back his original company and name from Conn in 1955. 

Both made of die cast aluminum alloy, with gum rubber. The rubber feet on the bottom of the WFL pad don’t have suction cups. The feet on the Ludwig pad do. 

Both are designed to be used on a tabletop or on a stand (as noted by the receiving port and thumb screw). Some earlier WFL models did not include the port for a stand. 

There is a later version of this design with black rubber and a more modern Ludwig logo, made through the mid 1980s. The black rubber does not have the same response or feel as the tan gum rubber, but it’s not horrible.

The black rubber feet are notorious for falling off or cracking off with age. 

If you’re persistent, you may be able to find replacements through vintage drum dealers. 

The later versions of this pad (black rubber surface, modern Ludwig logo on a black decal) can be found online at various auction/sale sites, ranging for anywhere from $20 to $50 depending on condition.

(Stock photo) 

Product Review: Loyal Drums Eviction Pad

I’d been curious about the Eviction Pad from Loyal Drums since it was first released a few years ago. Video demos and reviews by other drummers piqued my curiosity and I really wanted to try it out. However, living so far away from the traditional Rudimental drumming scene meant I couldn’t ever see one in person, and price and the volume were enough to put me off for quite awhile.

This winter, I was in a position to finally buy one. I had improved the sound insulation of my studio door and I had some extra funds. Now would be as good a time as any, and I might not have the opportunity again later. So I splurged.

And it was definitely a splurge on my part. With a retail price of almost $130, this would be a serious investment in a practice pad that I’d want to keep and use regularly.

The pad arrived yesterday. It came in a cardboard box, without padding. There was just the pad, and a little Loyal Drums decal. And nothing else.

The pad itself is elegant in the simplicity of its design. A plywood base and top hoop, Allen tensioning rods and a woven drumhead designed by Loyal to simulate the response of a rope-tensioned drum (though it can be tensioned higher to approach the feel of an older, Mylar-headed marching drum).

Upon closer inspection, I found some details that surprised me, given the price of the pad. The plywood showed holes and surface chips, and was not finished in any visible way. The hole on the bottom, designed to allow the pad to be used on a camera tripod or similar, was rough and unfinished as well. And the sanding of the edges seemed incomplete in places. There is no nonskid material on the bottom of the pad, meaning it’s not ideal for use on a tabletop. Given the lightness of the pad, perhaps that was never intended as an option. It does work well on a stand, which is where I’ve opted to use mine.

Also, the woven fabric head showed a noticeable wrinkle at the point of being tucked into the counterhoop. This wrinkle diminished somewhat with additional tensioning but never completely disappeared. It does not seem to affect the response or feel. Maybe, in contrast to factory-made Mylar heads, this is to be expected. Maybe not.

Playing on the pad proved to be interesting, and ultimately positive. The feel of the woven head is buttery and smooth, offering a pleasing response to those acquainted with the feel of older, lower-tension Mylar marching heads. Drummers accustomed to playing on high-tensioned Kevlar heads may be baffled with how to approach playing on this pad. Even when tensioned tighter, it still won’t come close to the feel of a modern drum corps snare. It’s not meant to.

There was no instruction sheet enclosed with the pad explaining anything about the construction and care of the head, what size Allen key to use, or anything else. I reached out via email to Dave Loyal at Loyal Drums for information:

“The head is our own material, the quantum batter head.  It is a patent pending crimp locked 10” head that is only 5mils thick, but is stronger than most batter heads twice that thickness.  It’s used pretty widely by military, and civilians.  Most of our drums ship with that head.  We like it for its spring back. The feel can approach that of calf, or be tightened up to a more drum corps approach.  Extreme tensions can start to get scary, but anything you can do with a standard Allen key should be fine, especially if you play with good rebound technique.  

Any 10” head fits the pad.  The [Remo] silent stroke heads are a good option to keep it quiet, as the pad is true to its name, Eviction 😂.  The pad is loud, but intended as a different animal than a rubber pad.  People use them in rehearsals within ensembles, etc.

The Allen size is 5/32, and the heads cost $45 for the quantum.

The center hole is 1/4-20 threaded, but is not designed for a cymbal stand.  It is for a much more common (and cheaper) solution…camera tripods, camera clamps, magic arms, super clamps, etc.  it’s nice to carry a small clamp and mount the pad to a chair, table etc, rather than carrying a full stand.  Basket stands are also obviously fine!”

I appreciated the additional information, but think that enclosing an info sheet might save time for everyone.

As a retired bicycle mechanic, I have lots of metric Allen keys on hand, and was able to carefully and gently use a 4mm to adjust the tension. (I plan on buying a 5/32” Allen key to have on hand for this pad, and will use that going forward.)

Also, be careful with your choice of snare stand for use with this pad. My regular concert stand has very long stays so fitting them to the base of this pad requires patience and care. A dedicated pad basket, like those available from Drumeo or Ahead, has shorter stays and might be a better choice for daily use.

A couple of videos, one showing the pad straight from the box and another after I tuned it up a bit.

Overall, I think this pad is a keeper for me. I really like the feel, and while it’s definitely a few decibels louder than my Drumslinger Marcher series pad, it offers a feel unlike anything else in my stable (that’s a good thing). I think the asking price of $129 (plus shipping) seems a bit high when the physical appearance and lack of finishing is taken into account. When the weather in Portland warms up, I may dismantle this pad so I can carefully sand and paint the top section, color plus clearcoat, to afford it a little more protection.

The fact that factory-made, standard drum heads will also fit this pad is a plus, but I admit I really like the Quantum head and have no plans to use anything else. 

Happy chopping!

Drum Pad History: Sabian/QuietTone

Henry Adler, one of the great drummers of the 1940s-70s, invented the original QuietTone practice pad, one of the earliest drum pads with a tensioned head. They were very popular among concert and jazz drummers because the feel was very close to that of an actual drum.

You can catch an original Adler QuietTone pad in action at Rick Dior's charming video about vintage practice pads, at 2:24 in.

Here's an original QuietTone pad, grabbed from online:

 

As you can see, the base material is fibrous, subject to wear, and may actually have asbestos in it. The original pads wore out fairly quickly with regular use.

Sabian purchased the Quiet Tone name and pad design in the early 2000s, and for a time continued to make the pads in North America at its Canadian headquarters. These transitional pads have fat, white rubber feet on bottom, and a small Sabian font sitting outside the QuietTone logo stamped on the head. During this time, QuietTone pads were made in 14", 12" and 10" sizes, and were made pretty much the same as the original QuietTone pads.

 

Eventually, Sabian would move pad manufacturing overseas. This is generally marked by the Sabian font being moved to inside the QuietTone logo, and the change to smaller, black rubber feet on the bottom. There was also a slight change in the material used for the internal base plate, and you can definitely feel a difference in the response and tone. The 12" size was discontinued with the relocation as well.

I'm a fan of these older transitional-era pads, which are getting difficult to find. One of my favorite non-marching pads.

Here is my transitional-era 10" pad, probably my favorite size in this model.

The base material is still fairly fibrous, but no longer uses asbestos and tends to last somewhat longer than the original base material. For extra measure, these QuietTone pads also use a thin rubber layer over the baseplate, and top that with a piece of Mylar that just fits over the rubber layer. The head goes on top of all this. In my opinion, it works pretty well on the smaller size, and not so well on the larger size. Some folks like to take the 14" pad apart and add a second layer of dense foam, which they say improves the feel and sound.

The nice thing is that the heads can be changed to suit your needs, though I don't really see a need for anything other than a coated Ambassador-weight head on it.

The transitional-era pads included a 12" size which is now nearly impossible to find used for sale.
The 14" is okay for concert and jazz work, but simply cannot be tuned tightly enough for marching or rudimental work.
The 10" travels well, and its size allows for a more crisp response.

The Taiwanese-made pads aren't terrible, but they will have a different feel than the older pads do.

It's a good pad, and worth adding to your collection if you do a lot of concert or drumkit work.
Happy drumming!

Vintage Corner: Unusual Kieffa pad

New to me, scored on FB Marketplace.

Every Kieffa pad I'd seen before this measured 8" or 10" across and had a cylindrical body with a tan rubber playing surface and black rubber rim on top, and a thin wood panel on bottom. nearly all the pads I'd seen before except one could accept a 1/4" jack, for the purpose of electrifying the sound.

 

This is different. It's bigger, about 12" across (11 1/4" playing surface). Rubber is black and does not appear to have been colored in by a previous owner. The rubber playing surface looks and feels right, in that it definitely could be a Kieffa product. Rubber rim is black, though scraping (from wear and tear) reveals a white color underneath. Base is black and could be an older version of MDF, but I can't be certain. The finish on the base is textured and could contain plastic as well.

And it's a flat pad, with no resonant chamber.

 

On the underside is a thin layer of what looks and feels like harder recycled rubber. 

 

I looked up the patent online and found only the original patent for the cylindrical acoustic-electric pad, and an explanation that any modifications were to refer back to this original patent number, dated 2007.

 

I've never seen a pad like this before.

UPDATE: Further research brought me to this article from 2013:

https://drummerszone.com/news/kieffa-percussion-designs-debut-at-namm-2013/namm-2013-59-11604/article/

Scroll to the bottom of the article and you'll find that this IS a genuine Kieffa pad, called the "Hard Corps" pad. It could be customized, which explains why the rubber is black. And the description matches what's here exactly.

So Kieffa DID make a pad that could be used for marching practice.
It's probably even more rare than the standard resonant models. Kieffa exhibited at NAMM in 2013 and then faded away. I'm still researching to find out what happened. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here's a little video demo, with concert and light marching sticks.

My new Rick Dior sticks: Great for the practice pad

Got these last week and have been loving them on various different pads.
Thought I'd toss this up today before Shabbat and the weekend.
Dior sticks, Evans Barney pad, and a little exercise I made up.
I don't care about copyright so feel free to grab it if you like it.

Happy chopping!

Rick Dior sticks. Worth every penny.

Several months ago, a friend gifted me a small bundle of drum sticks, including a pair of black wenge concert sticks made by Rick Dior. They’re gorgeous, but too light for regular use. So they mostly sit on display.

Still, I wanted to see if a heavier set might be available. So I went to Rick’s website and took a look.

Rick updates his site periodically with a video of the sticks he has on hand. When I checked, he had a beautiful pair made of pecan, with reverse (“Etude” style) tips. I had a little extra cash, so I ordered them.

They arrived today. And they’re fantastic.

At 82 grams per stick, they’re on the heavy side of what I generally like, but so well-balanced and responsive that the extra weight isn’t a burden. The sticks have a slight reverse taper at the back end. I’m not normally a fan of this but with these sticks it seems to help with the balance. The pecan is light in color and very elegant in its simplicity.

Rick Dior has a number of sticks in various weights and thicknesses, made from a variety of exotic and domestic hardwoods. His hand-turned sticks, made one pair at a time, start at $65/pr plus postage, and are worth every penny. He suffered some serious setbacks during the floods last fall, and I don’t know how close he is to being fully up and running. Hopefully, he can return to steady production before too long.

I’ll save up for another set soon.

These play so effortlessly for how heavy they are. YUM.

The last experiment with the Beetle Last Pad

So I think I’ve dialed in the Last Pad from beetle percussion.

You can find all the details about previous experiments in earlier posts here on this blog.

Tonight, I decided to try one more experiment.

I’m from the Mylar era of marching drums, so I wasn’t entirely thrilled with how hard and tight the hard side of the pad felt, even after I swapped in the 1/4” rubber insert under the white Emperor head.

I loved the softer side with the foam insert and red Emperor head and wanted to leave it as it was.

I swapped out the 1/4” rubber insert and swapped in the harder 3/16”. Then, on top of that I added my own insert cut from an old ensolite camping pad, and on top of that I added a Mylar insert from a Sabian QuietTone practice pad. Then I put back the coated Emperor head and rim, and tightened everything up.

Now, the original design of the inserts has rounded edges so that the head will maintain its shape when tensioning. The ensolite pad is soft enough to not compromise that idea, but firm enough to offer more punch than Beetle’s foam insert. I did this so I could get higher tension, but tempered with a touch more softness than hard recycled rubber. And to make sure there would be a noticeable difference between the two sides, I used the 3/16” rubber insert under the ensolite. 

(The 1/4” insert makes a decent stand-alone pad that travels well.)

I think you’ll see that my idea worked out well.

And this is where I’ll leave things for now.

Ensolite is a dense, lightweight foam that’s been used for decades as a sleeping pad for campers and backpackers.

I’ve used this material before, making a small pair of timpani practice pads. It worked well for that, so I figured I’d try it here and my hunch was correct.

If you want to try something similar, simply trim the insert to the exact head size (in this case, 14”). If the thickness is too much even when tightened, you can always swap in slightly longer tuning bolts. I didn’t need to here.

It’s still a stupidly heavy practice pad. But now it's more useful to me.

Homemade pad number umpteen and a half

I made another homemade pad. Stacked cardboard, rubber strips from an exercise band on one side and thick Mylar on the other. (The Mylar was leftover stock from Beetle, with adhesive on one side.)

I stacked cardboard layers with crisscrossing corrugation for greater strength, with wood glue between each layer, green rubber glued on one side, and weighted down overnight.

Then I added the Mylar piece on the other side. To keep the cardboard edges from fraying or catching on anything, I sealed everything up with tape. Finally, I glued narrow strips of thin mousepad material on the Mylar side to keep it from skidding around when I use the green rubber side.

It’s a little light in weight, but for a lower-volume pad that can be tossed in a backpack and used anywhere it’s fine. Best with 5B or 2B concert sticks.

Reconfigured: Beetle “Last Pad”

Testing the Beetle “Last Pad” has been interesting. Today, it got fun.

I decided to disassemble the pad and then reassemble it as follows:

The “hard” side had the 1/4” insert and the coated Emperor head. 

The “soft” side had the thickest foam pucks and the foam insert with the red (uncoated) Emperor head.

I moved the foam insert and red Emperor head to the “hard” side, and moved the 1/4” rubber insert and coated Emperor to the “soft” side, on top of the foam pucks that were already there.

My hunch proved right. Switching the foam to the “hard” side gave me a slightly firmer feel and crisper response, which I really preferred to where the red Emperor had been before.

I reported my findings to Bradley, and suggested that at some future time he might want to design a second foam insert with thicker Valchromat base and shallower foam on top. I suppose buying a second original foam insert and using the rubber pucks might get me a similar feel to what I’d achieved on the other side. I’d basically have two “hard” sides.

When Bradley makes more inserts I may order a second foam insert from him and try it out.

I like this configuration much better. It may make more sense to opt for a different head on the reverse and see what I think of that.

I’d love to hear from anyone else who’s purchased the Last Pad and we can compare notes.

Product Review: Beetle Percussion Last Pad, Part Two

As promised, here's the follow-up to my testing of Beetle Percussion's Last Pad.

If you read Part One of this review, you know that I had an interesting experience in unpacking and assembling the pad. At the time, I assembled the hard side with the 3/16" rubber insert and a Remo Falams II batter head, and the softer side with the thinner foam pucks, the 1/4" rubber insert and a Remo coated Emperor batter head.

I felt that the hard side was simply too hard for my tastes. Since this is meant to be a marching-focused practice pad, I felt that the assembly I had proceeded with would suit a modern marching drummer well. However, after talking with Bradley Lomax at Beetle, I decided to obtain a second Emperor batter head and do some swapping around of pucks and inserts.

For the reassembly, I set up the harder side with the 1/4" Rubber insert and the coated Emperor head; and I set up the softer side with the thickest foam discs, the foam insert and the uncoated Emperor head. (In the video, it's red because it's the cheapest head I could find and until I knew more about the pad I didn't want to invest a ton into it.)

I also found a 5/16" combo wrench and a torque key to make the assembly go a little faster. 

(I know there are folks who would use a drill with a drum key bit, but I don't think I can exercise the control I'd want with something that fast. So analog it is.)

After reassembly, I was left with the 3/16" insert, which by itself makes for a very portable -- and very hard -- practice surface. Frankly, I will probably just put this in the closet and forget about it.

 

 

In playing the reconfigured pad, I really like the new setup.
The thicker (1/4") rubber insert beneath the coated Emperor head makes for a hard, but not painful, marching surface that's not much tighter than my Mylar-headed marching snare drum.
The softer side with thick foam pucks and the foam insert makes the response closer to a lower-tensioned marching drum, or maybe even a higher-tensioned rope drum. I really enjoy it, and it's likely the side I will use the most.
Both sides work best with a marching-focused stick. For the hard side, the VF Ralph Hardimons work fine, as do a host of other marching sticks. For the softer side, I'm currently useing my VF Brian Mason indoor sticks (as seen in the video) and like the results.

Some additional thoughts after this second part, in no particular order:

-- This pad offers a fairly wide range of tension and response possibilities, thanks to the variety of inserts and pucks available and the fact that it takes standard 14" heads. The flexibility encourages experimentation and creativity, as long as you have the patience for that. (This pad uses twelve tension bolts and that can take awhile to disassemble, reassemble and re-tension.)

-- This is a substantial practice implement, designed to take a beating while eliminating undue pressure on the base plate. As with many other tunable pads, the tension on the base plate comes from the pad being single-sided, and having the tension depend on the base plate remaining strong enough to handle the tension from the tuning bolts.

On some pads, such as the Rudimental Control pad, There is nothing beyond the receiving nut in the wood base plate to handle the tension. As a result, that pad has some limits as to how tightly it can be tensioned before the plywood base plate begins to warp or buckle. I've found this charateristic on the Rudimental Drummers Chop Pad as well.

To be fair, both of these pads are designed for drummers playing at lower tension.

The RD Chop Pad (retail $145 plus shipping from The Netherlands) is a dedicated quiet practice pad for most all-around drum practice, and not specifically geared to those playing high tension Kevlar heads.
The Rudimental Control pad (Retail $175) is marketed largely to HBCU drummers, who tend to favor a slightly lower tension on their modern drums (HBCU drum lines lean towards a deep, fat, bottom-heavy sound). For the intended markets, both pads work very well as long as you don't try to tension them to their utmost limit.

The Rudimental Drummers Drum Corps Pad (retail $250 plus shipping from The Netherlands) is designed for drummers playing drums at the highest tension. It uses metal panels on the underside to further stabilize the plywood base plate and allows for higher tuning than their Marching Pad or Chop Pad do. (I haven't tried the RD Corps Pad, so I'd welcome insights from anyone who practices regularly on one.)

Still, with the tension required of a modern practice pad, Beetle has come up with a way to allow for higher tension by adding a second head and rim and running the tension bolt all the way through, so it holds both sides together without adding undue pressure on the Valchromat (wood fiber) base plate. Mechanically, it's a good idea and performs as advertised.

-- This is THE heaviest practice implement I have ever used. It is SO heavy, in fact, that the only snare stand I own capable of supporting it is a vintage Hamilton concert stand, and it's a bit wobbly even on that. This pad weighs 16 pounds fully assembled. There are whole marching drums that weigh less. The weight is, for me, the biggest downside to this pad. Even though the base plate includes an integrated handle, I can't really transport it comfortably or practically. It's meant to be parked in a studio or practice room and left there. The weight is the price you pay for having a pad that can be tensioned so greatly.

Is the tradeoff worth it? Possibly, for a marching drummer competing at the highest levels of BOA or DCI, or for a school wanting to have two or three on hand for student practice in the band room. This is NOT a pad for a beginning drummer, but rather designed for someone who has made the commitment to what I might call a "drumming lifestyle". For anyone else, the retail price of $260 makes for a hefty investment that's worth thinking about before you buy.

I'm very glad to have the opportunity to test and review this pad. As with all Beetle Percussion products, it's craft-made with great attention to detail, using sustainable components and practices wherever possible. I have several Beetle pads in my collection and am glad to add this to the stable. Now, I just need to look for a really stout stand to keep it on.

Beetle Percussion makes pads one at a time in the USA. More pads are coming in 2025, but you will have to be patient. They're worth the wait.

Happy Drumming.

On value and usage

At the end of the day, a practice pad is a tool that allows the drummer to practice on a quieter surface, so as not to disturb the neighbors.

If this is the primary consideration, everything else fades in importance.

The pad’s construction, age, size and scarcity (real or perceived) matter far less in this context.

The value of a practice pad, then, is not in its design or construction, but in its use.

The pad that is pristine is a pad that hasn’t been properly valued. It hasn’t been used.

So today, I’m celebrating pads that have been valued through use.

A well-used pad is a pad whose owner has dedicated their time and effort to improving their drumming art.

A well-used pad holds drumming history on an individual, even intimate level. It contains the residue of every stroke played on it, and past a certain point, those strokes begin to have an effect on the appearance and feel of the pad.

I rejoice when I see a well-worn practice pad. It tells me its owner is devoted to excelling at drumming, and not distracted by externals, by ephemera. There’s sticks, and a practice surface, and the head, heart and hands. Period.

That feels like a beautiful thing to meditate on as I drum today.

May your drum meditations be as rewarding and precious.

Collecting: fish grow to the size of their tank.

I wasn’t immediately convinced that drum keys would open a new area of drum interest for me.

A lot of what I saw online included keys that were mass-produced as intentional souvenirs, mostly honoring musicians I didn’t know about and wasn’t especially inspired to listen to.

But when I scored a vintage WFL drum key in a junk pile at my local thrift store, I got interested. Now, I look mostly for vintage drum keys, plus anything unusual that catches my eye.

I started with an old cigar box I paid a buck for at Goodwill. One of the hinges needed repair, and the latch needed to be replaced, and tiny handles installed on the ends made it easier to lift when containing keys. I thought it would keep me awhile.

Five months later, I ran out of room, largely due to an unexpected windfall of old keys. So off I went to the thrift shops again, in search of a larger box. I found a nice old wine presentation box for a dollar, along with some leftover drawer handles (50 cents) that I installed on the ends.

To reduce rattling, both boxes are lined with thin mousepad material. I’m not in a rush to fill them both up, but I’m glad for the additional space.

If the drum key thing keeps catching my imagination, my next step will be to replace these two boxes with a small, multi-tiered sewing box with drawers. I’m hoping I don’t have to go there for quite awhile.

Verisonic sticks UPDATE

Before anyone tries to order from the Verisonic website, be advised that both Firefox and Safari indicate that this is NOT a secure website from which to order online.

I have reached out to the email address provided on their "History" page and will hope for a timely and helpful response.

Future Vintage: Verisonic aluminum drum sticks

When I was in middle school, I couldn’t afford many sticks of my own. I had a couple pairs of 5A for most concert work, 2B for practice (mostly on a pad, at home), and by eighth grade I’d added a pair of wire brushes. By high school I’d added a pair of 3S marching sticks and a pair of general timpani mallets. I carried them all in a stick bag I’d sewn myself from an old pair of jeans.

My classmates mostly had a bit more spending money than me. In their store-bought stick bags I’d see a full compliment of concert, jazz and marching sticks. (Almost none of them had brushes except the section leader, a senior who played really well.)

A couple had sticks made of aluminum and plastic, which they used in concert band until the band director asked them to switch to wooden sticks. I tried a pair a couple of times and found them to ht for my liking. Plus, you couldn’t really play rimshots with them because if you did, they made a hideous sound that felt like nails on a blackboard. And they were more expensive than wooden sticks. So I never owned a pair.

Until recently.

Those sticks, and the ones I just got, were all made by a company called Verisonic. They started making aluminum sticks in the late 1970s and early 80s, when I was in high school. They are still making those sticks today, plus a few other models that didn’t exist back then.

Here’s a little blurb about the company’s history (from their website):

VeriSonic Inc. was founded in 1960 by Albert S. Robba and for 43 years has manufactured innovative percussion accessories. VeriSonic's patented "Classic Line" of Aluminum Drumsticks was the first non wood alternative and made VeriSonic the pioneer of the now well established alternative drumstick industry

With the addition of VeriSonic's wide variety of high quality brushes and "RockStick" line, a percussionist will find a broad selection of products to choose from.......and all of VeriSonic's products and components are manufactured in the U.S.A., more specifically Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In addition to their “Classic” line, they offer Rocksticks (whch appear to be slightly thicker-walled and are also advertised as being a few decibels louder), brushes and accessories. 

The part that I thought was cool when I was young — the anodized color choices — now gives me pause. Through my years working in the bicycle industry, I learned that the process of anodizing metal can be wasteful and polluting because it uses a lot of can produce hazardous waste that may or may not be disposed of properly. This has especially been a problem with bike components manufactured overseas, where environmental regulations are seldom enforced (if they exist at all).

Because Verisonic sticks are manufactured in the USA, there’s a much better chance that their anodization process is carefully monitored and that waste is disposed of safely. I’ll research further to make sure.

I got a pair of Classic “Parade” sticks which was advertised as NOS. Judging from the wrapper, though, they may not be so old. No matter, the price was right and they’re brand new. These Parade sticks are similar in diameter to a wooden pair of 2B sticks (5/8”), measure 15.5” long and weigh in at 3.25 ounces per pair. The other version of this model appears in their RockSticks line and weighs 3.75 ounces a pair. I believe the RockSticks are thicker-walled, making them sturdier. I still wouldn’t want to play a lot of rimshots with them, though.

I like the balance in my hands. They are lighter and shorter than a comparably-sized set of wooden 2B sticks (see photos), but pleasing to play on a tensioned drum head with. I haven’t tried them on a rubber practice pad yet.

I’m intrigued enough by these that I might spring for a heavier version in the RockSticks line.

As a kid, I remember that my friends’ Verisonic sticks were scarred from too many rimshots, and sometimes the plastic ends got knocked off. (If you ever want to put percussion equipment through a thorough durability test, give it to a middle school drummer for a couple of days.) Let’s hope the new generation of Verisonic sticks proves more durable.