I have a fondness for tunable pads, particularly the old Ludwig P-359 (8”) and P-360 (10”), and I’m also a fan of the Tom’s Pad from Volkwein’s Music. The former was at its height of production from the late 1960s through around 1980. Tom’s Pad went into production around ten years ago, long after the demise of the Ludwig models.
I had an opportunity to obtain a second Tom’s Pad today, and when I brought it home, I immediately took it apart. I did so because this pad came with a Ludwig-branded head and I wanted to see if it was the same as the old heads from the Ludwig pad. Tom’s Pad comes with a specially-branded head made by Remo, and is meant to take Remo practice pad replacement heads. The Remo head will not fit on an old Ludwig pad because the hoop of the heads differs in width and depth.
I have pieces of an old Ludwig P-359 pad on hand and would like to replace the very worn head that came with it. Since Ludwig no longer makes parts for these older pads, it’s a bit of luck to find parts that can be swapped in.
I took the Tom’s Pad apart, and discovered that the construction is nearly identical to that of the P-359. The only meaningful difference is in the metal rim.
As you can see from the photos, the components are nearly identical. The foam insert for the Ludwig pad is slightly thinner, but still curves down towards the edges like the thicker insert from the Tom’s Pad.
The other difference is that the hardware for the newer pad is a thicker Allen bolt that screws into threaded receivers in the base,w hole the hardware for the P-359 was an odd, over-engineered design using threaded bolts that were pressed into the base from underneath, and square nuts (which fit a standard drum key) screwed on from above to tighten the rim and head against the base. On both pads, a smaller wooden disc sits under the head and above the base, the foam rubber and head held in place above that by the rim and bolts.
In both cases, only the pressure of tightening the bolts held everything together. (This is not unlike the approach used in Beetle Percussion’s “Last Pad,” the double-sided design of which I reviewed earlier. I will receive the single-sided version of the pad for testing and review closer to Spring.)
The hoop of both Ludwig heads is nearly identical, which tells me that they would both work on the P-359 pad. However, the Tom’s Pad came with a lot of wrinkles in the newer Ludwig head, and I suspect that may be due to having been stretched over the thicker foam rubber at pressure. When I reassembled the Tom’s Pad, I tensioned it a bit higher than it had been when I brought it home. it didn’t remove the wrinkles entirely, and if I keep this pad I’ll probably replace the head with a Remo practice pad head, which should lay better at tension. I’ll probably set aside the newer Ludwig head as a possible replacement for a P-359.
I decided to see if I could discern any meaningful difference between the response of a P-359 and the Tom’s Pad with the Ludwig head.
Obviously, with this Ludwig pad being at least fifty years old, the head is a little worn and I don’t want to crank it too tight.
Then, I compared it with the Tom’s a pad with the Remo head.
Volkwein’s offers replacement rubber inserts and heads for the Tom’s Pad. Their replacement heads are embossed with Volkwein’s logo. If you don’t want that, a regular Remo practice pad head should fit just as well.
While comparisons are often made between the Volkwein pad and old Reno tunable pads, the Remo pad base uses a plastic bottom with a deep recess designed to hold foam rubber, with the head stretching over the recess. The result is that the Remo pad sounds hollower — and louder — than the Tom’s Pad.
In truth, the design of the Tom’s Pad is much closer to that of the old Ludwig P-359/360 pads, and in my opinion it’s a design that produces a better tone and feel.
The Remo pad of the 1960s and 70s holds a special place in my heart because it’s the pad I began learning on. But the sound of that pad grated on my parents’ nerves, and successive generations of students were encouraged to find something else to practice on as soon as they showed they were serious about continuing with drums. I keep a few Remo pads in my collection to this day, but welcome play on them now. The Ludwig P-259 and 360, on the other hand, are in regular rotation on my practice pad stand. They’re solid and feel great. The Tom’s Pad also sees some chopping time.
I’ve written to Volkwein’s Music a few times asking — imploring, really — that they consider making this pad in 10” size. Now that I have a better understanding of its design, I can see why they’ve kept with the 8” size. Still, I can dream.
Tom’s Pad is available from a Volkwein’s Music for a retail price of $85 plus shipping. It’s well-made and will last a long time with care. The Ludwig P-359 (8”) can sometimes be found used online, though in varying degrees of condition. The P-360 (10”) shows up far less often, and sells for far more because it’s the more desirable size among collectors and players alike.
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