On drums...

How many teardrop owners there are on here? I mean, I know David has a kit or wilL soon have, and Tim either has or had one.

A common problem for teardrops is the lug packing has disappeared. The lug contains a steel nut which is the rod receiver. Without the packing, the nut slides out of sight when the rods are removed, and cannot be fished out, not even with a narrow probe. Head replacement becomes cumbersome because the drum needs to be tilted and tapped toward each lug so that the nut slides back where it belongs. Not so bad on a 12, but it's really annoying on a bass.

Any self-respecting gearhead would probably take all the lugs off and repack them. But that's not me, apparently. Still, having tilted and tapped my tears for several years, it has begun to be annoying. Yesterday I hit upon a solution.

Once everything is ready for the new head and the drum is sitting level, touch the outside of each lug with an earth magnet strong enough to exert force through the lug casing and thence to the nut. The nuts will jump back into position with a resounding click, and then the rods will turn in no-problem.

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Gregory

Is genius too strong a word? I think not!

- D.

That is a brilliant and elegant solution, nice job!

If you ever want to part with that particular kit let me know, I really miss that sound

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

I will forward that sentiment to the new owner who lives, I might add, much closer to you than does the old one. The old owner has joined the ranks of those who "miss that sound."

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Gregory

No, no, not at all.

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Gregory

I sometimes see teardrops coming up for sale, usually blue ones... Have considered it too as a project kit...how do you rate them Greg?

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http://percusski.co.uk/

Very high.

Good hardware, particularly for the period. Spurs are typical of that vintage, so the bass is not quite as stable as what we're used to on more modern Sonor. That's my only critique of the hardware.

Sound is mellow by comparison to modern standards, and that's a matter of taste, but I have never thought Drops couldn't cut it. Sonor drums have always excelled in tone control, and these are no exception, but with a vintage vibe. I rate them very high for recording, needing little in the way of EQ or damping, and the tone of beech transmits well.

They are full of character. Hard to define, but something that has been engineered out of modern drums. You know about that; it's why you love your Lites. The Lite snare is a great match for Drops, lively, full of tone, with a wide range of sounds.

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Gregory

That's great Greg, I'm always tempted by the vintage gear the only problem is getting spares I guess. You're right about the sound thing though, something missing on newer drums it seems.
There was a big signature kit in the UK up for sale recently, looked incredible, but square sizes.

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http://percusski.co.uk/

New drums are like new cars. New cars do everything much better than old cars, but they achieve it by ironing out the wrinkles that made old rides interesting. The analogy breaks down rapidly, because a car can be measured in objective ways, whereas new drums are merely designed to be louder and ring longer, which is a subjective goal. The confluence of the way tone grows and decays is what creates character in a drum, I think. Somewhere along the line, drum makers got the idea that attack should be immediate and decay very slow, which makes for a more linear characteristic. Swell and decay are both frowned upon, which seems pretty arbitrary. A lot of the mystery of a drum's sound is produced in that double curve.

But there are plusses to that. None of it matters too much to me, so long I can get a sound I want. What happens after the stick hits the head is the business of the drum. The drummer's job is to get the drum to do whatever it can, when he wants it to do it.

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Gregory