td-devi Posted November 9, 2001 Share Posted November 9, 2001 a while back i saw a video of scott hamilton. he was using a large, soft looking bass drum beater. i'm trying to locate a beater like that. anyone have any ideas. thanks-tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerCafe Posted November 9, 2001 Share Posted November 9, 2001 I used to have one of those. I thick it's called a Lamb's Wool beater. Ludwig used to make those, but I don't know about nowadays; maybe Danmar. You might want to call Lone Star Percussion at (214) 340-0835 or Steve Weiss Music at (215) 659-0100. Drummer Cafe - community drum & percussion forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
td-devi Posted November 9, 2001 Author Share Posted November 9, 2001 bart, you da man. thanks. i'll try those stores.-tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlhubley Posted November 9, 2001 Share Posted November 9, 2001 This sounds like one of those things that you might be better off doing on your own. By this I mean, you might search long and hard and either find one that is overpriced by 300%, or find a used one that has lost all of it soft cushioning. Here's what I would do: Buy a cheap full beater, would will be easiest to work with. In fact a ball wood beater would probably be the absolute easiest to deal with. But, if you have an old beater(not the iron-cobra style) lying around, I would use it. Next you will need to find some nice, soft, cushiony material. This will probably take some searching. I would think that that yarn would be the best choice. You will need a soft yarn, preferably 100% cotton, an acrylic yarn will create too much attack. Yarn made for baby blankets might work, but whatever you choose make sure it is durable and soft. Now, the only other think you will need is a sewing needle and a bit of patience. You will need to wrap the end of the beater. It's been a while since I have done this, but I used to wrap my own marimba mallets, and I would think that this style of wrapping would work great for your purposes, the only difference is that you will need to make the beater head quite large if you want to minimize attack. The attack will come from the wood core, and the amount of attack will be proportianate to how much yarn is around the end of the beater. Thread the needle. Now, start by wraping the beater shaft directly under the beater, but don't wrap it more than three full times around the shaft. Now you will begin what will be a frustrating, but rewarding jounney. Circle the beater with the yarn, starting from where the 3rd wrap of the shaft stopped. Circle the beater in a vertical-diagnol fashion, this should be done at a medium tension(too much tension will create too much attack, to loose will cause the yarn to come off. I like to do the first layer somewhat tight, and each layer is a little less tight). Now, turn the beater about a quarter turn, and repeat. Another quarter turn and repeat the circle. Continue doing this, but try to avoid overlapping the yarn. Do this until the entire beater is basically covered in yarn, and then continue putting the second layer of yarn around the beater, and then a third, a fourth, etc. Keep going until you have reached the amount you want. Occassionally you will want to strike the drum with your beater to check the sound. Be careful not to let the yarn unravel while you check the sound. After you have wrapped the mallet you have to tie it off. This is what usually gave me the most problems, but shouldn't be that hard for a bassdrum mallet. Thread the needl from the bottom of the mallet up through the top, turn the beater a 1/8 turn, and go through back through the top. Go through the bottom, turn 1/8 and then go back up to the top. Keep doing this and you should get a crown at the top of the beater. When you finish, just tie a nice, tight, small knot and cut the yarn, you're done! BTW, make sure to tie the knot either at the top or the bottom on a place where the beater does not actually touch the head. This should provide a nice open-sounding bass drum mallet that you will enjoy for quite some time. It would be cool to have in the studio, maybe I'll wrap one up myself! GOOD LUCK, and feel free to write me if you have any more questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerCafe Posted November 9, 2001 Share Posted November 9, 2001 rlhubley is right and has some great suggestions for making your own beater. I've done the same thing with different variations and it works just fine. I was assuming that you wanted to pick-up the "real thing" so that's why I didn't suggest making it. If you've got the time and desire, I think making your own is a great idea. You'll be able to modify and change as needed ... to get the sound you desire. Good Luck! Drummer Cafe - community drum & percussion forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
td-devi Posted November 10, 2001 Author Share Posted November 10, 2001 rl, thanks so much. i remember attempting this in college. then i went to the drum store and just bought leigh stevens mallets. But, this may be the only way to get what i want. i've printed your instructions and will give it a try . also the helpful guys at lonestar percussion told me that there are replacement lambswool covers for concet bass drum mallets. this may be an option to try and retrofit to a bd pedal beater. thats also got me thinking of going to an auto store and getting one of those wash mits that look like wool. it might be worth trying to wrap one of my beaters with that. i'll report back. PASIC ANYONE? bueller?........bueller.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerCafe Posted November 11, 2001 Share Posted November 11, 2001 I'll be at PASIC ... flying out on Wednesday and will be there for the entire convention. See you there! Drummer Cafe - community drum & percussion forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
td-devi Posted November 12, 2001 Author Share Posted November 12, 2001 bart,and rl, i had one of those labswool wash mits in my shop. i cut it up and glued it to one-half of a danmar felt beater. It worked!! now i have regular felt on one side and lambswool on the other. of course its a very soft sound . but thats exactly what i need when playing acoustically with upright and piano. great when playing with mallets too. bart when you said the ludwig beaters were made of wool that got me thinking. thanks guys. -tom bart i will be at pasic from wed on as well. let me know where you might be hanging out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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