Worst idea in Drumming

jwildman

Senior Member
I was at Chuck Levins earlier today buying myself a new drum set and we were talking about the size toms I wanted. I told him I play rock and at the time we were disscussing a Tama Superstar w/ Hyperdrive Toms kit. And this guy was old, probibly in his 60's (still the most badass guy in the place) and he was talking to me about the history of tom sizes. He said it used to be (with a 12 diameter tom) 12x6 or 7. Then as time went on it got up to 12x8 then 12x9,12x10 and so on. Then they hit 12x12 and this other dude comments in that this was the worst idea in drumming history, a 12x12 rack tom. That got me thinking what are the biggest mistakes and ideas drum companies have come up with in the history of drumming? What do you guys think?
 
Two come to mind. The pedal with the magnet and not springs, and the inflatable bearing edge tuning device that was highlighted here a few months ago.
 
i know some will lash out at me for this one, but personally i have to say double bass pedals take the cake for me. time and time again i see drummers who are just starting out,
buy a double pedal and run run run on it to see how fast they can get it to go, then quit playing by the time they are out of highschool because they figure out that they havent learned to play the drums, no stick control, no rudiments, they just learned to run.

and plus i think there are much more creative ways to make heart pounding metal then using a double bass.
 
this
dualist.jpg


as opposed to this

drums-percussion-drum-hardware-bassdrum-pedal-sonor-giant-step-gtep3-twin-effect.jpg
 
how many millions are spent trying to create a better tom mount, but the poor bass drum - clamp a pedal on the wood hoop and drop it on the floor - we got to the moon, cant we think of a better way to attach the pedal to a bass drum???
 
^^^^ I'd agree here, it seems almost a crime to have my DW kick sitting on the floor with my pedal mounted to the wood hoop. I use a piece of foam between the hoop and pedal clamp to minimise damage, but there is still a noticeable mark where the pedal sits.

Really their should be a cradle device that connects via the bottom two lugs that the pedal clamps to.

Hmm hang on...
 
^^^^ I'd agree here, it seems almost a crime to have my DW kick sitting on the floor with my pedal mounted to the wood hoop. I use a piece of foam between the hoop and pedal clamp to minimise damage, but there is still a noticeable mark where the pedal sits.

Really their should be a cradle device that connects via the bottom two lugs that the pedal clamps to.

Hmm hang on...
Sonor already do such a device. Stays clamped to the hoop though rather than connecting with the bottom two lugs. Still a neat solution though.
 

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OOOH, cool thread. Off the top of my head- suspended floor toms. What the hell are those about!? I don't need 'em to ring that long, they bounce all over the place, I can't rest my sticks on them, and I need to attach them to a 70 pound cymbal stand so it doesn't tip over! Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em.
 
OOOH, cool thread. Off the top of my head- suspended floor toms. What the hell are those about!? I don't need 'em to ring that long, they bounce all over the place, I can't rest my sticks on them, and I need to attach them to a 70 pound cymbal stand so it doesn't tip over! Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em.
I have no issues with mine, but it is mounted on a rack. I didn't have any problems when it was mounted on a decent stand either. As far as I'm concerned, the more sustain, the better. I'd use a timpani if I had the room.

Much worse in my book is mounting toms off the kick drum. A sure way of killing off any shell resonance from the drum. It's a great way to save money though, and I'm sure that's why the drum companies do it.
 
I saw in one of my old modern drummers. Rings that attach to your drum sticks so you can
twirl them. W.T.F!! If you some of you guys out there have a collection of modern drummer's from the 80s, look in the back at some of ads they have endless bad ideas.
 
I've got two. First and more inportant, the vic firth sticks with LED lights in them. What the hell? $130 bucks for a stupid light in the sticks which I'm sure would break in the first week or two. Also the Dualist Triple Bass Drum Pedal. This just makes no sense to me.
 
OOOH, cool thread. Off the top of my head- suspended floor toms. What the hell are those about!? I don't need 'em to ring that long, they bounce all over the place, I can't rest my sticks on them, and I need to attach them to a 70 pound cymbal stand so it doesn't tip over! Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em.

You'd want a suspended floor tom or the same reasons you'd want a suspended rack tom, or a virgin bass drum. I have a suspended floor tom and I love it. I don't like bolting any more hardware to the shell than I absolutely have to.
 
i know some will lash out at me for this one, but personally i have to say double bass pedals take the cake for me. time and time again i see drummers who are just starting out,
buy a double pedal and run run run on it to see how fast they can get it to go, then quit playing by the time they are out of highschool because they figure out that they havent learned to play the drums, no stick control, no rudiments, they just learned to run.

and plus i think there are much more creative ways to make heart pounding metal then using a double bass.

I agree with you completely. The single most common topic in the gear and technique threads is double bass pedals, and double bass has the least use. In most genres, other band members just get really annoyed at 16th notes on the bass. It has extremely limited uses.
 
Much worse in my book is mounting toms off the kick drum. A sure way of killing off any shell resonance from the drum. It's a great way to save money though, and I'm sure that's why the drum companies do it.

Agreed. I really think it's dumb to see suspended rack toms mounted to the bass drum. Um, why you doing that exactly?

I think the worst idea in drumming is plywood shells. Plywood has its uses and advantages, like superior strength, workability, low cost and low weight, which is why as a wood composite (not real wood) it is well suited or construction. Plywood was useful in making drums affordable but with modern manufacturing techniques, I think mass-producing affordable stave or solid-shell drums is very possible and it would be neat to see that happen.
 
Drumming while drunk, Ahead sticks, cheap drum-seats and loose cymbal booms which fall onto your drums.
 
I've been playing since the early seventies and I have seen so many gimmick drumming devices that I can't even choose the dumbest one.
One mans bad idea is another mans good idea!
What amazes me most is the price that people are willing to pay for some of these products!
Whenever I sample a new piece of gear I make it a point not to buy it that instant. I use the rule that if it still seems like something that I feel that I want a few months from now, I'll buy it. By that time I can find it used for about half the initial price.
If I'm bidding on something that is on eBay, I never go over my initial max bid. I let it go if the bidding gets higher.

I agree with Grunt, The inflatable drum tuner is close to number 1.
The concept for the product is good. The application in the current form, Not so good!

The Drum Dial seems poor to many people but I have become a master of using mine. I really like it. An example of One Mans Trash, Another Mans Treasure!
 
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