Mufflers or No mufflers?

Matthew_drumcan

Junior Member
I am looking for some advice from people who have experience with drums that have internal mufflers.

I am currently going through the order process for a Ludiwg Legacy kit. I am trying to get it as close to a 60's era kit as possible (using floor tom brackets for 60's spurs, steve maxwell conselette, etc). However, something I have been on the fence with is getting Internal mufflers. I have never had a chance to use them before, but I like the idea of having the option to use them. My only concern is that I have heard that people have had problems with them rattling when not in use. Any thoughts this?
 
I like to have internal mufflers on my Ludwig snare drums, but on the Ludwig toms I find they just sound like crap. Plus they rattle on the toms, so if I were you, I wouldn't get them on toms, and if you wanted to muffle a tom, I'd use a moongel/O-ring.
 
My thoughts are that I can't stand hearing any muffling on toms, FWIW.
People spend good money on great drums and go ahead and squelch the very thing that makes the drums sound good, choking it in some fashion. I'll never understand that. Muffling may sound better to you, but it shortchanges the audience, bigtime.
 
I would just get one on the snare drum,and leave the toms alone.They can be useful in low volume situations.

Steve B
 
No muffling for me as well. I have a 70's Ludwig kit with internal mufflers on the toms and I never use them. Plus, after a night of rockin' playing, at times they work themselves loose and do rattle a little. I have to be conscious of them and make sure they're not loosening up throughout the course of the gig. Another thing is that the internal muffler exerts pressure upwards toward the head. The force of you striking the drum sends the head in motion downward. There is a clash between forces going on there and it seems to be detrimental to a good sounding drum. If you have to muffle at all (hopefully not the toms, they should sing IMO) the use of a small piece of duct tape or moon-gel, etc. near the edge of the head would probably sound the best and be more congruent with the physics of the head motion when struck. Hope this helps.
 
It depends on what you are using the kit for. I would go with them because now I play mostly live, and I am hired by several acoustic singer/songwriter, Country, R&B and Blues bands as a fill-in. For my rock gigs with my groups it would not make a difference with the wall of sound blasting from the P.A. But, with the others where every nuance of my performance is heard (and appreciated by the band members who hire me) I love them. I don't have my vintage Rogers any more, but I liked the ability to change a drums pitch and decay from the turn of a knob. I wish I had them on one of my Starclassics.
 
My Ludwig Classic snare (LS403TX0m) has a muffler and I like it. My Gretsch USA Custom does not have a muffler and I wish it did. I have not had problems with rattling.

GJS
 
I was there, I lived it, and I know all about internal mufflers of all varieties.
Don't waste your money. They rattle and they loosen as you play. They need constant attention. They are just one more thing for you to worry about while you play.
They are awful. I removed them from my mid 70's kit way back in the late 70's!
We have heads and studio rings, etc these days that eliminate the need for them.
They are an unnecessary throw back to a day gone by!

I hope that I wasn't too opinionated!
 
I was there, I lived it, and I know all about internal mufflers of all varieties.
Don't waste your money. They rattle and they loosen as you play. They need constant attention. They are just one more thing for you to worry about while you play.
They are awful. I removed them from my mid 70's kit way back in the late 70's!
We have heads and studio rings, etc these days that eliminate the need for them.
They are an unnecessary throw back to a day gone by!

I hope that I wasn't too opinionated!

True. If you want the same kit sound for your gig or recording, or perform with any group with too much noise, forget about the mufflers. In the studio you have many options as far as room, heads, tuning, muffling, mics and processing. However, when in a live environment where the difference will be heard, internal mufflers are a great tool. Usually this will be in an acoustic environment (in which I have plenty of experience) where the difference in sound is noticeable. If you can deal with the occasional rattle you will be ok. I found if you bend the v-band that controls the pressure of the muffler away from its point of contact you will not hear a rattle.
 
Old #1, the first kit I ever owned - and kept for over 50 years - was a Ludwig Super Classic made in the late '50s.. The snare and floor tom had built-in mufflers. I was shocked when the kid who bought the kit from me last year told me how excited he was to have the internal muffler on the floor tom. I didn't mind the snare muffler, but the tom rattled like a crazed shaman and drove me crazy.

In other words, my advice is to stay away from too much authenticity. Some things in this world really have improved.
 
I have internal adjustable mufflers on this 65 vintage kit and never really had a problem with them rattling. I believe maybe one time I either had to tighten or replace the spring on one of the mufflers, but it was a very easy fix. Years ago, I thought it was a very interesting concept and it was very effective on the snare drum.

DSC_0314-1-1.jpg


Right now I have two metal snares with the mufflers inside, a Ludwig Acrolite and an old Pearl.

Dennis
 
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