Centre mounted lugs & resonance - any thoughts and experience?

L

LittleLegs

Senior Member
We're seeing more and more of these now. Ludwig Club Date, Pork Pie Hip Gig, C&C Player Date, etc. They look cool, but does mounting the lug centrally impede the shell's resonance? For years Yamaha, Noble & Cooley, etc have been saying how lugs at the 'nodal' points optimize shell resonance letting the centre of the shell vibrate. One would assume therefore that if the lug is mounted at the centre it would kill those vibrations? Is this good science or good marketing? Come on Andy, I know you're out there ; )
 
There have been a number of articles refuting the idea of nodal point mounting. We are talking nodal point, not nesessarily center mounting. Nodal point seem to make sense in a 2d world, but not in a 3D world. It did make for a good selling point though. I think the center lug looks good, but it needs to be well anchored.I don't like single post, center lugs on drums, particularly snares. If you only have one post point with one screw through the shell, all of the tension is pulling to one side or the other.

In the case of snares, one head is pulled tighter than the other, putting undo stress on the shell at the one screw point. If you use only one lug in the center, it should have at least 2 screws to stablize the shell stress better.
 
If I were building a drum, the center would be the very last place I'd mount the lug. The closer the lug holes are to the bearing edges, the less shell vibration restriction is what my first thought would be. I'd like to see a lug that has holes that are parallel to the bearing edges and about an inch down from the edge. The lug would be a flattened "U" shape. Let the center of the drum be as unrestricted as possible would be my goal. Of course on ply drums, Andy would probably say it doesn't matter where the lug is.
 
This is a simple one for me. Centre mounted lugs are a tradeoff that can work out just fine. Although I have comparative evidence that supports the centre of a shell as being a less than ideal mounting point in terms of shell resonance, such designs usually equate to reduced hardware mass hanging off the shell. On thin ply shells, or otherwise more resonant shells, lower hardware mass trumps lug positioning every time. On thicker ply shells (6mm plus on toms), lug positioning is way down the list in terms of affecting shell resonance, & hardware mass affect is diminished but still the greater of the two affects. The worst combination for me is the use of high mass pot metal centre lugs with a large footprint on a thin tom shell. That's just a design killer for me.

Ideally, low mass away from the centre of the shell produces the highest degree of shell resonance, if indeed that's an element desired in the build goals.
 
Or if you are going down the path of less lugs just get some Slieshmans and there all gone.
 
Perhaps to some degree it affects resonance.

I'm happy as long as the drum resonates a few seconds.
Though I wish I could afford gurus. Can't hurt to resonate longer.
 
I own a 2012 Ludwig Club Date SE kit and I can't detect any issues with the center lugs impairing the sound of the drums.
I am very happy with my center lug kit and I would recommend center lug drums to anyone who desires them. They are nice looking, light weight for transporting, and they produce great sound.
 
with all of this info, Thank you Andy, why such a great deal of work and expense on building 20, 30 ply snares?
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
with all of this info, Thank you Andy, why such a great deal of work and expense on building 20, 30 ply snares?
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I'm not Andy, but I want to take a crack at it to see if I guess the answer. He can verify.

A snare with a thick shell will act like a high-tension, corps-style marching snare. It will project. It will be loud. The shell won't resonate to any appreciable degree, but it will be very loud.
 
Unless you are in the art of crafting the most resonant drums possible, center mounted lugs are negligible. In this, Andy is an exquisite artist.
You would have more trouble with shell mounting directly in the center, which has the shells weight and leverage pulling it from the center.
 
Wally Young said:
It seems to me center lugs are just to save money, but I may be completely wrong.
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Yes, the advantage of center lug kits is that they are less expensive and lighter in weight. They were designed for the working drummer for gigging.
 
keep it simple said:
This is a simple one for me. Centre mounted lugs are a tradeoff that can work out just fine. Although I have comparative evidence that supports the centre of a shell as being a less than ideal mounting point in terms of shell resonance, such designs usually equate to reduced hardware mass hanging off the shell. On thin ply shells, or otherwise more resonant shells, lower hardware mass trumps lug positioning every time. On thicker ply shells (6mm plus on toms), lug positioning is way down the list in terms of affecting shell resonance, & hardware mass affect is diminished but still the greater of the two affects. The worst combination for me is the use of high mass pot metal centre lugs with a large footprint on a thin tom shell. That's just a design killer for me.

Ideally, low mass away from the centre of the shell produces the highest degree of shell resonance, if indeed that's an element desired in the build goals.
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And why doesn't this man have a monthly column in Modern Drummer magazine?

I love learning this stuff.
 
spleeeeen said:
And why doesn't this man have a monthly column in Modern Drummer magazine?

I love learning this stuff.
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That would give me reason to pick up that mag. Purely for that column haha
 
spleeeeen said:
And why doesn't this man have a monthly column in Modern Drummer magazine?

I love learning this stuff.
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Because if he did have a column and the mag's readership gained a better understanding of drum design, they may not be inclined to buy some of the products featured in the magazine's countless ads that it relies upon to stay afloat and make a profit.
 
belairien said:
That would give me reason to pick up that mag. Purely for that column haha
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Yes, that one column alone would be work the price. ;-)

mandrew said:
He is too busy building drums!!!
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Building AND designing. Heard some rumors about developments in the Origin line...

Wally Young said:
There's more people here.
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...and I don't want to share him either.

steadypocket said:
Because if he did have a column and the mag's readership gained a better understanding of drum design, they may not be inclined to buy some of the products featured in the magazine's countless ads that it relies upon to stay afloat and make a profit.
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And here's the grand prize winner; he does have that effect, doesn't he? I know that reading his posts over the years has certainly decreased my interest in shells laden with heavy hardware and glue.

Okay, back to the program...
 
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