Thanks - I'll look for one of those heads.

RQ

OK.. I'm a know nothing but I think that Moongel is some amazing stuff ..(thanks again for turning me on to that Roscoe!) I could not believe how it damped the ring in my COB Sound King.

I had been playing on my old 6 lug wood student Slingerland and when I got the Sound King I was all excited to play a real legend and then it didn't sound near like what I wanted it to.. but bingo-- one little blue square on the edge of the SK batter and it sounds great!

Since we're on the subject of moon gel for the moment, ya'll know that you can get the same thing for much less? Ever heard of sticky hands? They are these little novelty items they sell for kids. It's usually some kind of a hand or other object (mine are soccer balls) shaped bit of goo, but with a long string of goo attached to it. Same material as moon gels. You can get a bag of say 25 or more for the price of 4 moon gels.

Just snip the long string of goo off and there you have it.

I got a whole bunch for cheap $$$ and gave them out to my drum students, drummer friends, etc... I was a hero after that :)

Sorry to be obtuse but do you use the goo string around the rim or do you use the little shape?

"Annoying ring"...OK'.I assume you are referring to recording when you say annoying?,depending on the style of music you play i guess.People buy and spend hundreds of dollars on bell brass snare drums to have maximum ring.I,d be interested in knowing if it was [is] you that complained about ring,or was it a band member?Im not passing judgement,im just curious as a fellow drummer what the concern is here.....120 for the acro,final offerCool1

You use the little hand/ball shape. I toss the string part in the trash, though I suppose you could use it if you like.

Place the shape about 1.5 - 2 inches in from the edge of the head - In a location that you're likely not going to hit.

For some drums, I've found that just a 1/4 or half of a gel is all you need. Cut them up, be creative.

Did I mention that the little soccer ball ones I found have sparkle/metalflake imbedded in them? Way cooler than run of the mill moon gels :)

Coming soon to a drum shop near you... "Big Daddy Dampeners" in pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers.. they're always after me Big Daddy Dampeners!

I kind of wonder why Moongel didn't think to make them in different shapes and colors.. seems like a logical progression.. I want some little hands!!

LOL!!!! Thanks Jim - You made my day with that one!!

While moon gels are just fine as they are, you have to admit that it's way cooler to have little hands, soccer balls, etc... stuck

to your drum heads.

The cost savings is dramatic, to say the least. In my opinion, 4 moon gels for around $6.50 is too much. Plus, if you have a 5 piece or larger kit, or several kits... Well, do the math.

Back to the Acrolite and it's ringing... I let my bud Jim (aka PhillyJoe here at VDF) debut the Blacrolite Beauty last night at a gig. To start with, we had a stamp sized hunk of moon gel on the batter head. Drum sounded great, but after removing the gel later that night, the drum opened up a bit and there was just a hint of ring to it - Nothing you'd call annoying.

I feel that tuning has a LOT to do with how much or how little ring a snare has. In the case of the BB, I tuned it very carefully prior to the gig to minimize the ring. I noted that during the tuning process, there were several tunings where the drum really rang out. I chose a tuning which would be considered fairly tight (not piccolo tight) on the batter, and medium on the reso. The sound was crisp, but with some low end punch (reso tuning).

Overall, I was very happy with the sound of the drum (as were the rest of the guys in the band). The drum also showed that it prefers a lighter touch than you'd normally use for rock-n-roll. Laying into it, produced a very, VERY loud crack - it sounded great and it cut through the rest of the band like a razor. Not harsh, just LOUD.

Keep that crack thing on the hush hush, or there will be bazillions of butchered acros showing up on ebay with 3" vent holes. Crack is all the rage these days.

Oh... sorry about that. Um... the drum sounds lifeless and dull.

How's that? :)

Seriously though, I didn't have to butcher it to get that sound. Smaller lugs and a missing tone control are all you need.

If you need or um... want crack, buy a Pacific 3.5 X 13 piccolo snare for about $70.00 from GC or musiciansfriend. I did and now, I have more crack than I can handle!!