Not really sure why these were done this way, but I do know that these shells MUST be vented, or they have no power. I wrapped a set of double headed toms (10-12-13-14-15) for a drummer, and at first he ask me not to vent the drums. Once done, they sounded so different than my own Blaemires of the same size, that they didn't even sound like they were made from the same material.

Once I vented them, they opened up so much, you would have never believed they were the same drums. I have a few Blaemires that are double vented, and they are the ones that have the most body and presence.

Well................dang!

I've always wondered why RB Gretsch kick and snare drums have vents but the toms don't.

And why the later Gretsch toms do - did they finally come to the conclusion that the RB's were made wrong? Seems like somebody did. Took 'em awhile. Does Gretsch sell a retrofit kit (comes with a drill bit and a grommet $89.99)?

I remember wondering about this years when I was a kid, and putting my finger over drums that had vent holes and noticing little/no difference.

Odd that there would be such a difference in the fiberglass drums.

Was A.F. Blaemire a surfer? Did he own a Corvette? A drummer? Quick!!!

On racing cars they take out the glass to save weight and use Lexan. The windows don't go up and down so they cut holes and put another piece on top of it you can move, so you can adjust the aperture size for ventilation. I can picture that working on a drum if the hole size makes such a difference. Someone must have done this, and I've seen drums with big holes, but other than the Hinger none with adjustable vents.

Allen Blaemire worked for the Naval war department as an engineer. He was a drummer, and a great one at that. He saw that torpedoes were stored in fiberglass tubes, and got the idea to see what they would sound like. Once he experimented with snare shells...he went on to do toms and bass drums. I'm glad he did.

As far as adjustable air vents....Dunnett has them on his snares, toms and bass drums....he calls them hyper-vents.