Hi everyone from downunder,
Are there any experts here who can answer this question regarding bearing edges. Is it possible to make the bearing edges more round on a drumset that has sharp bearing edges in order to get a vintage 70's rock drum sound like Big Star or Badfinger? And if so, how? Can it be done by hand?
pasbart
Yes...You can do that.
But my advice would be: LOOK FOR A PROFESSIONAL TO DO IT!!!
About the sound you're looking for: It'll depend on in what drums you'll do that. What wood? Thickness of the shells? and so on...there's many variants...
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Precisely....
The shell thickness is really important. Rounding edges which are beveled and relatively sharp will increase the surface area of the edge, thus increase the contact of the head to the shell.
If your shells are thick...like 8-ply or more, or even the thick sorta 5 or 6-plys which are around...it may actually deaden the resonance of the drum, not in a good way. It'll certainly increase the 'slap' of the drum on the initial hit, but broad bearing edges usually went hand-in-hand with thinner shells.
A professional drum person, or even just a good cabinetmaker who has a routing table setup...can do this for you.[/COLOR]
I wouldn't go to the extreme of modifying the bearing edges....a lot of that 70's sound was massive amounts of muffling and head choices. Evans Hydraulic or Remo Pinstripes will get you in the ballpark soundwise without modifiying the drum first....
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Good point...probably try the less invasive methods first...[/COLOR]
Thank you very much guys,
I decided to leave the bearing edges alone and experimented with different heads and tuning. I ended up with Remo Vintage A on my toms tuned medium with Ambassadors on the bottom tuned tight. Coated Powerstroke 3 on my Bass Drum. Coated Powerstroke 3 on my Wood Snare Drum. An Underdot Ambassador on my Metal Snare Drum. I am very happy with the results. Thank you again to all who responded.
Pascal
