Mesh head for A-to-E bass drum

[lidrummer]

I am putting together the final components for my next DIY project (an A-to-E conversion). I have all of the toms and snare ready for converting. The last piece I need is the bass. I have a set of matching bass lugs, spurs and claws ready to construct the A-bass. I just need a shell and wood hoops. I am leaning towards a 16" diam. bass (for portability) but would go as big as 18". The question I have is would the 16" Hart mesh head fit on a bass drum with wooden hoops? If not, does anyone know one that would, or does anyone know of an 18" mesh head that would fit on a bass drum?

Thanks,
lidrummer.

[Hellfire]

I am putting together the final components for my next DIY project (an A-to-E conversion). I have all of the toms and snare ready for converting. The last piece I need is the bass. I have a set of matching bass lugs, spurs and claws ready to construct the A-bass. I just need a shell and wood hoops. I am leaning towards a 16" diam. bass (for portability) but would go as big as 18". The question I have is would the 16" Hart mesh head fit on a bass drum with wooden hoops? If not, does anyone know one that would, or does anyone know of an 18" mesh head that would fit on a bass drum?

Thanks,
lidrummer.

I notice that a lot of DIY'ers covert A-basses into E's by trying to put a very large and expensive mesh drum head on it. Now yours may not be so bad since you are looking at a 16-18" mesh drum head. I have a lot of experience converting A's, and I can tell you the bigger the drum the harder it is to dial in the settings. The largest drum I have a mesh head on is my 16" floor tom. Only about 12-14" of the drum triggers well. When I went to convert my bass drum, I took a different path. I basically fitted a 10" mesh head DIY drum inside my bass drum and it works great! Here's a picture: edrum_bass.jpg

The biggest advantage to this method is the cost savings of not buying a 22" mesh drum head, also I don't have to do all of the damping that most have to do when they convert a drum this size.

[mystic fred]

22" mesh heads are easy to get hold of, they're not expensive - i bought one on ebay for £10, made from a tough black flyscreen material ready mounted.

[Hellfire]

22" mesh heads are easy to get hold of, they're not expensive - i bought one on ebay for £10, made from a tough black flyscreen material ready mounted.

Looks Good, but why do you have a kick patch? You also stated that it is made of flyscreen material. Do you mean fiberglass window screen? How long have you been using that bass drum head. The mesh head I have on my bass I have been use since 2003. The dirt smudge that you see on my drum head was caused by 3 years of using a felt head beater. Didn't really hurt the drum head, just ground the dirt in. If you can get that large of mesh heads at that price, then go for it. I have not seen them that cheap in the US, but then again it has been a few years since I had to buy mesh drum heads.

[lidrummer]

Fred,

So you don't have any problem with it fitting on the drum with wood hoops? My recollection from 20 years ago (last time I played on an acoustic set with a real bass drum) was that a standard bass head has a larger metal ring than one made for a tom. So, I was just curious if a got a 16" Hart mesh (designed presumably made for a tom with a metal hoop), would it fit on a bass drum with a wood hoop?

Thanks,
lidrummer

[mystic fred]

Fred,

So you don't have any problem with it fitting on the drum with wood hoops? My recollection from 20 years ago (last time I played on an acoustic set with a real bass drum) was that a standard bass head has a larger metal ring than one made for a tom. So, I was just curious if a got a 16" Hart mesh (designed presumably made for a tom with a metal hoop), would it fit on a bass drum with a wood hoop?

Thanks,
lidrummer

bass drums are available in 20", 22" and 24" diameters, i've never heard of a 16" with wooden hoops, but i guess you could use a 16" floor tom with metal hoops laid on its side with the 16" Hart head. the white pad/s protect the black mesh from excessive wear, especially with felt beaters which eat mesh heads.

[PolyMetrix1618]

You could also buy an Evans Retro Screen. They're meant to be mesh resonant heads, but they'd work fine as a batter head. Only around $40 too.

[lidrummer]

bass drums are available in 20", 22" and 24" diameters, i've never heard of a 16" with wooden hoops

There are several 18" bass drums out there and 16" bass drums with wooden hoops are very common on junior kits. Also, Boom Theory makes Spacemuffins with 16" bass drums (with wooden hoops).

You could also buy an Evans Retro Screen

I'll check out the Evans Retro Screen.

Thanks,
lidrummer

[cheapthrill]

Looks Good, but why do you have a kick patch? You also stated that it is made of flyscreen material. Do you mean fiberglass window screen? How long have you been using that bass drum head. The mesh head I have on my bass I have been use since 2003. The dirt smudge that you see on my drum head was caused by 3 years of using a felt head beater. Didn't really hurt the drum head, just ground the dirt in. If you can get that large of mesh heads at that price, then go for it. I have not seen them that cheap in the US, but then again it has been a few years since I had to buy mesh drum heads.

I have used a 22" mesh head as well. Mine was one of those cheap one's by Pearl, probably about the same price. They last awhile as long as you use an impact pad, which also helps keep the felt beaters from "burning up" due to the friction. However, one down side is that the impact pad also makes it louder, especially if you use wooden beaters. Also, it was challenging to get the settings where I wanted them on a diameter that large...can't wait to finish my 12" kick.

[KnipeDrums]

You might want to think about putting a real mylar head on it and use the remo full muffle. You could still trigger it any way you want but it would be very quiet still and trigger perfectly and quite durable. I am working on some now that are mylar headed toddler size kicks, 16" for my exotic eshells. I have added some closed cell foam behind the open cell foam and installed a metal disk behind that to attach the piezo. This forms the reflection plate and the 2 foams together keep it very quiet yet very easy to trigger. Good luck, Tom

[lidrummer]

Hey Tom,

You might want to think about putting a real mylar head on it and use the remo full muffle.

I thought about doing that too. I have the muffl ring already, I just need to get the foam (similar to my other build). I could probably just fill most of the region with foam and you are right, it should be pretty quiet.

By the way, I shipped the lug to you this morning, you should get it tomorrow sometime. I also ordered two 16" x 1-3/4" hoops from aitwood.com this afternoon. I am looking forward to building this drum.

Thanks,
Dan