Waste of a head

[FitchFY]

I feel like, somewhere along our drumming lives, we've all wasted a drum head somehow. Maybe from over-tightening and it ripped, or accidentally stabbing it with a steak knife... whatever... but I was curious as to who has done what to unintentionally destroy a drum head.

 

A few weeks ago, I was stoked to put a Bass Drum Res-O hole on my resonant head. Well, in my excitement, I didn't do the best cutting job and maybe was a little overly forceful... yeah, two weeks leader, the head was torn and I have to get a new one. I suck.

[Dendy Jarrett]

I find a 6 or 8 inch splash works great on a cutting board with an retractable blade for cutting holes. I have a friend who would take a 6 inch cooking pot lid and heat it up on a burner, and then drop it where he wanted the hole in a controlled drop. It would cut a perfect hole (or burn a perfect hole). I was always too afraid I'd burn myself.

 

D

[1001gear]

Besides I think there's a hole making kit, you can use a drafting divider ( a compass basically with two needle points ) and scribe the hole until it can be cut accurately or better yet put an exacto on one end of a woodworking or homemade compass.

[FitchFY]

Oh yeah. I know of all sorts of ways to do it RIGHT. I just really screwed up and did it WRONG.

[Dendy Jarrett]

You really can't unscrew up a drum head. I suspect if it is an 8 inch hole, you could cut a 10 inch hole if the tear isn't too big.

 

D

[twosticks]

I cut a hole on a bass head once, It was a Remo Empeeror Black Dot smooth finish. I got it on sale so is why I decided to get it. It was my first set, "Maxwin" by Pearl, Export copy set. Luckily the guitarist I was jamming and playing with around that time told me about the "Heat a metal coffee can over a burner" and then use pliers to set it where you want the hole while the head is propped up on bricks on the back concrete patio, luckily for me the black dot was about the same size as the hole.

 

But I've done dumb stuff too. Mostly snare heads where I was always getting the Clear smooth batters and they would break so easily, then I got the coated and other coated/dotted snare heads and they lasted longer. Plus for so long I was playing the hats with shoulder of the sticks just gnawing through the sticks and losing the tips fast. Anyway, I understand, been there, done that. Gotten in a hurry and scratched my bass drum on one set and scratched the floor tom on my current set by getting in too much of a hurry to set up and play. At least a head you can replace fairly easily, better luck with your future heads!!

[rayboomboom]

Back in the 80's I decided I was going to try the loose snare head sound. So I went out and bought an evan hydro and tuned it really loose. I asked the sound man at the end of the first set how it sounded and because I didn't loosen the bottom head he said it really didn't sound that different. But by having it so loose I destroyed the head cuz I hit so hard. One night out of a band new head. Jeeez.