I may have just discovered a new type of diy bass drum beater

[soccerdude84]

Cymbal felts.

I've been using the tennis ball beaters for the past 6 months and the right beater started falling apart from the inside. This lead to the ball becoming loose from the rod and it even fell off at one point. I tried to secure it with a washer but the hole only grew larger, eventually the rod moved to the edge of the ball. Because the rod was offset from the center, whenever the ball would compress against the bass pad, the washer ended up sticking out farther than the ball and bore a hole through the mesh head over the span of a single session.

Instead of replacing it with another tennis ball where this would most likely happen again anyway, I noticed I had a bunch of extra cymbal felts which almost fit around the beater rod. I wrapped the rod with some craft foam to  fill in the gap and then stacked 4 felts on top of each other.

Couple things I noticed: it's just as quiet as the tennis ball beaters, there's less overly bouncy retrigger (for those who bury the beater), and after playing for 2 hours I haven't noticed anything that negatively impacted my playing. This solution is definitely cheaper than buying those official tennis ball beaters (especially if you're from the US like I am and are forced to pay exorbitant shipping fees), and easier than having to drill out your own mini-tennis balls.

[Greg]

That's a good idea. I hope they hold up.

[MechanEvil]

Nice DIY idea, soccerdude84. Let us know how they hold up!

Anyone have an idea whether Tama's rubber beaters are quieter than normal beaters? Doesn't seem to be so, judging from the fact that George Kollias uses them. They don't ship the tennis ball beaters here :/

- Reggae Mangle

[Hellfire]

Very cool idea. Keep in mind that normally felt will create a lot of heat against the mesh drum head causing it to break/fail sooner then it normally should. I'm not sure if your beater will have that same problem being that it is softer than a traditional felt beater. Only time can answer that one.

As for the trigger balls. KAT also makes and sells a trigger ball and those should be available in the states. Its called the "Silent Strike" bass drum pedal beater. I'm not sure who carries it in the USA, but you can always email KAT and see were they tell you to buy it. Just a thought.

[soccerdude84]

Okay so I just played 3 hours of TDWP to put the beater through its paces and it is still going strong

Very cool idea. Keep in mind that normally felt will create a lot of heat against the mesh drum head causing it to break/fail sooner then it normally should. I'm not sure if your beater will have that same problem being that it is softer than a traditional felt beater. Only time can answer that one.

As for the trigger balls. KAT also makes and sells a trigger ball and those should be available in the states. Its called the "Silent Strike" bass drum pedal beater. I'm not sure who carries it in the USA, but you can always email KAT and see were they tell you to buy it. Just a thought.

I think the felt material is closer to the one on the tennis ball.

I actually tried looking extensively for the KAT beater and I could only find two places that sell them: lonestarpercussion and steveweissmusic, neither had any in stock.

I also noticed that the cymbal felt beater is even lighter then the tennis ball, which meant even less fatigue with a barrage of fast  kicks.

[Greg]

Better apply for a patent, asap.
Also, do you have a beater patch on your heads? I recommend it.