Tricks to porting a Fibraskin

[Johnny G]

I have recently put a new Remo Fibraskin (sp?) as a reso on my kick and I need to cut some small ports for air flow. I have never used this type of head before and want to know if there are any tricks or keys to successfully porting it.
Is it best to use a blade or should I try a soldering iron to cut the holes?
Anyone have some experience to speak from?

[itchie]

if you use an actual port hole like the aquarian one for example there shouldn't be an issue

[Johnny G]

Thanks itchie.
The issue is that I play an 18" kick so I don't want the standard 6" hole as I will lose too much resonance. I plan on putting four 2-3" holes about 5-6" in from the edge at 2,4 8, and 10 o'clock. I will have to make these myself as no-one sells a kit for ports this small.
Any hints...anyone...

[xsabers]

I would suggest one 4" hole rather than several smaller holes. You don't need as many as you are speaking about. The loss of mass would be far more than a 6" hole on a 22" head not only as a percentage, but in actual square inches. To get enough resonation from your front head, you need to retain the mass. A 4" hole is fairly small, but large enough to get your hand through if needed as well as for mic placement. 4.5" would be even safer but if you want to use an aftermarket ring, be sure your diameter is of a standard size. Even a 5" hole would be more effective than several smaller holes, IMO.

I have a cutting tool that cost about $4 that is designed for porting heads. It is adjustable throughout a broad range and works like a charm. Available at most major on line chains that begin with the initials GC (plus others I'm sure).

Good luck!

[late8]

I would suggest one 4" hole rather than several smaller holes. You don't need as many as you are speaking about. The loss of mass would be far more than a 6" hole on a 22" head not only as a percentage, but in actual square inches. To get enough resonation from your front head, you need to retain the mass. A 4" hole is fairly small, but large enough to get your hand through if needed as well as for mic placement. 4.5" would be even safer but if you want to use an aftermarket ring, be sure your diameter is of a standard size. Even a 5" hole would be more effective than several smaller holes, IMO.

I have a cutting tool that cost about $4 that is designed for porting heads. It is adjustable throughout a broad range and works like a charm. Available at most major on line chains that begin with the initials GC (plus others I'm sure).

Good luck!

Just wanted to thank you for the knowledge I gained from your post.

[xsabers]

Thanks late8, but anything and everything I know is from folks on this board and Bob Gatzen!

[Johnny G]

Thanks xsabers. I will shop for one of those cutting tools.
I just want to be sure that there is nothing special about Fibraskin heads that requires a unique approach. It looks so different than the pinstripes and ambassadors that I am used to.
As for the loss of mass, a six inch circle has just over 28 square inches of area lost from the head. A three inch circle has about 7 square inches of area, so four of them would equal the air flow of one six inch circle without eliminating such a large part of the head in one spot, thus retaining the resonant quality of the front head. Since I mentioned that I play an 18" kick, I need to preserve as much continuous surface area as possible. Small holes will interupt the vibration across the head much less than one large gap in the center. Even a large hole placed off center will take away more tone than small holes nearer the edge.
I totally hear what you are saying about being able to get your hand or a mic into the drum. I don't put anything inside my kick, but mic placement is a concern. I think I will follow your advice and go middle road with two 4" or three 3" holes. This will add up to about 22-26 square inches of head lost.
Thanks so much for responding. I knew I could count on my DrumChatters to help.
I will check some sites for a head cutting tool now.
Peace and rhythm.

[xsabers]

On my 18", I use a pre-ported emad reso so the hole is the standard size (5"??) and it works GREAT!

[Johnny G]

Hey there anyone interested...
In my search for a cutting tool, I found a post on another chat site that mentioned an Evans vented batter side head. It has very small holes around the perimeter to eliminate the usual slapback from having an un-ported reso head. This player even said that he places a mike on this batter head instead, after trying many other combinations.
I have been been putting off changing the batter head, but now I think I'll try out this thing and leave my Fibraskin front head alone.
I did find the O's Hole Cutting Tool for $5.99. It looked very capable of creating a variety of diameter holes. I could not find the dimensions of the largest and smallest holes possible though. That was dissappointing.
I'll let you know how it works out.

[Cuz Doc drummer]

I have recently put a new Remo Fibraskin (sp?) as a reso on my kick and I need to cut some small ports for air flow. I have never used this type of head before and want to know if there are any tricks or keys to successfully porting it.
Is it best to use a blade or should I try a soldering iron to cut the holes?
Anyone have some experience to speak from?

Hey Johnny I see where you were going about the fiber skin, not knowing if it would fray in time. Like cutting off the sewn part on the bottom of a pair of jeans to get the hippy look on your cuffs.

I'm guessing you could use some clear finger nail polish or clear glue on the very edge to stop that, if in fact it is a problem with the fiber skins, I don't know.

Personally I used a jar lid about 2 1/2" or 2 3/4" and a extract-o knife to cut my hole out. I didn't want to loose to much resonance either, I fingered I could always cut it bigger if I needed to, but it's just fine.

[Johnny G]

xsabers
I have used a standard hole cutter ring both 5 and 6" and I was not dissappointed with my kick sound either. She's a sweet instrument no matter what.
I am just on a kick to eke out every last bit of resonance I can because I have been playing pretty dead sounding tubs for too long.

Cuz Doc
Thanks for seeing where my concern was. I am releived by the notion that I can avoid this potential with the Evans ported bater side head.
I really hope this works.

Thanks for your assistance, as always.