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Thread: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

  1. #1

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    Default Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    Hi,

    I know with guitars you cannot put steel string on nylon string guitar because it's not designed to handle the stresses and tensioned steel strings will snap it's neck. Is the same thing true for drums or would I be able to put kevlar skins on my 'designed for polyester skin' drumkit?

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    Kevlar heads will fit on any standard drum, but you have to be really, really careful with them. You can probably get away with them alone on a metal drum, but on wood you need a reinforcement ring. Pearl used to make these for people that wanted to put Kevlar on older, non free-floating marching snares. It was basically a plastic covered metal ring that went just under the bearing edge to keep the drum from imploding (which it would do under too much tension). I saw a video made by the Cadets snare tech right when Falams came out where they cranked a head on an old snare until it could take no more. He touched it with a stick on a long pole and it literally imploded very violently.

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    Kevlar skins? How do these sound? So I assume the advantage of kevlar skins would be durability? Any other advantages? I have never heard of anyone using kevlar skins.
    ~Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.- Reggie Leach~

  4. #4
    ThePloughman Guest

    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    I seem to remember a post over on the Pearl Drum Forum where a guy put these type of marching heads on an expensive snare drum..... the result was a tattooed bearing edge, and he had to have edges recut, because they were ruined.

    I wouldnt advise it....... and there is no way you need that much tension on a set drum snare. It is kind of senseless, to be blunt about it.

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    kevlar heads are used on pipe band snare drums as well...

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    I agree with NR, the results are not going to be good, and there is no need for that much tension on a drumset snare. If you want a marching snare sound, buy a marching snare and use it as a main. But a 14x5.5 snare will never sound like a marching drum just because it has a kevlar head on it.
    Gretsch - Tama - Pearl - Sabian - Zildjian - Stagg - Evans - Vater - Gibraltar

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    I'm going to disagree here. Kevlar tuned medium tight on a brass or steel 3-5" shell will produce an insane gunshot sound. You will likely sustain hearing damage if not protected for an entire night, but it's a unique sound. There is a reason people don't play marching snares in the house, but if you play lightly, the articulation is amazing.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    Quote Originally Posted by ShaneRoney View Post
    I'm going to disagree here. Kevlar tuned medium tight on a brass or steel 3-5" shell will produce an insane gunshot sound. You will likely sustain hearing damage if not protected for an entire night, but it's a unique sound. There is a reason people don't play marching snares in the house, but if you play lightly, the articulation is amazing.
    Are the kevlar skins very loud? I was actually considering it because I assumed the volume will be lower if the skins are tighter because the amplitude of the oscillations will be smaller. I thought the marching snare guys go for tighter skins because the stick response on tight skins is better.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    This guy used kevlar on his kit. It sounds really overpowering, but some people might like it:
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjS_EEcV4lY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjS_EEcV4lY[/ame]
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  10. #10

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    Default Re: Can you put kevlar skins on any drum?

    I marched snare in high school and a fellow drumline member and I decided one day to try kevlar on our drumset snares. This was about 15 years ago btw. I had a crummy CB aluminum pile at the time and my buddy had a free floating maple pearl piccolo. Both snares sounded unique and pretty cool. My buddy's sounded much better than mine however.

    Tuning can be tough, kevlar needs high tension, and it can really damage the snare as others have already mentioned. I'm pretty sure my cheap aluminum shell crumpled in on itself a bit, though my buddys maple shell held up just fine, maybe the free floating had something to do with it?

    My suggestion, find a cheap alternate snare that you can experiment with before risking your main drum.
    *****GRETSCH****BOSPHORUS****AQUARIAN****VALJE**** *

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