Tibetan fish wood blocks.

[wolvie56]

Picked these up off of E-Bay for $25.00 bucks. The buy it now was $150.00. They are surprisingly loud. Interesting shape and how they hogged out the middle of them. Very musical as well. There supposed to be old, but how old I don't know. Maybe I can find a prettier block to mount them on.

[drumstix]

Haha nice one man. They look pretty interesting

[Drumbledore]

Way before companies like LP were making temple blocks and Jam Blocks out of plastic (their trade name plastic is called "Jenigor" I think), Chinese temple blocks carved out of wood, painted red and decorated just like what you have in your photo were pretty much the norm. LP came up with the Jam Block simply because traditional wood temple blocks can only take so much punishment by hard hitting drummers before they splinter (mind you there are percussionists and drummers who do the right thing and use the more delicate block beater that is usually supplied with these sets when new). So what you got there, look after it, they're a nice little addition to any set up. Great score for $25 by the way.

[bongobill]

That is a nice score for $25. Ludwig made a nice set out of maple years ago(60s-70s) pitched to C. Haven't seen anything of the same quality since.

[wolvie56]

Way before companies like LP were making temple blocks and Jam Blocks out of plastic (their trade name plastic is called "Jenigor" I think), Chinese temple blocks carved out of wood, painted red and decorated just like what you have in your photo were pretty much the norm. LP came up with the Jam Block simply because traditional wood temple blocks can only take so much punishment by hard hitting drummers before they splinter (mind you there are percussionists and drummers who do the right thing and use the more delicate block beater that is usually supplied with these sets when new). So what you got there, look after it, they're a nice little addition to any set up. Great score for $25 by the way.

Thanks, Drumbledore. They sound great. And seem to be still very solid. Can you clue me in as to what kind of striker I should be using? Thanks much. Cheers.

[slinky]

those look cool. Are they made from a specialty wood?

[MartyM]

wolfie, something tells be that you use a wood or nylon round ball type of stick..like those used on xylaphones...( spelling?? )

[Drumbledore]

Use either a small thin short handled mallet with a small wood ball or rubber ball end. Long handled nylon xylophone mallets are a bit too hard to go hitting them without doing some minor damage. And don't use drumsticks on them if you can avoid it (sometimes if you have no time to quickly switch from one type of beater to another, it's something that will happen, but don't make a habit of repetitive practicing and perfecting a percussion part on them with drumsticks, they will splinter as they are way more delicate than Jam Blocks).

My two cents of advice as a percussionist.

[SnareTan]

Wolvie56,

I think you need to work on the mount as it isn't shock mounted. Directly screwed in like that will put a ton of force on/around the screw and break the block up there with or without rubber mallets. The way I'd expect to see is it would be have a strip of leather wrapped tightly around the mount hole and the end of that screwed into the mounting frame. The leather would need to be tight so they could still stick out horizontally, but allow it to flex and not put so much pressure on the block for better resonance.

I have no idea where to get such a material, but perhaps surgical tubing cut down lengthwise or an old belt.

Tan

[MartyM]

Snare Tan, good observation! I agree, some type of cusion would defineately be a help! seems to me we had some of these way back in HS....long long ago in a world far far away.

[bongobill]

Using SnareTan's suggestion: if you could get some Sole Bend (a very stiff, thick leather used for the soles of shoes) you could mount the tone block to the leather and the leather to the mount bar. A shoe repair shop would have some. It is about 1/4 inch thick and very stiff.

[wolvie56]

Wolvie56,

I think you need to work on the mount as it isn't shock mounted. Directly screwed in like that will put a ton of force on/around the screw and break the block up there with or without rubber mallets. The way I'd expect to see is it would be have a strip of leather wrapped tightly around the mount hole and the end of that screwed into the mounting frame. The leather would need to be tight so they could still stick out horizontally, but allow it to flex and not put so much pressure on the block for better resonance.

I have no idea where to get such a material, but perhaps surgical tubing cut down lengthwise or an old belt.

Tan

Thanks for the concern, man. But there are black hard rubber washers on the front and back of each block. One side flat, and the other concave (the screw head side). So it's not direct steel screw head on wood. I have a 4" flat head screw bolt with a rubber washer in the front, with a nut and another rubber washer on the backside of the block. Then about a 1/2" space then a nut and a lock washer on both sides of the wooden bar. If you look real close you can see the black washers. But I was actually worried that this wouldn't be enough to cushion the shock at the connection point. Do you think this will be enough? Maybe a rubber bushing? Although the hole is really small. Oh, another thing, should they be tight so they don't move around, or loose on the screw? Loose makes it kinda hard to play them since they move around after you hit them. I have them tight right now.

[kona]

Very cool ! Amazing buy - congratulations Will be a fun addition to your kit.

[SnareTan]

Thanks for the concern, man. But there are black hard rubber washers on the front and back of each block. One side flat, and the other concave (the screw head side). So it's not direct steel screw head on wood. I have a 4" flat head screw bolt with a rubber washer in the front, with a nut and another rubber washer on the backside of the block. Then about a 1/2" space then a nut and a lock washer on both sides of the wooden bar. If you look real close you can see the black washers. But I was actually worried that this wouldn't be enough to cushion the shock at the connection point. Do you think this will be enough? Maybe a rubber bushing? Although the hole is really small. Oh, another thing, should they be tight so they don't move around, or loose on the screw? Loose makes it kinda hard to play them since they move around after you hit them. I have them tight right now.

That might do the trick, I'm a visual person, so I'd have to get a better view of it to understand what exactly is going on there with your mount. From what I read, I think you are making a temple block sandwich on rubber cushion washer bread?

If all of this were loose, what would the range of motion be? Does the screw going through the whole thing rub on the inside of the hole of the block?

I'd expect to be able to push on it and it flex a little.

Tan

[wolvie56]

That might do the trick, I'm a visual person, so I'd have to get a better view of it to understand what exactly is going on there with your mount. From what I read, I think you are making a temple block sandwich on rubber cushion washer bread?

If all of this were loose, what would the range of motion be? Does the screw going through the whole thing rub on the inside of the hole of the block?

I'd expect to be able to push on it and it flex a little.

Tan

Yes, a rubber washer sandwich with the washers being the bread. I don't think the screws are touching the outside diameter of the hole. The hole in the blocks are bigger than the screw diameter, but not by much. The range of motion would be a right to left movement pivoting about the screw mount if the blocks were to be loose. Making it hard to strike the block in the same place every time because of the movement. If you push straight down on the block, which would be the same direction as a strike, there is a little bit of give.

[fumbled time]

The look cool wolvie, any sound clips in the future?

[wolvie56]

Yep. I'm saving my pennies in order to get a Zoom Q3 hopefully soon.