I love shallow bass drums and I dislike deep bass drums. The deepest bass drum I have is 20 X 16. It's part of my Arbiter AT kit. It's kind of exceptional because it's in context to the rest of the drums in the kit which have slightly deeper shells all around. But, yeah, vintage stuff rules!Burger Kin

Thanks for your imput O-Lugs.

Vintage stuff does rule!!

On hindsight I may be a bit harsh on my fast judgment of the PDP.

They are great drums for the money, and I'm sure with some experimenting

with heads and tuning etc,I can a better sound out of it.

But the old Slingys still rule! flower

Yes, vintage gear IS superior, AND shallow bass drums sound MUCH better! But, when I get called for the studio gig, they want the DW kit every time.

Everything has its place, and everyone has their preferences. Good thing we're all "enlightened" here at VDF...

To me, deep bass drums are another BS drum trend, like the square sizes of the '80s, or you name it.

Deeper bass drums *can* produce a lot of low end, but usually at the expense of attack; you get a slap instead of a punch. And, some of them also produce a nearly unusable whoomp in the studio, with nasty low overtones.

I've hurt small animals with my 8x20 Premier Artist Birch kick drum. You really hear the front head as part of the attack.

What it really comes down to is the sound you're going for. But deep BD's take up more space, often require different bags/cases, take up valuable stage space, more unwieldy to transport, etc. Yuck.

Don't believe the hype...

Dan

The deepest I have is a 16x22 Pearl DLX and my 60's Ludwig 14x22 3 ply classic just (no pun)kicks the crap out of it for punch and low end.Same for my 14x22 Superstar bass,both great sounding drums.

If you want to hear a really great domonstration of how shallower bass drums have great punch and low end,.listen to Creams "Wheels of Fire "album live stuff.Ginger Bakers Ludwigs are both amazing at 11x20,and 11x22 custom sized drums......thunder.

Steve B

I once took my Ludwig Junior single-tension bass drum (22 X 10) out on a gig. The place was empty and very ambient so it was really the perfect spot for acoustic instruments. The bass drum is all original with calfskin heads and I brought a fluffy wool beater, too. The drum was tensioned jusssst to the point of resonating (very low-pitched). All I can say is that it was the best bass drum sound I ever got, live, on a gig with no mics. It's actually probably my favorite bass drum, but I'm afraid to use it a lot.

If you want a deeper sounding bass drum install a kick port, there is 5" super port that's on the market, that will transform any bass drum into a deep rich sound wthout changing heads My friend has one on every kit he owns and own's 6 kits. the best one was his 20"x14" kick "oh my god " that drum came alive so much deep rich tone compared to before the port was insalled.

pompa mfw

Mr. Pearl

Okay, here's my two cents - I have a 16x22, Pearl BLX kick, with a tone, and feel that I've yet to match on any of my Ludwig, (69, 14x20, 7?, 14x22, 67, 14x22) kick drums. Still working on it, and I'm by no means an expert at tuning. Got the 67s a couple of months ago, and restored the hoops - hate taking them on, and off to keep tweaking the tone, but it just ain't there yet. Just switched from modern plastic, to Speedking felt beater, and that has set me back even more... for what that's worth.

I agree, the kickport is a cool product. My sense of things is that it improved the sound from the drivers seat more than it impacted the audience impression. Even if that is the case the drivers seat is the most important seat in the house.

As far as the debate shallow vs. deep is concerned. This is difficult. My first "real" pro kit was a Noble & Cooley with a 20x16 (i think; it may be 20x18) so this is the sound I grew accustomed to. I bought and sold a round badge kit and liked every drum but the bass. just flat and dull compared to the N&C. I like an open sound - with that said I just played my Camco Oaklawn out for the first time. It took about 1.5 hours of fiddling with the tuning but I finally got the sound I was looking for. Now I love both of these kits. The N&C is 20x16, 8x8, 10x10, 12x10 ( i think) and 15x12. the camco is 20x14, 12x8, 14x14, 16x16 with matching oaklawn snare. I still say buy what you like and what produces the "sound in your head". then play the mess out of em'