Drummer Cafe Community Forum

   I see that Mr A has like a 10-12 inch hole cut in his bass drum.  Im curiouse how do u go about cutting a perfect hole that big?

Go to the hardware store and buy a mandrel and hole saw.  It is so easy even cave men can do it.   ;D

they also sell remo dynamic-o's (or somethying like that) that come in a huge sort-of record disc shape, and theres like 5 hole sizes you pop out and stick to your bass drum. from there, you just use an excacto knife to cut the inside of the hole out. its pretty easy.

I think he is talking about the shell and not the head.

wooooooooops :x

my bad haha

If you're referring to large the hole in my front head, I laid a cymbal on the head and cut around it with either a razor blade or a carpet knife.

Ah the age old question. Truth of the matter there is about a million ways to do this ( well maybe not a million ) There is the cymbal technique,there is the hot coffee can,etc... what I do and always have is use an Architectural Compass. I get an exact measurement and since a true compass has either pencil or a blade I simply use the blade and wa - la hole in head.Though anyway you do it is all good.

Hahaha no i wasnt talking about the shell but the large hole on the reso head.   Ahhh a cymbal it all makes so much sense now!  Thanks alot im thinking my 10 inch splash should do the trick.  And im hoping itll give me a very punchy sound and i just like the accesibility fact in general.  Thanks again.

Am i suppose to cut the hole well the head is on the drum or take it off and do it on a table or something??

I've always used the ACME Instant Hole, made popular by Wile E. Coyote.
Just take it out of the box... slap it on, and

instant hole.  They come in several sizes, from road runner size to big enough to swallow a truck.  Very convenient. ;D 8)

WDG - I'd recommend taking the head off the drum and laying it on a surface that you won't mind marking with the knife.   Carefully cut around what ever you decide to use for a template using a razor blade or some other type of very sharp blade.  Make the cut smooth, jagged edges might start a split.  You might want to start with a smaller hole to see if you'll get the sound you want because you can make the hole bigger but only the ACME holes can be adjusted smaller.   ;D    

Ya thats what i figured just making sure though.  Thanks alot and i do think ill start with 8 inch then 10 inch splash then if needed 13 inch hihat.

A general rule is always remove the head first. Reason being is that when the head is tuned and tight its more likely to rip as you are cutting the hole where as it will not if the head is off. I had this happen once with a crappy head that was just an extra I had lying around.