Lightest Bass Drum out there?

[Scottydog]

Hello Drummers,

I am in search of very light Bass Drums for our Bass Drummer. The current one we have is too heavy and really hard on the back. I need your help in finding Bass Drums that are pretty lighweight...possibly alum. or kevlar rims..etc. 12 inch width would be nice too. And about how much they are.....

Thanks in advance.

[Cliff Davis]

Premier/Hosbilt bass drums are at the top of the list for light weight. Coupled with a Cancussion harness- very comfortale and light.

[Mike Cole]

I agree with Cliff. The Hosbilt is remarkably light for its size. It has a lot to do with the lightweight hardware and thin shell. The light weight belies the solid tone though.
There was another brand that was innovative for its time; the Clelland (sp?). Maybe someone out there has more of the story on the designer and creator--Terry Clelland? I'm sure that there are a few that are still in use. It was made of a lightweight composite material. I don't remember the actual weight, but it was the lightest drum for its size I've ever seen. The tone didn't have the richness and depth of a wood shelled drum and it was pretty limited in terms of pitch range, so there were trade offs in that respect. Luke Allan had one...he could make any drum sound great The same technology went into their snare drums. Clan MacFarlane played them in the mid 80's.
Good hunting.

[David McDougall]

Love my Andante, it's the largest one they make and I have no problems. I'm middle aged, broke my back at 17 and had three surgeries about 20 yeras ago. The harness is also important, more fit than style.

Good luck

[jbphilo]

Love my Andante--light and great tone (the tone preety much stays true across the range of sizes). Andante also has a new lightweight carrier with "arms" that fit the drum's floating heads, uses 1-3 hooks, and folds up to fit into a suitcase. No more pillow, swinging in the wind, or extra tugging on the neck or shoulders. Match it all with a pair of M&G's or Bob Meade mallets and you are good to go. TADATDATDATDATDATDATDA

[Tenorgeek-Steve-O]

We have the new pearl drum. And it might not be lighter than the hosbilt, but it certainly has the rich and solid tone with loads of depth. I can't recommend another bass-drum. It is perfect! And we have the biggest there is... Still lightweight. Pretty expensive though. And it is also a matter of which harness/carrier you use...
Happy hunting.

[Wayne Fisher]

We are also looking for a light bass drum. Looking at Hosbilt 26x12. We currently have a 28x12 Premier and I was wondering if there would be any big differences in sound?
Wayne

[Cliff Davis]

Just Fish-

The degree of difference in sound quality between the Hosbilt and your old Premier will depend on how you have your Premier set up. That is a very difficult question to answer on email without knowing more information, and without actually hearing your old drum. Although I must say, that I personally found the transition from a very well tuned and dampened 12x28 Premier to a 14x28 Hosbilt, to be on the order of moving up to a Symphonic quality instrument. The Hosbilt reminds me of playing a concert bass drum.


By the way, if you are going to a Hosbilt I'd highly recommend the 14x28. My opinion is that the physics of 0.5(14") to 1.0(28") shell size ratio lends itself to a bigger sound.

Cliff

[Andrew Adams]

Our band plays Pearl for competitions. I swear that it's the best bass on the market for TONE.

But it god awful heavy. We have an Andante for parades. SOOOOOOO much lighter. I can lift it with one finger comfortably.

[Hossman]

The Hosbilt 26X12 is a drum that is extremely lightweight yet packs a great tonal ability.
If I had to march any distance that would be the drum for me.
They have the same tuning range as a 28X14. The tonal difference is in the shell timbre. It's smaller in dimension so it obviously has a slightly higher timbre.
There are a few Hosbilt originals out there in 26X12 to be got.
Depending on the finish the weight is as light as 10 or eleven pounds.

Cheers, HOSS

[MatthewBradbury]

THis is rather unfortunate, but the late Luke Allen had his own design and with all the hardware weighed literally between 8 and 10 pounds, without tone being sacrificed. The shell was if I"m not mistaken made of fibre-glass there's a couple of bands on the ACPBA circut that have these drums, however, I'm not sure if they'd give them up for sale.

[Hossman]

Scotty Dog,
Send me an e-mail and we'll chat. hosbilt@bmts.com