snare drumhead that attaches to uprightbass [Archive]

along4theride

06-03-2008, 10:20 PM

I have come across a couple videos where it appears to be a drumhead attached to the upper body of an upright bass and would like to know if you or anyone else would have any information about it. You can view it on youtube.com marty robbins pretty words video. I would like to find one to put on mine but am not sure exactly what it is or how they mounted it. Maybe you can find more information about it or at least steer me in the right direction.
Thanks!!

juuzek

06-04-2008, 11:37 AM

Here is an email from Kent Blanton, who is a bassist in Nashville and regularly performs on lthe Grand Ole Opry. As you can see, I was inquiring about it's history, use and construction.
I'd reccomend contacting Kent directly on the forum; his tag is 'superman'.
Here is the info he shared with me. Thanks again, Kent!

"Michael,,thanks for the email ,the drum attachment is not my invention its comes from back in the 40s when the Opry would'nt let drums on the stage,,so A fellow named Ernie Newton came up with this idea,
the technique is not really to hit the drum head but rather use a brushing motion,, more like when a drummer stirrs with brushes,and then on thedown stroke thats where you have more of a strike to the head,,If you can find Hank Snows original version of Movin On,, youll hear what I mean.
As far as how they are made, the original ones were a wood frame with a calfskin drum head mounted on it with thumb tack on the edege.I have one like the original, the only problem is in damp weather theres no way to keep a skin head tight,,. so I have built one useing thin plywood,, about like panneling,,I cut out in the middle . and I get used plastic frosted bass drum heads from a local drum shop,, most of the time their $5 or so,,I cut the head to fit the top and rough up the back of the head with sandpaper,then coat the back of the head with aresol glue , and coat the top of the wood.,that makes the drum part,
I then take another piece of wood about 2" wide and 12" long and under lap it and attach it to the back side of the drum wood,,I use velcro on this piece of wood and other on the back side of my finger board,,I also have a small piece on the outer edge near the edge of the top to hold it there,,I'll try to make some photos sometime,, and explain it better,
Its a cool little deal and works really good with a small band,, I also find it useful when playing with a band that might not have the best timing or tends to drag, with useing the drum I control the on and off beat,,so I'm kinda playing with myself,, but remember its the basses job to hold the timing up there,, so they have to play with me, and I can keep it from dragging, or speeding up,,Most guys I have worked with love it it adds just a little something to the music,,,any other ?s feel free to mail me back,,hope this helps,Kent"