26" Bass Drum!?!? Where have you been all my life...

[Talktotommy]

Had never played one until about seven years ago now I have four of them.

 

[eigentone]

I'll have to see if youtube has any sound files. That sounds interesting, but man that Ludwig sound is beautiful to my ear. I remember when Made in Japan was frowned upon, so as long as there are no flaws, and they have that punch, I'd be happy. Hell, some snare drums cost more

Here's one:

 

[swarfrat]

Granted they were catalinas, and it had some girth when tuned well, up, but I wasn't ever able to get the depth I wanted out of my Catalina 26. Now the 16x32 Ludwig I had would jiggle your innerds. I absolutely loved the 18" floor tom on the catalinas though. Had I the space and chops for a real kit again I might consider 26/12/15/18. But I'm just a guitar player who bangs on drums once in a while and space is at a premium in the bonus room.

The snare is a gut snare 12x15. Both marchers.

 

[Jhouse86]

26s are in a different league.

 

[Toast Tee]

That sounds sick. Do you know if that was custom made?. I wonder how they got the audio? Is that's 14, or 16 deep?

 

[Steech]

26" bass drum ain't nothing.......

View attachment 539069

I’d get a Dixson lift for that. And a slightly longer beater shaft.

 

[Toast Tee]

Had never played one until about seven years ago now I have four of them.

Lol. What do you have, if you don't mind me asking, and do you have a favorite? I had mentioned I have a Yestayear Starclassic B/B in Bonham sizes. The sound would be great for certain styles of music, but not what I'm looking for. It is a beautiful, rare kit, but it's just not practical.
If I can get the "Bonham" sound with the Centennial, I think that's the most practical. I have an Artstar I can get pretty close, but not that bass drum

 

[flatwins]

I’ve got a 26 but haven’t messed with it much (yet). It’s a 1940 Leedy that needed some repairs so I ended up recovering it to go with my Leedy & Ludwig kit.

 

[bpaluzzi]

I played a Gretsch Catalina Club Rock 1st generation that had a 26"x16" kick (along with 14"x10" rack and 16"x16" and 18"x16" floors) and it was an absolute sledgehammer. The later generation of this kit changed to a 24"x16" w/ 13"x9" rack and it wasn't nearly as nice, IMO.

I used them as my main live and recording kit for over 10 years -- it's one of the few kits I regret selling.

(drums in at 0:36 -- note that there's a separate smaller kit for the verses, e.g. at 1:02 to 1:14. The rest is the Gretsch kit)

(drums in at 1:30 for sound check, then show starts at 2:00)

 

[Toast Tee]

I played a Gretsch Catalina Club Rock 1st generation that had a 26"x16" kick (along with 14"x10" rack and 16"x16" and 18"x16" floors) and it was an absolute sledgehammer. The later generation of this kit changed to a 24"x16" w/ 13"x9" rack and it wasn't nearly as nice, IMO.

I used them as my main live and recording kit for over 10 years -- it's one of the few kits I regret selling.

View attachment 539125 View attachment 539126

(drums in at 0:36 -- note that there's a separate smaller kit for the verses, e.g. at 1:02 to 1:14. The rest is the Gretsch kit)

(drums in at 1:30 for sound check, then show starts at 2:00)

Very nice. All of it! The kit sounds great live, and in the studio. At about 4:55 in the vid the tom/bass groove really did sound special, as I could hear everything so clearly, and that snare sound is killer. I read the short story in the description. That had to be tough. I don't have enough superlatives in my vocab to give the description everything deserves. Great stuff!

 

[crash]

Only owned one. Shoulda kept it. Let it go because I had too many sets. Turns out the others were redondent. Had it in the practice room for a while. Just kinda sucked me into Funky Meters groove play alongs. Great fun.

 

[Tornado]

What surprised me about mine is how easy it is to play dynamically. It just has such a wide range of response. Lower volumes are really easy, it probably takes more effort to get it going than a smaller bass drum. But other bass drums kind of top out at a certain point. This one keeps going the harder you kick it. It's got serious room filling volume without any mics if you can play it hard enough.

 

[Matched Gripper]

26" bass drum ain't nothing.......

View attachment 539069

Those were a couple of big calfs.

 

[Tama CW]

I played around with this early 1930's Slingerland 12x26 (single tension) using calf skin heads. I was quite the thunder. That extra less 2 inches in depth seems to work.
But I also found I got a lot of the same tone and thunder clap with a smaller 12x22 Slingerland. I don't miss the 26" but it was fun while I had it.

 

[brianb]

I love my 26’s!

 

[Matched Gripper]

Hello,

A dear friend gifted me a 12x26 Leedy bass drum many years ago...I put some proper spurs on it back then and have been using it to supplement some tone ideas when I record.

Monday I put it up as my main kick and haven't looked back! It feels a bit different sure, but, wow, it sounds just like the perfect kick in my head sounds!

Anyone else a fan???

cheers and blessings, Trey

Never owned one but have played someone else’s 16x26’s. No muffling, except a minor built in muffle ring. They were very deep and rumbly, and more work to play fast singles and doubles than a 22” or smaller. I would have tunes them up a little higher.

 

[JazzDrumGuy]

Biggest I have is a Slingy 14x24 which is huge........but that sounds so cool!

 

[stevil]

I had a Vistalite with a 26. It was a challenge to tune, and I wasn’t crazy with how it sounded from the drivers seat, but it was really impressive out front. I regret selling it, but I’ve found 24s to be easier to play and still sound pretty tough. Threads like this for sure make me want to give a 26 another go.

 

[Tornado]

I had a Vistalite with a 26. It was a challenge to tune, and I wasn’t crazy with how it sounded from the drivers seat, but it was really impressive out front. I regret selling it, but I’ve found 24s to be easier to play and still sound pretty tough. Threads like this for sure make me want to give a 26 another go.

The driver's seat is so deceptive. I have a 22" Dream Vintage Bliss Crash/Ride that sounds atrocious from the throne. But Hell if it doesn't sound phenomenal under mics and away from the kit.

 

[latzanimal]

Love my 26s....