For that 60's sound, the bass drum is pretty much wide open no muffling other than maybe a felt strip under the head.....coated ambassador if you want to be authentic. For me, I use a more modern sound when I'm doing blues/R&B gigs.....for those gigs I use Aquarian Performance II coated batter heads on my toms and classic clears on the resos, Superkick II coated on the bass batter with a white regulator with NO hole on the reso.

For a classic sound on my 3-ply Ludwig kit I use Smooth white Heavy Ludwig Weathermaster heads with one felt strip on each head offset to one side, maybe an inch from the left bearing edge, and coated heavy weathermasters on the toms top and bottom. Gives you that 60's eary 70's sound with ease.

My Leedy kit has Fiberskyn 3 ambassador weight heads top and bottom on all the toms and the powerstroke version of the fiberskyn 3 ambassadors on the bass drum for that "vintage calf" big band type sound.

I don't believe in the theory of cutting a hole in the front head of a bass drum, never done it, never will. Most sound guys freak when they see my kits come in for the first time. I even had a 20 minute arguement with a "sound guy" one night about how I HAD to cut a hole in my front head! Lets just say I won, and showed him how to properly mic up a drumkit and make it sound good without cutting holes in heads. He appologized for his ignorance after the first set. Excited

Oh, and BTW, I mostly use the "Glyn Johns" method of micing up a drumkit, live or in the studio, it works best for me. Two overheads and a kick mic is all thats really needed...close micing is overkill for most club gigs, IMO. Some clubs I don't even have to mic up the kit......

Good response from LD.I'd agree with what he's said.Don't kill your drums by using to much dampening.There are heads for that kick that will work for what you need.The Aquarian sk1,sk2,or even a coated sk3.You could also try Remo powerstrke heads as well.Never cut or port your kick,you will lose some punch and feel if you do.I have played with my kick being ported and have since changed back to solid. Using felt strips will give your drum that classic boom and sweet thump.My Slingerland bass drum is like yours,one hell of a beast and carries with it tons of tone and lots of sound(damn,that kick is loud) That's part of the beauty of classic drums,they are open and very resonant.I love the three ply vintage sound,especially the snares. Tuning wise you can adjust some of that ring.Tune the batter slightly above it's lowest resonant note and then adjust for feel.Tune the reso a third higher and you should be good.Sometimes on kicks if it sounds flat adjust the reso up in pitch.You will be amazed at how much the reso affects your sound.Always make sure there is even tension on the head you use.Work the rods well and the drum will come into pitch. Always make sure if you use Evans or Remo that you crack or flex the head before tuning.If you use a kick patch on the batter it helps with the warm punch and clarity in tone.Have patience and remember,our kit sounds different away than it does from behind the kit.There have been times when I've thought my kick was flat from behind the kit only to find it sounding great when I heard it from the audiences perspective.Good luck.If I missed something I'm sure someone will let you know.

Im going to get shot down in flames for this...I just know it!

I LOVE the non-ported head bass drum sound, particularly on a 14x22 vintage kick. BUT, if you are fortunate enough to be able to pursuade the often novice sound engineers at gigs, to mic and unported kick drum, great stuff!

My story is a little different, i routinely took a 70's Gretsch set out on road on tours, And to be honest had to port the reso head to avoid some pretty dicey sound -orientated situations. If you do this, yes, you loose some of the presense of the drum, and then all of a sudden...you loose a lot of bottom end when its mic'd up. This is only my opinion, but i think on shallow kicks, a looser reso head works best. FYI i only used an evans damping pad on the batter, and a felt strip under the reso. Magic for rock and pop (at least after late 70's anyway!!

On my Slinger I use an old Ludwig hoop mount muffler on the batter of my 26" and there's a pillow in the drum I taped in place so it touches the bottom couple of inches of each drum.

I've cut holes in heads, but not any more.

In the 60's I didn't know anyone that didn't take the front head off and put a pillow inside the drum. It even sounds good with a cement cinder block inside the drum on the pillow - Geoff Emerick mentions he liked doing that with Ringo's set.

I'm going for the lowest tone I can get - like thunder. On my Gretsch sets I use felt strips front and back and a small pillow in the bottom.

It's important that the pillow be a certain weight and that the outside surface is (ideally) something very soft like corduroy.

Lately I've been using a huge lambswool beater 'cause I play brushes a lot and I like the sound.

My method is a little different. Not necessarily any better, but it works for me. On my 1950s 14x22 Gretsch bass drum, I use a clear pinstripe batter and coated ambassador reso. The only muffling is a Remo Muff'l Ring. It sounds great: round and warm, with tons of sustain. Right now my reso is ported; previously I used a head with no port. I haven't noticed a big difference in sound -- although I put the ported head on after spending about a year playing a different kit, so perhaps I just didn't notice the difference because I'd been away for so long.

I've never tried a single-ply head or a felt strip on a bass drum, but the above posts have piqued my curiosity! I'm rewrapping a 14x20 Club Date, so I think I'll try that method when the drum is done.

L-D: I'd love to hear your method for miking a bass drum with no port. I'm not porting my Ludwig kit, and it's going to be my gigging kit (if I ever play out again -- having a baby girl and a busy job has put a major dent in my playing time). I'm sure I'll have to give guidance to a couple of sound guys down the road, and I'd love to know how to do it.

Not much to it...I use a short desk-type mic stand and place the mic about 8-12 inches away from the front head in about the center of the drum. Closer for my smaller bass drums, further away for the 26" Leedy. It captures the natural sound of the bass drum nicely. The rest of the kit is miced up with two overheads, and thats it. The guitar players that I play with have finally realized that there is no need to have 100 watt marshall stacks anymore and that a Fender Deluxe Reverb is about all you need for the clubs we play. I've even convinced one that all he needs is a Fender Champ miced up (think the Layla album for the guitar sound).......and you know what? It sounds every bit as awesome as any Marshall stack does! Hearing things again is a beautiful thing! LOL!

[COLOR="DarkRed"]1) Aquarian SK1 or SK2 batter and a light reso head such as a coated Diplomat or Evans G1and no add'l muffling at all [/COLOR] [COLOR="Green"] 2) A Remo Powerstroke 3 coated or Evans EQ4 with a heavier reso such as an Ambassador or G2 or Fiberskyn [/COLOR][COLOR="Purple"]3) A good ol' coated Emperor or Ambassador or G2 batter with a felt strip horizontally behind and a reso such as noted in 2) [/COLOR][COLOR="Gray"] Always some sort of beater patch - be it a Falam patch or even just felt - and uber-important: make sure the beater's hitting the drumhead exact-center (BTW l am not against porting if the overtones are just getting unmanageable)[/COLOR]

For my Slingerland 5-ply 14x20 I use a clear PS3 batter head and an Aquarian Slingerland cloud logo resonant head with a felt strip just off-center top to bottom (1:00-5:00), no port hole, nothing in the drum. For my B/O badge Ludwig 6-ply 14x24 I use a Ludwig Power Collar clear batter head with an Evans Heavy Duty Rock (2-ply) mirror gold resonant side head, no port hole, nothing in the drum. For my Slingerland 3-ply 14x22 I use calfskin heads front & back, no port hole, nothing in the drum.

Jeff

EVANS EMAD clear or EVANS EQ3 clear head batter with Remo Fiberskyn Reso. Nothing inside the drum. One felt strip (not too tight) on the inside of reso head. Vater Vintage bomber beater. Nice big, soft and dark sound.