Pete!

While I like the Gretsch Pratt muffler, I tend to keep muffling on my vintage bass drums period correct. Here's a picture of my 1966 Rogers Headliner with period-correct bass drum heads on the batter and reso-side. I use muffling strips front and rear, in the same location they came from the factory, and the sound is great!

-Mark

In my experience a standard Rogers tone control used in toms and snares would prove to be inefficient in providing enough muffling on your bass drums. I've owned vintage Premier 50's and early 60's bass drums with front and back shell mount tone controls which are larger and have larger felt pads used with calf heads front and back and found those inefficient as well, at least for contemporary music. Slingerland years ago also mounted a large "two way" bass drum internal muffler mount employing two large pads which muted both front and back heads simultaneously with the turn of a wing screw on the side of the shell. Of course, sound and taste is subjective, and music styles of yesterday favored and accepted far different bass drum sounds than we are used to today.

As regards the Gretsch Pratt bass drum mufflers, I have used them and never liked the result; finding the tone too "flat" and "dry" to my liking. Even so, I've heard and seen many Gretsch players using them. Similar internal controls were installed on older Sonor and Trixon kits and I was never happy with the result. All internal mufflers of this type also affect the "feel" and response of the head. Hope my views are of some help in your decision.

Absolutely helpful! Thank you!

On my Rogers kits, I keep the standard felt strip on the reso head, and a rolled-up hand towel wedged between the batter head and the pedal. Very adjustable, I just push it around with my stick if it needs a little tweek. There's nothing like the openness of an Ohio Rogers bass; I try to use as little muffling as possible.

Thanks for the feedback! Your tubs are gorgeous! I played a kit reputed to have once belonged to Bill Reichenbach at Charlie Byrd’s place out on the Eastern Shore that looked exactly like that (sans hardware) few years ago. Best regards,

Thank you! Yeah, I’m definitely not tryna choke off the sound. Just got it into my head that it might give me just a slosh of versatility/control more easily. I guess there’s always “practice” and developing greater “technique” and control in my actual playing… dang it.