Tension rods coming lose easily.

[StickS707]

So - I tried the rods from my Masterworks tom on my 12" tom and it DID make a significant difference... Although I only played for an hour and a half, no rods were coming loose.

I don't know if it's the rod itself or if it's the plastic skewers that keeps them in place. I'll find out by glueing the metal skewers on the CB rods to rod-head and then putting the plastic skewers underneath.

At least it's a kind of a break through :-)

What exactly are the skewers you mention...can you take a picture and attach?

[Josh Conover]

What exactly are the skewers you mention...can you take a picture and attach?

Right?

I think he's talking about the washers(?). Metal washers included with the Crystal Beats, nylon included with Session Studio Classic and up.

Lol, "skewers"?

[Gravengaard]

F**K - ment washers obviously! English is not my native language and it was late ;-)

Nylon washers vs. metal :-)

[David Hollywood]

I just read through this thread. I have actually experienced this as well, most noticeably with the 14" floor tom. I had attributed it to my using the stock heads and not actually stretching them or breaking them in at all, just tuning them up out of the box. I figured it would go away if I put better heads on there and broke them in a bit.

As others have mentioned, oddly enough this doesn't seem to have much impact on the sound. On any of my other kits/drums if a head is that loose the drum sounds terrible and has almost no tone. On the Crystal Beat floor tom the drum still has a surprising amount of tone to it even with the head almost completely loose on the drum.

I'm going to change the heads in the next month or so, I'll report back with what I find.

[dunnigan66]

I've been playing my CB's for about 2 months, and one thing I have noticed is my tension rods are coming lose pretty quickly.
I will tune my toms, and by the end of practice, they will be pretty much de-tuned, and in some cases the tension rods will be essentially finger tight.
This is my 3rd kit that I've bought brand new, and never had this problem with my other 2 kits.
Anyone else having this issue?

Just noticed mine doing this as well ughhh!!!

[IMF1]

Did this ever get resolved? Curious.

[Sethiroth]

No, Pearl is ignoring this thread like the plague, because I am assuming they don't know whats causing it, or don't want to admit it.

[Sethiroth]

So - I tried the rods from my Masterworks tom on my 12" tom and it DID make a significant difference... Although I only played for an hour and a half, no rods were coming loose.

I don't know if it's the rod itself or if it's the plastic skewers that keeps them in place. I'll find out by glueing the metal skewers on the CB rods to rod-head and then putting the plastic skewers underneath.

At least it's a kind of a break through :-)

Have you ever had a chance to try the Master Works rods w/ metal washers, or the Pearl rods with the plastic washers?
It would be silly if this whole problem is because of some cheap washers.

[GreenDrummer]

I am pissed. I cannot play more than 2 songs in a studio with losing tune... rods keep falling out...

[Stuffed Chimp]

Have you ever had a chance to try the Master Works rods w/ metal washers, or the Pearl rods with the plastic washers? It would be silly if this whole problem is because of some cheap washers.

I had the metal washer, machined rods on my MMP and they detuned in minutes. It's not just the crystal beats that this issue is affecting: I'm in the same boat.

I've now stacked my ridiculously expensive and absolutely stunning to look at yellow MMP kit in the corner of the drum room and play exclusively on a Yamaha stage custom nouveau kit that I picked up in an unusual configuration for a SC (13,16,18,24) and was literally 10% of the price of the MMP and it's just amazing: tunes up in seconds, never drops out of tune no matter how much I beat those floor toms, so simple and easy to play, NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER. This is what drumming should be like, not a constant battle with a supposed top line kit.

[rollracer]

in the wait for a permanent solution to this problem, isn't such cheap device like the lug locks shouldn't be considered ?

seems to works at least. maybe not visually attractive, but it's better than having to tune your drums at every session.

[Sethiroth]

in the wait for a permanent solution to this problem, isn't such cheap device like the lug locks shouldn't be considered ?

seems to works at least. maybe not visually attractive, but it's better than having to tune your drums at every session.

Whats better is for there to be a correct fix, instead of adding a bunch of stupid looking squares to my fairly expensive kit at my own expense.

[Sethiroth]

This is the explanation from Pearl that I received. I have searched and searched online for another source to confirm that this is true, and can not find anything.
You would think that after 50 years of existence, this would be a more known issue with acrylic drums, which is leading me to believe this is a BS answer...

"The Crystal Beat acrylic shells are extremely rigid, and, unlike multiple-ply wood drum shells, offer no way to subdue the sound waves and subsequent vibrations that they cause. This means that most of the energy that is generated goes straight into the tension rods and causes the de-tuning. This is the nature of this type of shell. We recommend using any type of product that prevents tension rod de-tuning such as Lug Locks as they are inexpensive and can be used for the entire kit."


Any thoughts? Does anyone have experience with other acrylic kits that can verify that they had this issue as well?

[The Kurgan]

This is the explanation from Pearl that I received. I have searched and searched online for another source to confirm that this is true, and can not find anything. You would think that after 50 years of existence, this would be a more known issue with acrylic drums, which is leading me to believe this is a BS answer... "The Crystal Beat acrylic shells are extremely rigid, and, unlike multiple-ply wood drum shells, offer no way to subdue the sound waves and subsequent vibrations that they cause. This means that most of the energy that is generated goes straight into the tension rods and causes the de-tuning. This is the nature of this type of shell. We recommend using any type of product that prevents tension rod de-tuning such as Lug Locks as they are inexpensive and can be used for the entire kit." Any thoughts? Does anyone have experience with other acrylic kits that can verify that they had this issue as well?

I have a friend that gigs with an OCPD acrylic kit & he hasn't had any issues. He gigs & practices with it all the time.

[rollracer]

MAYBE , the tension rods's threads are a little undersized to avoid any gripping or to avoid transfering some extra torsional tension to the lugs when turning the rods, this to avoid cracking at the lugs attachement points . i try to find some kind of logical explanation ,and undersized threads of the rods seems to be the problem.