Prefered shell material?

[deadhead]

I'm interested in what type of shell you guys prefer for timbales. I've had brass, steel, wood, chrome aluminum? (toca players), and am in the process of refurbishing some copper shell timbs. Each set of timbales had its own good and bad qualities.

The brass gave a nice warm tone and a great sound, but the soft metal didn't produce a good cascara at all, it was far too dry and just didn't cut. I would definitly consider the brass to have the best tone though.

On the other hand the steel shell timbs produced an amazing cascara that could cut through anything. The steel timbs also produced a good tone, quite a bit sharper and higher pitched than the brass and provided much more attack and volume. Nothing beats a steel shell rim shot.

In my opinion wood shell timbs sound like tom toms, and I wasn't too impressed with them. They did produce a decent tone with minimal overtone ringing.

The aluminum shells are cheap and in my opinion you get what you pay for. The sound is lacking tone in both the drums and cascara. They just sound cheap in my opinion.

I haven't ever played on copper timbs before, but i'm in the process of refurbishing some and will be tucking some thin goat skin on them. I'm excited to hear the results.

If I had to choose I would say Steel shell timbs produce the best overall sound, however I would love to have a set of brass and steel in my setup for different situations.

What is everyone elses opinion? Has anyone used something else, I know that there are bronze shell timbs out there, and I believe I've seen some nickle shells as well.



Edited By deadhead on 1172079565

[Raymond]

For me is steel. Like the projection of the sound.

Is a matter of liking here since the difference in sound between models could the thickness of the shell, the heads, and even the thickness of the sticks influence the sound.

As you can see, although brass was the original material, the standard has become steel. LP has the bronze timbales that are somewhere between steel and brass.

It is a matter of liking and the for the untrained ear is sometimes unnoticed.

Saludos!

[Bachikaze]

I'm not picky about timbales, but bronze sounds really nice.

[zwar]

ho deadhead

like you i never played coppershell timbs.
very interested about your results. if you can manage let us hear somthing befor selling.

zwar

[deadhead]

Zwar, I am working on them, ran into some problems with the rings that I custom ordered. The ring for the smaller drum fit perfect and I tucked some old djembe goat skin. The skin ended up being too thick, so I'm searching for something else to use. The larger drum is slightly out of round and I'm having a hard time getting the ring or the rim to fit. Once I get them up and running I'll try to get some kind of sound clip, if not I can certainly do my best to describe the sound.

[zwar]

ho deadhead

why not you make the hembra shell round again? should be not great a problem. i imagine just a push from correct direction could be the whole job. not so? i never tried.
what size are those drums?
maybe you can try sheep skin? just an idea. we put it on blekete, normaly, i remember we tried it on djembe and the sound was bad for djembe, but for timbs i think it could work fine.

greetings

zwar

[deadhead]

Zwar, The shells are really weak on the seams, I've been trying to pound the larger one back into round, but I'm afraid of breaking that seam like the smaller one did. The copper is alot stronger than I had expected it to be. I think that if I order a slightly larger flesh hoop I can force it into shape. I'll consider sheep skin, I've just been so tight on cash lately that I havn't been able to do much with this project.

Oh and the shell sizes are funky 10.5 and 13.5. This is why I am having to tuck the skins myself and can't go out and throw some remos on them. There is a tanning place in Austin where I live that sells all sorts of hides, once I get some cash together I'm gonna go see what I can find.

[zwar]

ho deadhead

i see. my neighbor is coppersmith. when he is back from work i ll go and ask him. maybe he has got some ideas...

zwar

[deadhead]

:D Thanks zwar that would be very helpful

[Isaac]

Isn't calf skin the traditional skin for timbales.
I've not heard of goat being used, but may be it has?
Anyone know of goat being used?

~ ISAAC

[deadhead]

No you are right Isaac. I'm just searching for a thinner piece of skin.

[zwar]

ho deadhead

i asked markus (coppersmith). he said, there are two ways.

first is to rounden the pot by pressing at the points most far from center, a bit more than would be necessary to reach the average diameter. he suggested to use 2 wooden boards, a bit smaller than the shells height. one under and one above (shell lying on side), so you can provide a slight rolling movement while pressing. the broken seams could be repaired with solder.
second you could anneal the shell to make the copper soft again. but the only way to harden it again is to hammer it all over. would be a job for somebody who knows the subject.... i would not dare.

greets

zwar

[lurigancho]

Remember Deadhead there is:

Steel timbales=marc quinones,matadors,tycoon...

Stainless steel=Lp tito puentes,JCR,toca pete escovedo...

Steel is brighter than stainless steel ,both have good projection, but I prefer stainless steel ,they have more body and tone than steel. the cascara sound on stainless steel is dryer than steel ,except marc quinones which has a thicker lacquered shell and rubber sprayed rims to dampen the high frequencies. Drumheads play an important role in the drums tone and sustain.