Everything I Know About Bearing Edges
It began decades ago, when I noticed that the profiles of a lot of bearing edges didn’t seem to match the profiles of plastic drum heads that were available. So I began playing around with bearing edges, and have continued to study their role in a drum’s sound.
Here’s what I think I've learned so far.
In the beginning, bearing edges were a nice-to-have, but not that big a deal. “Close enough” was close enough because calf-skin heads would always fit themselves to the drum. Plastic heads are not so accommodating. It's also not uncommon for a vintage drum to have somewhat irregular bearing edges, perhaps due to low tolerances at the factory, uneven shrinking of the shell material or physical damage. Such drums will be hard to tune unless given a bit of TLC.
Not All Created
Equal
Modern drums are better suited to the profile of plastic drum
head collars, but good design and quality control are not a guarantee of bearing
edge excellence. You're right to expect perfection in a $1000+ instrument.
However in the lower price tiers, the edges will naturally have received less
attention. There’s a cost attached to bearing edges, and the labour costs will
be reflected in the price of the drum. That said, a reasonably well made drum
can often be 'up-cycled' by giving it a good bearing edge treatment just as a
modest acoustic guitar can be improved with a high quality bridge saddle. The
bearing edge is, after all, the drum's 'bridge'.
I'm So
Confused
And so you should be. Options you may hear about bearing
edges include: round-over, 30 degree, 45 degree, dual-45, reverse 45, 45
with round-over, bull-nose, baseball bat, vintage round-over. There are also
different theories, applications, claims, boasts, and myths.
Yes, It Really Does
Matter
An uneven bearing edge can be a nightmare, but a 'proper'
bearing edge may not be right either. The edge profile can have a significant
effect on tone and other factors, including: resonance, brightness, tessitura,
sustain, body, and volume. Most drum makers these days tailor the bearing edges
to the style and economics of the drum -- e.g. vintage style edges on vintage
style drums -- or perhaps they finish them to a house standard, “That Great
Gretsch Sound” being one example. Some companies even offer a choice of bearing
edges.
My advice is to not worry about it unless there are visible defects in the bearing edge or you're befuddled by a drum's behaviour. You can find a lot of information about bearing edge properties online. There are also videos that can show you how to check your bearing edges, and if there is an issue, a drum tech can help. It's also not that hard an exercise for a do-it-yourselfer ... again, lots of videos on this.