So its my birthday and am just wondering should i get a new practice pad or just save my money because i already have a real feel pad.

And if should get a new pad which one should i get.
I always wanted one of those pads that sound like the snare but still feels like a snare.

two words: slim pad

If you've already got a RealFeel, I'd say you're better off saving your money for something else.

As for somedrummer104's recommendation... To each his own. I personally don't care for the Vic Firth SlimPad. Since the rubber on a SlimPad is thinner, it's a bit louder, which isn't necessarily a problem. But it's not hard to feel the wood through that thin rubber, which feels a little less like a drum than a pad with thicker rubber. The Vic Firth StockPad isn't too bad, but a RealFeel gum rubber pad tops 'em both in my opinion.

Happy birthday, by the way!

I have amassed a small collection of pads over the years, first a real feel with gum rubber on one side and a hard textured side for jazz brushes. Later when I got into marching I got real feel with the gum rubber side and the hard black side. Then just last week I saw a slim pad on sale for cheap and decided why not. Personally I like the Real Feels. They are good chop builders. But there are some applications when other pads might be necessary. I don't especially like the loudness of the slim pad. But it is better to play some snare stuff on them because they feel like a high-tension drum.

The pads you mentioned, that sound like a snare. I have played on one at a drum shop, can't say much about it. It was a pad and it buzzes when you hit it. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a pad.

If you have a pad, why not just save up for something else? Just my opinion.

Slim pad is the best. I use my RealFeel for "night practice," though.

Double sided real feel in my opinion. I have the slimpad too but i like the real feel more.

it doesnt really matter which pad you get, as long as its good for you to practice on. us drummers pretty much practice on whatever we see anyways.

as for the snare stuff, unless you have a realfeel or something like that already, don't buy the snare pad as your primary pad. the snare sound gets old quick, and most snare pads dont offer a good feel in my opinion. the only thing i do with them is i put my snare pad under my slimpad so that i can get a drum feel and the snare sound at the same time.

I own two slimpads one with a laminate and one without. The one without has an okay feel for set practice(although you can feel the wooden base through the rubber), and the one with the laminate greatly simulates the feel of a max head. Now even though I love both of them to death, they have to be replaced at some point in time, and I have never heard of this problem happening with real feel pads.

I do like the slimpads,but there are ups and downs to every pad. For example: You're working on a snare solo that has a few shots. When you're done,you find chips of that reddish/purplish paint on your lap. The paint chips easily and over time it would need to be replaced because of use. However it is true that you rarely have to replace a real feel. The real feels have more rebound and a lot more comfort than the slim pad,but the real feels,as our instructor tells us,gives you "pad chops". I do like the slim pad a lot because it feels just like a kevlar head. But it were possible,it should be just a tad more quiet.

I don't get the idea of pad chops; I think once you learn to place every note, it doesn't matter much what you play on. Anyways, stick with the reelfeel. Some of the instructors I've met have had those vic firth pads that are basically the same thing for around 17 or 18 years.

What do you think about those pads that sounds like a real snare

xymox makes a decent snare pad if you're into that kind of thing.

Sadly I know what pad hands feel like I've had a Real Feel for a couple years and I am thinking of getting a slimpad with lam just for the sake of the simulation. (also there is a coffee stain on the yellow side of my real feel :P )

Does anyone know anything about Scott Jonhson's sig pad? The reviews said it wasnt that great and the met came off easily, does anyone have this pad that can comment on the feel?

I agree with those who prefer the reel feel pads. they are the best chop builders in my opinion, though the best practice you can get is on a snare drum. I say if you're a serious rudimental snare drummer, it's worth it to go find a cheap marching snare and set it to your liking and lock yourself in a room away from old people and trombone players.

Ok i have should have done this in the first place.... let's vote.

I just got the new Scott Johnson Xymox pad. IT IS AWESOME!!!It is by far my favorite pad. I have played on slim pads and stock pads, but personally I didnt like them as much as the Xymox (though the heavy hitters are sweet).

I dont know i love my real feel and have used it excusivly for years and i have never gotten "pad hands." it seems kinda like an sad excuse for not playing well.

Why does the Slimpad cost more than the Stockpad? I was at a local percussion store and the Stockpad was $23.99, while the Slimpad was $29.99. Is the Slimpad that much better? How is it better?

I have a ReelFeel, and love it to death. I'd still rather have one of them Yamaha practice pads (with the snare sound and everything.) Soo fun to play on!

Hands down the Heavy Hitter Slim Pad. It's what most of the people in blue devils use and it feels the closer to a snare drum thatn any other pad out there. With the heavy hitter pad you wont get "pad hands" which is really nice. The vic firth real feel pad is good too if you play on the workout side

I like the Vic Firth double sided pad. It has a thick gum rubber side that is gray and the thinner side is black. The black side actually feels really good.

Here's my same post from a different thread:

Some benefits of different pads.

RealFeel:
The hard(black) side offers little rebound causing you to really "muscle" the strokes in. Thus building your chops. I live by this pad.

Xymox w/beads, or Remo X-Pad:
These really help you hear the quality of your buzz strokes and closed rolls. Because they do have a "sloppy" factor to them, it forces you to watch your articulation. It helps you play Staccato which is easier to clean as a snare line.

VicFirth Slim Pad(not stock pad):
I love this pad because the wood disc that the rubber sits on has a resonance to it that can really be heard on your accented notes, and not so much on your tap notes. This really helps build the quality of grace and tap notes and "low chopped" strokes. In using this pad, it's easy to improve stick height discipline and chops as well. This one also has the most realistic snare drum feel of the three.

I use a classic Real Feel from like '03....one sided....and it works just fine...

What I've noticed is getting the slim pad (which I have and love) but there is, I have found, one solution for three problems

Solution: get a little laminite (i used an old 6" xymox tenor one) throw it on your slimpad and it fixes the three problems

1. The original reason why I put the laminate on was because the glue underneath the center of my pad was comming off
2. The wood feel... This is definatley noticeable when you first begin to play on the pad, but throw the laminate on there and it goes away compleetley
3. Sound... I'm not going to say it's as quiet as the ReelFeel, its not, but it also feels SO much more like a drum... I think the reelfeel gives way too much rebound

just my $.02 ps. Happy Bday!!

where do u get the xymox laminate?

It depends what you are looking for. If you want the feel of a snare drum, i'd go for VF slim pad with the plastic covering thing on it. If you just need something to pracrtice on, go for HQs real feel gum pads, or the double sided with the harder Chop building side. Thats what i use, but i really like smil pads. And i found that if you put the slim pas of something that soaks up sound (i used a drum throne) it soudns quieter.

I dont know where you can buy 'em seperate, but a while ago I bought a small xymox tenor pad & there was an order form for 'em in there...

if you go to any regional DCI show, xymox will have a stand there, theres a really nice old dude who i'm sure will answer ur question

$35 is worth the slim pad...it rules (and is quieter than I expected from reviews)

I like the X Pad. It's fun to play on. No practice pad I have ever played on has ever even come the slightest bit close to feeling like I'm playing on an actual drum.

I perfer Ralph Hardimon with the snare cartridge

really? you like the ralph hardimon pad? i played on that once and i thought it felt weird. i don't know though everyones different.

i dont know exactly what model but my friend just bot a xymox pad with what looked to be a laminate on it (its white and black) and he says theyre the best hes played on (out of realFeel, heavy hitter, and the 12" vf pad)

i havent had any experience on the slim pad myself, but i hear its great if ur looking for something w/ a closer rebound to an actual snare.

lil off topic but
im ordering the Heavy Hitter Quadropad tonight in which case i hope its as good as they say. but even if its not beats no pad at all so.

yes the quad pad is definitely worth, ituse the free laminates if you have a lot of scrapes in your show music,hehe

Currently I own a 6" Pro-Mark X Pad with a snare cartridge, and a 12" double-sided HQ Real Feel. I've also owned the 12" double-sided Vic-Firth pad.

Out of those three, I like the HQ the most because there is a significant difference between the soft side and the hard side, whereas the two sides on the Vic Firth pad don't have as much of a difference.

Yesterday evening I ordered the Slim Pad with the Laminate, so I will get back to you guys about that. I'm feeling good about it, because that's all I've head about it; good things.

yea i've heard that. i don't have any scrapes what so ever. real bummer ]=. haha that is unless the instructor writes us a new part lol. but still with the laminates i can still practice them for future shows etc. now that i think about we have scrapes in one or two of our exercises so. hope it gets here relatively soon. =]

That's interesting about the reel feel, which side do you play on mostly? I think the idea is for there to be little to know difference seeing as drum pads are supposed to mock an actual drum.

I prefer the slim pad, and I have owned a xymox, a reel feel, still have my double sided
Vic Firth which i use when i need to be a bit quieter than a slim pad will allow, and those ridiculous drum pads you get with percussion kits that have rims on them.

I try to play on both sides of my real feel equally. Basically what I was saying was, the HQ hard side is signifacantly harder than the VF hard side. That's why I chose it. When I used the VF pad, I got nearly as much rebound on the hard side as I did with the soft side.

If you already have a pad, save your money. There is know reason to buy another pad if you are fine with the one you already own.

agreed. if u feel ur current pad is doing its job well enough i wouldn't get another.

lil off topic but.
i ordered a VF HH Quadropad from steve weiss 2 days ago. and not that im in a rush im just curious as to what their normal shipment speed is.

normally when i've ordered things from like musicians friend it'll tell u "expect product in 2 - 3 business weeks" etc. but i didn't see that anywhere so i am curious.

If you ordered it on a friday then usually it will ship monday or tuesday-ish.after it ships it will probley come in , in two weeks or so.....i think

thats what i was thinkin but it always helps to be sure lol

After trying many many pads & owning 6, I came to this conclusion. The best pad is the one that you like practicing with the most. If it keeps you practicing, then it's the best in my opinion.

After trying many many pads & owning 6, I came to this conclusion. The best pad is the one that you like practicing with the most. If it keeps you practicing, then it's the best in my opinion.

No, steve weiss came faster then two weeks, I ordered on a friday, so once everything was checked in, yadda yadda. I got my tenor book on a thursday. Their pretty good about getting stuff to you in time.

o.0 sweet thanks for the info.