The defining feature found on all Phattie and Cocktail Drums is the unique bearing edge that tones down high-frequency ring while making tuning quicker and easier. Featuring matching precision machined chamfers on the inside and outside of the shell, our bearing edge doesn’t come to a sharp edge, but is leveled to a thickness of 1/4th the total shell thickness. The flatness is then checked on a granite plate with a tolerance of .0014″, ensuring the flattest edge possible. On a 6-ply tom shell, this leaves 1-1/2 plies touching the drum head. On 8-ply bass shells this leaves 2 plies touching the drum head. The location of the bearing edge in the center of the shell promotes even energy transfer throughout the whole shell evenly, without a bias towards the outer or inner plies. The resulting timbre has reduced overtones and a big, full sound across the tuning range of the drum.

When working with drums that have a sharp, pointed edge, drummers often find it necessary to use 2-ply heads, duct tape, moongel, or any other number of devices to eliminate high-frequency ring and get a deep, punchy sound. By crafting our edges perfectly level and with a wide contact patch you can get that deep, punchy and powerful sound from Phattie and Cocktail drums without resorting to heavy muffling. The same care and precision leveling techniques are also used on the Sounds Like Art, Steam Bent, and Black Label series of drums. Although their profile is slightly different to obtain a more open sound, the care taken to level the edge is the same.

Easy to Mic – Easy to Tune – Easy to Play
The Difference is in the Edge™