cracked drum pad

[carramrod]

anyone else have this? it still works but my yellow and blue pads are cracked and its annoying. how would i file this for a replacement?

[gklein]

i was wondering the same thing, my yellow pad has a crack in it that is driving me nuts! is their a way to get replacement pads or am i gonna have to take it apart and DIY this thing?

[Damage_Over_Time]

Well Im glad to hear that Im not the only one. My Yellow one cracked last night. Im going to see if there is a quick fix for it when I get home tonight. Ill update it here if I find a good fix for it.

[Roma416]

My yellow pad just cracked today and I'm not sure whether to get a replacement or not either. I could just keep playing with it, but it's really annoying hearing it rattle every time I hit the yellow pad!

[AceFrehley]

I also have a crack in my yellow drum pad. The difference for me is that it is affecting the registering of notes especially if I accidentally hit the area where the crack is. This is sounding like a common flaw with the yellow and blue drum pads.

[cuddie]

I say: request an rma now and keep playing until it breaks.
I had the same issue, noticed a crack in my yellow pad. Said "meh" and kept playing. Few days later the pad stopped working, period. When I get my replacement I'll be sure to put something on top of my pads to prevent another break...like...gum rubber?

[AddictedtoKaos]

My Yellow pad cracked first a few weeks ago and my blue went next (for all you who still havent cracked a second one, its gonna happen)

I would RMA the Pads - on the website just say they are NOT responding - technically they aren't anymore due to the cheapness in them.

Best DYI repair I found to work is HOT GLUE GUN.

1. Carefully take your crack pad off the kit and flip over to see the back of the pad. (Watch the wire as you dont want that to break)

2. when the glue gun is hot open the crack slightly and apply hot glue in the crack, down the length. Dont apply to much but enough for it to bond. This may be easier with TWO sets of hands if possible.

3. Close the crack and align the plastic so its how it should be.

4. Now make a wide strip of glue over the crack going down the length. Make the glue strip about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide and about 1/4 inch thick.

5. Both my cracks started from where the sensor housing screw holes touch the pad. I really glue around the screw hole post good!

6. let it dry - 5-10 minutes and then carefully reinstall the pad. it should be good to go.

My have been good for a while now. I have tried many other things, being an early canadian endorser of rockband and having to wait to place an RMA, and this seems to work the best.

DavidShek suggested buying "deadbeat" practicing drum stick (http://www.drumsonsale.com/xymoxdeadbeatsrubbertippedpracticedrumsticks-p-1978.html?currency=USD) to help reduce noise. I ordered some on ebay to 1 - reduce noice and 2 - hoping the will reduce the amount of shock to the pads to prevent cracking.

[R33DH4M]

Hi I have a cracked yellow pad too and I want to know if by doing the Hot Glue Gun thing it would void my warranty? Also by doing this (http://www.generationgamerz.com/v2/insight/time-for-rock-band-arts-crafts.php)
would it better protect my pads from future cracking? Has anyone had their cracked pads replaced the normal way with the warranty? Thanks.

[boredperson]

so how do i take the head itself off without breaking it more to fix it myself? it seems pretty stuck on there

[Draconis77]

Hi I have a cracked yellow pad too and I want to know if by doing the Hot Glue Gun thing it would void my warranty? Also by doing this (http://www.generationgamerz.com/v2/insight/time-for-rock-band-arts-crafts.php)
would it better protect my pads from future cracking? Has anyone had their cracked pads replaced the normal way with the warranty? Thanks.

Q1. I would think it would void the warranty if they have any way of telling.

Q2. I believe it does help protect it, thus I made some of those for my drum kit.

[R33DH4M]

Thanks for the response. I think i'll take your advice and not use the Hot Glue Gun method and use bundling tape instead which can easily be removed if needed then make and put the mod on for quieter drumpads. I can't wait for EA to find out if my drums are able to be replaced with the warranty. That could take 2 weeks or so and I could be left with nothing as my Guitar also has the down strum problem and is currently on the way to the EA facility. I may just go ahead and fix them myself, suffer the consequences and buy a new and improved set (hopefully) in February.

[Dizzy_DVL]

from a different forum, i believe this voids the warranty tho :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Dizzy_DVL/th_RBMG_5931.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Dizzy_DVL/RBMG_5931.jpg)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Dizzy_DVL/th_rbMG_5955.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Dizzy_DVL/rbMG_5955.jpg)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Dizzy_DVL/th_rbG_5959.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Dizzy_DVL/rbG_5959.jpg)

Also I did the felt/foam mod for the pads of mine, made them much quieter, plus the extrapadding and layers should (in theory) help the pats from cracking. at Michaels crafts store it only cost me about $15 for self adheisive foam and self adheisive felt and the *taptaptaptaptap* turned into a *tuthtuthtuthtuthtuth* every lil bit helps..

[R33DH4M]

do those pads easily come off or what? im afraid i may break something if I use too much force with it.

[Keebler]

Yes, they are held on by rubber stoppers (which pop out of the back of the pad - you can feel them). Simply use a good amount of force in the areas where these stoppers are.

Some models of drums have screws hoding a few pads on. Check the back of the drums first to confirm if you have this or not.

[HAM]

so how do i take the head itself off without breaking it more to fix it myself? it seems pretty stuck on there dont **** with it. send it back. you dont want to void the warranty.

[HAM]

i guess you cant cuss. **** **** ****ass

[douglas_d]

Hey RamRod, I had my stuff crack on me too :( I'm quite interested in if it'd be a smart idea to RMA these... Do you guys think EA will claim abuse on equipment? Has anyone sent in their drums with cracks? Luckily I bought the stupid BB extended warranty... but don't want to use that if it's a one time shot thing

[Jimmik]

The same thing happened to me, on the yellow pad. So upsetting, it registers about 90% of the time but it's keeping me from getting 5 stars on these songs because of it.

And good question douglas_d, I wondered the same thing myself. Actually for that reason I didn't pick the express option because I figured I'd rather play it safe than lose $125 or something. I don't wanna say its good that other people are in the same boat, but at least you guys are creative and can think of ways to fix yours/prevent crackage.

[thenameislint]

My yellow drum just cracked on me today as well. Christmas was ruined!

It seems that everyones yellow drum is cracking. I wonder if EA noticed this yet like what happened with their bass pedals. *sigh* I'm going to call them in the morning and see if it's replaceable and let you guys know.

Things broken:
1x Down strum on guitar
2x Bass pedal on drum kit
1x Yellow drum head on drum kit
(high quality stuff huh?)

[Jimmik]

Yeah. My guitar is broken, as well as my first bass pedal and yellow drum head....But hey at least the mic, game, and USB device work still! Ah. o_o

[thenameislint]

So I called EA support today, and after being on hold for half an hour cause of the after holiday season, I got in hold of a support rep.

The are gladly replacing it! It seems that they really don't care what the h*ll we are replacing. As long as we return whatever we need replaced. EA supports been good lately, which is suprising.

The only thing missing is better freaking hardware quality from Red Octane/ Harmonix, whoever makes these damn things.

[R33DH4M]

This game is extremely fun but having to worry about any of the hardware failing at any point is a huge let down. Right now the only things I have working are the game (which everyone most likely has working) mic, semi-working hub (one of the usb ports is not working) and semi-working drums. I'm really rather pissed off that I can't enjoy this game to it's full potential. Didn't they know at either EA or Harmonix that this hardware was going to have to withstand a lot of abuse? I mean its meant to be beaten and rocked out with.

[HEIMER]

i see alot of people are having troubles with their drum pads getting cracked. at the first sight of a little dimple on mine i thought up a quick and easy way to fix it. i took a trip to wal mart and i bought 4 dinner placemats (each about 1\8in foam) and some double sided tape. cut a circle in each one the same size as the gray area on the drum, and double sided taped the mats to it. worked like a charm and it cuts down on some of the sound. :)

[R33DH4M]

Just to confirm, the felt/foam combo worked very well. Even if yours hasn't broken i would recommend using it because i think it will protect it well.

[carramrod]

anyone get a replacement for cracked drum pads yet? im kind of paranoid that they would think i abused the drums. haha, i dont wanna lose my deposit!

i noticed my pads hit 90% of the time. soo lame. and i love the rock band guitar and the strum bar doesnt even work. blah.

[Crymsun]

Is it the actual pad that is cracking or is it the plastic rims on the drums? I used some felt & foam padding on the actual drum pads which should protect them somewhat, however; the rims do get hit sometimes.

[carramrod]

the actual pad is cracked under the rubber on my yellow and blue pads. :(

[R33DH4M]

i super-glued the cracks on my set and used the felt/foam combo. works like a charm.
I think it should hold up until non-****ed up drums come out on sale.
There's simply so much ****ed up **** wrong with this game bundle that i'm starting to not play anymore and am playing more of Halo 3 again. I'm afraid to break something else off this poorly made ****.

[carramrod]

yeah i love the game, its one of my favs this year. but everything but the mic is poorly made. broken guitar, cracked drum pads, drum pads slowly not registering, bass pedal snapped in half. blah.

[inego33]

I have had mousepads on my drum heads since 2 days after getting the game on november 22 to reduce the noise. last couple days ive notice my RED pad not registering all my hits took the mouse pad off and behold two big cracks all the way across the center of the pad.

mouse pads are pretty thick guys. I play on expert and I am not abusive with them at all. they are not gona prevent the heads from cracking its a hardware flaw. I think they did stall the breakage tho.

btw ive had 2 drum sets (one was DOA so i had to go back to my old one)
3 guitars replaced
and my footpedal broke (made my own wood pedal and it works like a charm)

EDIT: my pads are cracked under the rubber so you cant see the crack but the pad bends in half when pushed.

[piratekingjoe]

From everything that I've read on the forums so far, it seems that probably 50% or more of the people who play the drums on Hard and Expert have broken the drum heads (primarily the most used for time keeping on the cymbals, the yellow and blue pad). I, in fact, have broken all 4 drum heads on my set of drums as well as snapped my pedal in half, and am waiting for a replacement kit in the mail. I bought my copy first day and the guitar came broken, so I've had my share of bad peripherals so far. However, I ran a risk in buying something thats so new and pushing the boundaries of video game peripherals. They had to develop something that was usable, but also something extremely cheap so that anyone can go buy it. It's a fine line, and my only real complaint is that a peripheral can be judged by a lot of things, but it really comes down to one final deciding point: can it play every aspect of the game it was made for? And I say no, it cannot play Run to the Hills on expert without breaking a pad consistently.

So what do gamers do when something they love teeters on such a pivotal point and even if you get a replacement set, the odds of it breaking the same way seem imminent? It's time to make our own set!

I'm starting the process of attempting to mod the rock band drum set wiring and mechanics into a set of Remo practice drum pads. If anyone is interested in seeing the progress or process of the project I will make a new post, but the real problem of the RB drum kit is it doesn't have heads, and without those you're doomed to break your plastic tops every time. If anyone has any schematic information about the sensors, the plugs, the wiring or just ideas on how to improve the RB drum kit, please let me know, and I'll see if it's possible to incorporate it in. Obviously this is a project for people who really love rock band and want a more permanent fix for their kits. With a little luck, it wont be too expensive and I'll actually get it to work!

[R33DH4M]

I'm bored with rock band now time to move on. Too much **** breaking. Im about to take the whole drum set and throw it out of my car while driving then run over it. This game is not for real musicians.

[LiveWire008]

I was going to spend some time with the drums after sending my guitar in for replacement, and today, awaiting my new guitar, as luck would have it my yellow pad cracked. I do NOT play hard. I play from the wrist and not the elbow, so my stroke isn't even that forceful. I blame whoever decided to put the cheapest rubber money could buy (also accounting for the piss poor rebound the pads provide) over a cheap plastic head. I have played drums for 16 years, and in that time have only broken 3 drum heads. Anyone that says I've been playing too hard is going to feel what a hard hit feels like. Less than one month after launch, and here I am with a broken pad. I sincerely hope the warranty covers this and is not considered "abuse". I'm sending for a replacement box right now. Everyone paid a lot of money for this game, and people deserve something that works right and lasts a while, not a month.

[R33DH4M]

Has anyone been successful in getting their cracked drum pads replaced?

[Project_Mercy]

It would appear all my boasting about my release-day drums working well was doomed to backfire, as I noticed hairline cracks on the inside of my yellow and blue pads. Apparently I've gotten my comeuppance.

Oh well, time to bust out the plastiweld I guess.

As near as I can tell it's a result of there being a thin plastic circle over the rebound foam that's causing additional stress on the yellow and blue pads (at least on the controller model I have, the one with the foam in the frame (not on the pad)). I think I'll remove that after I repair the pad. and see how they play without it. It will probably make them slightly softer, like the green and red pads, which will probably require some additional foam to snug them back up.

[SithLordDrummer]

anyone crack the red pad?? haha
it shouldnt be considered abuse to an instument you are suppose to hit with sticks
now if you start playing with you guitar like drums, that is another story
but i am just sending mine back and if they dont send me a fixed one i will write an angry letter :D

[shields102]

For people who would like to do it themselves, here is a link to a post with pics of what I did to fix my broken red pad.
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21376&highlight=cracked+repair

[LiveWire008]

Has anyone been successful in getting their cracked drum pads replaced?

Just got my kit back from UPS today and for the record, yes. They didn't just refurbish the kit I sent in (I took pictures of the wear in case I got a refurb'd one back so I would know if it was mine or not) they sent me a brand new set of drum heads. I'm going to do some digging around to figure out which model they are. The rubber coating over the heads seems marginally more... substantial than on my launch kit. Still going to do the gum rubber mod though.