Review: Lem’s Cymbal Felts
Early Lemley of Bristol CT., who is a gasket maker by trade and owns Lemley Industries, has designed and manufactured high quality cymbal felts and sleeves that are far, far above the quality that come with standard cymbal stands. Lemley says his felts are made out of 100% American sheep wool only, with no additives.
The cymbal felts are available in tall/thick, medium/standard and short/swinger heights. There are also hi hat clutch felts ad hi hat seat felts. The sleeve/washers are available in two sizes, short - 1 inch, and tall 1 & 3/8 inch.
Lem’s cymbal sleeves have an integrated washer at the bottom. They are not hard plastic that wears away quickly, but a more flexible high quality plastic that “gives” and won’t eat away at the hole in your cymbal.
The quality of the material in cymbal felts make all the difference in the sound. You can listen to the change in tone and the longer fade when comparing Lem’s cymbal felts to run of the mill felts. Also some felts disintegrate before their life span while the best get better with use.
If you like traditional felts, these would be an obvious choice to replace your old frayed, misshapen ones. Also, it’s always a good thing to have extra felts on hand at your gigs. I can tell that these felts will last longer than others because they are more compressed; a tighter “felting” than others, thus stiffer, which is a good thing. I compared these to different felts I have in my “felt drawer” in the shop and I can tell they will hold their shape and let the cymbal swing freely as opposed to looser felts that are softer and can deaden the bell and keep the cymbal from swinging as freely: the shorter “Swingers” especially allow for more sustain and swing.
My opinion: The advantage to using Lem’s Felts is that they last longer, and let your cymbals’ sound sustain longer because they are made with superior, highest quality materials by a niche manufacturer who cares about quality and understands drummers’ needs. The cymbal sleeves are of a more flexible and durable plastic than most, and will not damage your cymbals.
Lem has these packaged by size and type, and also available as a “complete package” that includes an assortment of all his products, enough for two standard cymbal set ups. That package is available at DrumSellers.com here: Complete package. We may add individual packages soon. Lem’s site is Lemscymbalfelts.com where you can buy smaller packages of the different types. More info about products and contact info are on the site.
