Anti-fatigue mats

[Bill Furnett]

I have been thinking for awhile about some means of slight vibration reduction (Decoupling) under my drums without floating the floor (as well as for under an iso-cab) and had read here and there that Home Depot sells some anti fatigue matting that folks were using in place of neoprene discs.
Today i came across two such products, one an interlocking foam type matting ($16 for 4 2x2 sections) and another, a one piece rubber mat with a pattern of holes in it. (Price unknown) I ALMOST bought the interlocking foam, then i saw this SURE FLEX stuff and was kind of in love with it though a bit pricey. It's 3/8" - 2x2 sections (But I swear i saw 1/2"- Going back tommrow for a few) of nice rubber for $11 each.
Pricey yes, but it seriously made the other two products look and feel like junk.

I know there isn't a real substitute for a true floating floor and i'm aware of the drum head effect, but i'm going to get a few sections of this for my booth floors and thought I'd post about it as it could easily be cut to serve many purposes, like practice pads, monitor pads, under drums, under mic stands and who knows what else.

http://www.usrubber.com/sureflex.html

 

[Innovations]

You might also look at the stuff they sell as playground matting. I believe that is even thicker.

Frankly the stuff should should be a reasonably priced alternative.

 

[Dani Pace]

I picked up a couple of "runner" mats from a restaurant that was going out of business. They are 3'X8'X3/4 and work great for sitting things on. They aren't a substitute for a decoupled floor but they do cut down on a surprising amount of noise and viberation. A cheap electric carving knife is the best tool I have found for cutting this sort of materal. The type I have is a little too "squishy" to use under drums, maybe the thinner ones would work.