depends on style of music and what you mean by thump. deftones thump? led zep thump? I find that a pillow muffles it too much, so i use adn evans pillow. it slighly touches the batter head and really gets a thump but you still get that bassy sound. It's very adjustible also, but if you just want a thump and dont have the time then a pillow and a decently tuned drum will do the trick nicely. enjoy.