Frequently Asked Questions
HOW MANY ROCK LOCKS COME IN A PACK?
Rock Locks come in packs of 10. They keep your drums in tune. They won't pop off, they won't break when you hit hard, and they don't scratch your knees.
WHY ARE THERE TWO SIZES?
While developing Rock Locks, we learned that tension rod tops come in roughly three different sizes: Small, Standard, and what we call "XL". Tama typically uses Small tension rods. Most drums made in China and most "budget" drums typically use Small tension rods. The vast majority of drums have Standard tension rods. XL tension rods are more rare, but they're easy to spot; they more "square", have sharper corners, and are heavier due to being made of stainless steel. You can often find XL tension rods on drums such as, but not limited to: DW Collector's Series, Pearl Reference, and Gretsch USA Custom. The 49s work on Small tension rods and the 53s work on Standard and XL tension rods.
WHERE DO THE NUMBERS 53 AND 49 COME FROM?
In the early stages of Rock Locks we referred to the size of the 12-point star in millimeters - 4.9mm and 5.3mm. Although those aren't exact numbers we used on the finished products, we thought it was a fun way to pay homage to the inception of Rock Locks. The sizes are really "Small" and "Standard".
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH ROCK LOCK SIZE IS FOR ME?
The best way to find out the size of your tension rods is to compare to other tension rods. If you find that they're smaller than most other drums, you need the 49s. Every other tension rod needs the 53s. You can also measure your tension rods - if they are roughly 4.9mm in diameter, you need the 49s. If they are roughly 5.3mm, you need the 53s.
ROCK LOCKS ARE TOUGH TO GET ON. AM I DOING SOMETHING WRONG?
If you have the 49s and you can't get them on your tension rods, you need the 53s. If you have the 53s and are struggling, you likely have the XL tension rods that DW, Gretsch, and Pearl tend to use on some of their high-end drums. For those drums, the best product is Rock Locks 53 SOFT. There's an extremely fine line between being loose enough to get on, but tight enough to stay on when you're smashing your drums. Yeah, we know - whoever decided to make different tension rod sizes needs to go back in time and not do that.