my home made octobans

[Big_Philly]

Hey everyone,
inspired by some things I read here on DW and an article on making octobans I read on the internet I decided to give it a try. I wanted to get the basic materials as cheap as possible since it's just an experiment. So I decided to go for PVC rather than the more common acrylic. And since 6" PVC is an irregular size (very hard to find) in the Netherlands I went for an 8" diameter. I have made two octobans, one is 18"deep and the other 22". I equipped it with Remo Emperor, which is the only thing I regret. I can't really get the sound I want out of them (Yes, I did remember to make a bearing edge, so that's probably not the issue). I got some cheap noname lugs and screws, and Stagg tom brackets. I haven't got a stand yet though.

The standard PVC was a dark grey with some letters printed on them about the manufacturer, warranty and some production data. It was hideous. So I went to a paint store with one of my toms (I have a tama superstar custom in ocean fade lacquer, see signature line). It had to be mixed specially for me since they had nothing like it. The guy working there was amazed at the colour since it was not blue or green, but not really turquoise either. After a little experimenting he came up with the exact same colour and sold it to me at a small discount since he enjoyed the challenge of mixing that colour and we had a few good laughs discussing the colour and first few results.

Well enough with all the text, here's some pictures (sorry about the low quality):

http://i6.tinypic.com/4umtsh4.jpg

The "natural" PVC colour

http://i5.tinypic.com/5zpawlu.jpg

After spraying on a primer and the first layer of the ocean fade colour. I put some tape over the bearing edges to keep those clean.

http://i13.tinypic.com/5x7c0ax.jpg

The two finished octobans.
The darker parts at the top are simply made by spraying another layer of paint; the paint is actually quite dark but the first layer was very thin and on a white primer. Now they look a lot more expensive and luxurious.

So now I'm gonna look for a proper stand. I have a piece of metal tubing that fits in the brackets so I'm probably gonna DIY a stand for it, by buying a cheap cymbal stand, drilling a hole in the tube and welding the tube onto the cymbal stand.

[pearl_floyd]

thats wicked, who much did it cost you in the end?...do u have the link from the dw site?

[Big_Philly]

They cost me about 200 euro's so far since I had part of it (most of the drilling) done by someone else with more experience. (the custom lacquer was expensive, even though I got a discount... ). The link to the webpage on how to make them:
http://www.robotics.com/tubetoms.html
The 200 euro's is without a stand but that's not gonna be very expensive if I DIY one.

[frank0072]

Hey man, that really looks great. Cool to see that a poor student like me can make those octobans. Where did you get the lugs and rims? I might want to give it a shot, but I wouldn't know where to get the stuff here in Holland :).

[pearl_floyd]

could you use a pearl ISS mount to mount them?

[drummerchick435]

That's some sweet stuff, Phil! I wish I was crafty...sure would make things cheaper.

[Big_Philly]

You can ask for lugs and hoops at most music stores, or you could visit www.groovefactory.nl and see what they have. They have some pretty cheap heads and deliver for free throughout the netherlands.
The brackets are 22mm holes, so the Pearl ISS mounting system would fit there perfectly.
Thanks for the compliments :) I'm very proud of my octobans!

[drovja]

I saw the same article a while back, and have been looking around for some appropriate sized PVC. I actually just ran into some last night! Hopefully I'll have some that turn out as nicely as yours did.

[Big_Philly]

You should ask good advice at a paint store about how to paint them, and generally be careful.

[Putsie]

In a word,... AWESOME!! I never even thought about how easy it would be to make octobans before reading this thread. Now I suddenly have a new project.

Anyone every really compare the sound of home built vs the real thing?

[Big_Philly]

The real Tama octobans are more naturally high-pitched because of the smaller diameter (they are 6" wide) and the harder material (I think they use fiberglass or acrylic). But if I tighten the heads a lot they have a very high-pitched but very powerful sound.

[fijjibo]

They turned out very well.

Well make a Mike Portnoy out of you yet....

[pearl_floyd]

i'm so pumped to get started on mine...i think i'm going to get my sister to paint some psycedelic stuff on mine instead of trying to match the colour to my kit tho.

[Big_Philly]

I've also been considering some tribal patterns, plenty of stickers available.

[frank0072]

If I would ever do a project like this the color wouldn't be a problem; my drums are white :).

Do you have soundclips yet btw?

[Big_Philly]

No, I don't have any mic'ing equipment :( But you're welcome to come and have a look ;)

[punkdrummer1]

they turned out amazing!!!! I wish I could do something like that. Maybe something to look into the future about :D

[Big_Philly]

Thanks for all the compliments :)
Unfortunately a scratch appeared on the 22" octoban yesterday... I had some paint left so I covered it up a little bit but it did leave an ugly spot... So I went to the paint store immediately and bought a clear paint to protect it... I hope that works!

[pearl_floyd]

I didn't think 6" tubing would be sooo hard to find.

[Big_Philly]

That's why I went for 8"... Way easier and it fits the name "octoban" better (octo = eight)...

[pearl_floyd]

i finally found some 6" today...good thing too seeing as i've already spent almost $200 on hardware for them.

p.s. if anybody living near guelph Ont. wants to build some i have 5 extra feet of pipe because they only sold it in 10' sections.

[T.Underhill]

That's what I love about making your own. They can sound good and look even better and you did just that. I bought the Tamas and they are expensive but I really don't make a whole lotta things hehe. And if I paint them I won't be able to sell them ever. Let's see a video of those please!!

[Big_Philly]

@T.Underhill:
I wish I could make recordings but I don't have a decent camera or miking equipment... :(
By the way, great avatar! where do you come up with those?

@Pearl_Floyd:
That's great! What heads are you going to try? If I were you I'd go for pinstripes, or maybe powerstroke 3 (If you're a remo guy). The clear ambassadors have a decay that's just too big for my liking (nothing a little damping couldn't fix though but I don't like adding damping to my heads).

[T.Underhill]

@T.Underhill:
I wish I could make recordings but I don't have a decent camera or miking equipment... :(
By the way, great avatar! where do you come up with those?


Well post it when you have it :\ As a member of several forums (this one being the least geeky) I find all kinds of avatars, I don't create any of them. This one was originally a cat jumping out and knocking over the baby.

[pearl_floyd]

That's great! What heads are you going to try? If I were you I'd go for pinstripes, or maybe powerstroke 3 (If you're a remo guy). The clear ambassadors have a decay that's just too big for my liking (nothing a little damping couldn't fix though but I don't like adding damping to my heads).

i got emperors, but that was before i realized you already tried them and didn't like the sound. so i'll try the emperors and if i don't like them i think I'll take your advice and go pinstripes.

p.s. the pipe i got has an inside diameter of 6" so do u think i'll have a problem fitting the
6" head on?

[Big_Philly]

That depends on the thickness of the shell, of course. Do the hoops fit around? If so, the ring that holds the plastic of the head should probably fit around as well. To make changing heads easier you could make the bearing edge like so:

http://i3.tinypic.com/53ikigi.jpg

(I hope that makes sense...)

But if the heads don't fit around the outer diameter it might be a problem.

[drovja]

So if you didn't like the sound of the ambassadors, what would you have preferred? A drier sound with quicker decay? I'm an Evans guy personally, and I'm getting all the pieces in line to put mine together.

[Big_Philly]

That's right, a drier sound with quicker decay. The portnoy-sound if you know what I mean. I'm guessing pinstripes or powerstrokes would have been better. Or an evans equivalent to that ;)

[Big_Philly]

SOUNDCLIPS!!

They were recorded somewhat primitively... but these soundfiles will give a good impression of how they sound.

[DogBreath]

Great job Phil! They look awesome with that custom paint job, and they sound great too.

[drovja]

I think they sound great! I can definitely hear a little excess ringing, though. Nevertheless, excellent job!!

[Big_Philly]

Thanks guys! Those comments make me proud :D

[jesse1322]

nice job... they sound pretty good.. probably even better in context.... and they look AMAZING with your set!

[Big_Philly]

Thanks :D Yeah they sound good along with my set. The high octoban seems to have a similar pitch to my 10" tom, and the low one to the 12" so they combine well in fills.

[Deathmetalconga]

Great idea, good execution. I'm surprised they cost so much, however. I guess if you would have done more of the work yourself that would have held costs down.

[Big_Philly]

Yeah I found out later that it was possible to get Magnum brand octobans for much less than I spent on my custom ones. Kind of defeats the purpose of building your own. Biggest cost went to paint and to the stand (more than 50% of the grand total). The stand is a Pearl T800W. Which is a great stand by the way, extremely sturdy.

[frank0072]

that's great news, do you have a link of a shop that sells those to the Netherlands?

[Rossco]

wow they are so coool. :)

[Big_Philly]

that's great news, do you have a link of a shop that sells those to the Netherlands?

Yeah I got them from EIG in Nijmegen, www.eig.nl. But they don't have them anymore...

@Rossco: Thanks. I agree ;) I'm finding more and more ways to accomodate them in my playing.

[rewdwerkz]

I'm always impressed with people who make their own equipment.

Nice job!

[Polymetrix1618]

That's right, a drier sound with quicker decay. The portnoy-sound if you know what I mean. I'm guessing pinstripes or powerstrokes would have been better. Or an evans equivalent to that ;)

Although I'm an Evans guy I'd go with Remo CS black dots. I'm pretty sure Portnoy uses those as well.

[frank0072]

Hey Phillip, I am wondering how you did those bearing edges on the PVC: did you use sandpaper or something else?

I plan to make my own octobans real soon, but I'll make them from 6" plexiglas, so that will be another story in making bearing edges. I am in the proces of making an 8" PVC tom though, so for that the info would be usefull :-).

[Big_Philly]

Hey Frank,
The bearing edges were sanded, probably with a dremel (didn't do those myself...). It can be done but you need a very steady hand.

[frank0072]

Who sanded them for you then? Someone at Praxis or Gamma or a friend with tools?

[Big_Philly]

The guy who hooked me up with all the parts (found him through marktplaats.nl), he also did the drilling and sanding of the shells. I don't know him personally though. However, looking back, I could have done a better job myself when it comes to the bearing edges.

[trkdrmr]

Very good work! Makes me want to make some! Cool finish as well!

I have a set of DDRUM deccabons (low pitched)and I found out the hard way, some drumheads just don't cut it.

1. Coated heads: too closed in and dry.
2. 1-ply clears: too open, not enough depth. The remo cs dots are better, but not optimum depth for low pitched set.
3. EC-1 clear= too dull and thuddy. (EC2 are worse)

For kicks, I put pinstripes on, and they do well enough to eat the rest for lunch! They are at least +6db louder with attack than the ec-1's and have decent depth.

I have some clear emperors on order (a la Mike Portnoy) and I think that 2-ply clears are going to be the ticket.

[BassDriver]

How did you know to make the bearing edge right?

[Big_Philly]

Well as I said I didn't do the bearing edges myself, but with proper tools (a dremel, maybe a lathe if you can get one) and proper patience you could copy the bearing edge design off any drum.

[WayneWickman]

You can use a router with a router table to make the bearing edge. Just like the big boys do it. You could get a 45 degree chamfer or a roundover bit.
W

Great job by the way.

[dr_flam]

Hi folks,

I have two questions about octobans:

1) What is the best material in your opinion? I know that there are also steel octobans besides pvc. Of course it depend on your taste, but what do you think?

2) How do you tune your octobans? One or more notes difference among them? How much does the lenght affect the sound? Usually the one you find on the market are 2" difference one fron the other, but I see that some home made ones have lenght differences that are much higher. From what I see on the web, 2" difference=one note difference.

Maybe I asked more than two questions!! :-)

cheers! :-)