The Drum Modification Thread

I see alot of modifications in the visual realm, Anyone ever cut down toms?

I have so far, built my own keller shell 5.5x14 snare, refinished that awhile back, and taken a wrap off an old 8" Rogers tom and refinished it in black satin stain to match my raven black yamaha stage custom.

I would like to cut down the toms, thinking at least an inch and a half off each with the exception of the 8".

I have access to a 15" lathe, so I can accurately cut down the shells, then Probably build a table router setup to recut bearing edges.

Then now this thread is inspiring me to repaint my whole kit... GM Sunburst Orange and black hardware anyone?
 
Double Post...

MY modification to an old rogers 8" tom to retrofit a yamaha YESS mount...

MAde brackets...
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Machined standoffs...
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Made a retainer plate
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Holes Drilled
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Mount assembled with ruber washers for insulation
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Mounted up
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So I'm repainting and finishing an old cheap kit for my brother's birthday. I have painted the shells with regular latex based interior wall paint (lime green leftover from painting my kitchen)
I want that standard high gloss lacquer finish that's on most finished sets, but I am becoming very indecisive about what to choose for the coating.

The lady at home depot said I should only use high gloss polycrylic (only comes in a can- not spray form)

Then as I'm reading various forums/blogs, they say urethane, and stay away from lacquer. But other places say lacquer works just fine.

Needless to say, I'm pretty befuddled with what to choose and what will work best with my interior latex paint job.

Oh, and what works best for cleaning up old, rust-spotted hoops, lugs, etc?

Anyone have any suggestions?
I have refinished quite a few drums and my favorite finish (so far, I've tried a lot of different ones) is a floor finish made by Varathane. I use their water based polyurethane for gloss coats. It dries fast, looks brilliant, and the more (very thin) coats you use, the more glossy the finish. As far as rusted hardware goes, I've found that super fine steel wool works well. Use the finest grade you can find, and work each spot slowly and carefully so as not to scratch the chrome.
 
Why don't you seen drums that are varnished/stained on the inside as well as the outside?

I'm about to begin de-wrapping my maple kit and do a Tobacco Satin Oil finish, and I think it would look awesome with the inside done and clear heads.

Has anyone here done that, or seen it done?

I really like running over the interior of a shell I'm finishing with a 400 grit sandpaper (once!), cleaning it, then rubbing it down with teak oil. Teak oil is an oil based finish used to waterproof, rehydrate, and stain boat decks. I've found it's perfect for the interior of a drum - especially with older shells, which tend to be very dry. The oil leaves a beautiful color on the wood, allowing the natural grain to show through.
 
So I want a 16" floor tom for my Prolite kit:

A. $900 USD to order from a dealer stateside

B. 578 Euros to order here in Germany (about $751)

C. I found a used 16x16 S Class Pro Maple floor tom.

So a 5mm all around shell vs 4mm + 2mm at the reinforcing rings for the Prolites. I don't think there will be much of a sound difference.

Now if I choose to be perfectionist I will buy me a set of the updated lugs, drill another set of holes and call it a day. The plan is to take high quality pictures of my kit (or use ones from Sonor's brochures) and have a high quality graphic vinyl printed. Will either do self adhesive or use a spray on type.
 

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Last year I was going through my dad's shed and grabbed his old Luddy that he hasn't used in about a decade. This is a late 1970's Ludwig octa-plus he purchased new about 30+ years ago.

My dad never took take of it so for a fathers day present I took it upon my self to breathe new life back into this kit.

I stripped the Marine Pearl wrap from it since it was pealing away from the toms. Each tom had a line of rivets pressed into the shell to hold the seams of the wrap together. After removing all of the adhesive I then filled all the holes and cracks with "plastic wood". I then sanded the kit for about 50 hours with a hand sander, not an electric palm sander (didn't want it to come out of round) and re cut the bearing edges.

After sanding, I then put three coats of lacquer on it. I decided against a stain because the wood had so much character to it all ready. I soaked all of the hardware in a 5 gallon bucket filled with denatured alcohol for a day or two then scrubbed the grime off it with a tooth brush.

When I re-assembled it, I decided against putting some of the unnecessary hardware on the toms to keep the weight down.


The next thing I plan to do with this kit is to convert the 18" floor to a bass drum. The 24 BD is just too much. I will then do the same steps I did originally with the two left over smaller toms and use the smallest as a rack (I think its an 8, maybe a 10) and use the 14 as the floor tom. Pics will follow
 

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Why exactly do drummers change all the stock heads and cymbals?.......im a drummer, i was trying to explain it to my parents with getting a new set and they dont understand.
 
Why exactly do drummers change all the stock heads and cymbals?.......im a drummer, i was trying to explain it to my parents with getting a new set and they dont understand.

I don't change the heads, I use them till I need to change them (as I don't have the cash) and while I get used to the new drums. If I change kits and have decent heads on the older one, I might swap them over.

The cymbals however are more "I like these ones, because I like them. They are MY sound." If I were to get a new kit and it came with a set, I'd try them out, see if there's a couple I like and sell the rest (or if they aren't too bad keep them for "just in case").

I had the stock heads (Remo UX) on My kit for ages... they weren't too bad. And I would still have the "stock" cymbals (Paiste PST3) now had they not been stolen.
 
Why exactly do drummers change all the stock heads and cymbals?.......im a drummer, i was trying to explain it to my parents with getting a new set and they dont understand.

Sound quality, a good set of heads tuned properly is the determining factor on whether or not your drums produce eargasms, or if they make people leave the building. After a while, the heads will lose their bounce and their ability to sustain a good tone, old heads will also un-tune fairly easily, so you will find yourself with a different sounding drumset by the end of your show. I can always tell, especially on my snare, when I need a new head because the tension rods with come loose and wobbly after intense rimshots. Tom wise, I just look at how they look and feel coming off the stick. If stick marks have turned your clear head completely opaque, thats usually my cue to pick up a set of new heads.
Resonant heads (the bottom ones) pretty much never need replaced after you put a good set on, stock reso's are fine, but spending $30 to pick up some good reso's makes a huge difference in sound if you can tune it right to the pitch of your shells.
 
PDP ace mod 6.5 x 14
I got one of these cheap off E-bay and decided the hoops and throw are not to my liking. So I got some Gibraltar 2.3mm hoops and a DW mag throw, I also added some nylon washers to the tension rods and greased them. The mag throw fits in the same holes as the stock throw but you do need to drill them out a little to accommodate the larger bolts. I put grosgrain ribbon and some Puresound blasters, An Aquarian clear reso and Hi-energy and now it is an awesome snare.

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Any of y'all dealt a PDP X7 (8,10,12,14,16,22,14x5)? Any tips on what I can do to really make those guys sing? I still have the original kit snare as well... It sucks, but I don't have the dough for a completely new snare! I play a lot of modern jazz, funk, folk, alt rock. And some Latin and hip hop and even the occasional metal groove? When I do play live it's really small venues. Like bars and clubs.
 
Interior drum mic's for my "new to me" PDP CX maple kit.

Just bent a piece of 1" flat bar (steel) and drilled the holes to match the pattern of my PDP drums. Mounted my CAD mic. Next step, mount the XLR M connector to the shell

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Also taking the silver sparkle wrap of, and going to order something from Bum Wrap Drum Co... Details to follow.
 
I need some advise, I have stripped the black wrap off the cheap old floor tom that I have been using with my PDP kit, which is red stained birch with a matte Finnish. I had the local Colombia paint store match up some stain, but now I need to protect it. Is poly ok or should I go with lacquer ? and reasoning behind either.
 
Does anyone know if you can strip powder coated hardware? Or is it possible to re-paint powder coated hardware a different color? I want to switch my lugs and tension rods from powder coated silver to brass or even gold powder coated if possible.

A guy at my local shop said there is pretty much nothing you can do to powder coated hardware, but I'm not 100% sure he wasn't just trying to sell hardware parts to me.
 
I found this 1970's Supraphonic at a local 2nd hand music store, Music Go Round, for a low price and buffed it up, replaced the heads and snare wires, and restored it to near mint condition.
 

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and here is the result of a staining project. A 13x7" OCDP I purchased from that same 2nd hand store Music Go Round
 

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Here's a little mod I made to my RIMS mounts. I always liked the mounts, but hated the big square plates. After using the hardware off a DW piccolo tom, to build my Blaemire timbale, I discovered the little "fish" plate DW uses for mounting them. I contacted DW and bought some of the fish plates. I then drilled some new holes on the RIMS mounts, and mounted them, using DW mounts with them. I love how they have a slimmer look to them.
 

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I have a Hayman kit for something like 6 years and its pretty cheap. It had a black finish and I wanted something new but i had not enough money for a better kit, so i painted it and I like the result!


Cheap or not - she's looking good! Now, get those bearing edges redone and hear that kit sing!
 
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