Bucket drum riser, anyone?

Bonzobilly

Senior Member
So I've seen some threads in the past but my searching hasn't produced any fruits of late. Anyone have one? Some questions:

1) Are they as stable as people say they are? I'm a big boy.
2) Some have screwed the platform into the covers, others have used them upside down with the platform just laid on top without being screwed in.
3) I do not need it to travel. It'll stay put in my practice space.
4) I like this method because I am not handy at all. This seems like I can achieve it.

Thanks!
 
I made one last fall. Haven't gigged with it yet though. I've been procrastinating getting a black skirt to hide the buckets.



I started with two pieces of plywood that's one inch thick. (I glued two half inch pieces face-to-face.) I cut them down to three feet by six feet to make a 6x6 platform. I joined the two pieces with a piano hinge. I decided that I didn't need it to be that big so I cut it down to about 5x5 1/2. Later I cut it up again into three sections that are joined by latches. I did this so that I'm able to move it by myself.



I screwed the lids to the top so that they are evenly spaced.



It's sturdy enough for me, but I'm just average height and not what you would call a basher. It took me parts of three weekends to finish it. The main reason I did it this way was for portability. I can set it up myself in about five minutes.



 
Whoa, I thought this was going to be something ghetto and it's actually very well planned and executed. Relatively portable and lightweight. I agree, a skirt would be good. I'd suggest going to a seamstress and taking them your cloth and a strip of scratchy velcro. They can join it and sew the velcro, which looks like it would hold perfect to the carpet. How much money have you spent on it so far?

Show us the finished product with the skirt and I bet it will look very professional. Great work so far.
 
That's pretty cool. Looks like it'll be stable and very transportable. Looks good too
 
I already have the black material cut to size and hemmed. I also have the Velcro. I tried hand sewing the velcro in place but the thread would get all tangled up and knotted. I'll look into taking it to a seam-person. (have to be politically correct you know)

As far as the cost, I didn't keep a running total. Three or four bucks each for the buckets and lids. The wood was from an earlier attempt at a riser. When I got a subscription to Modern Drummer back in the 90's, they threw in a book that was a compilation of articles that Rick Van Horn wrote for the publication. It included plans for a "portable" riser. The plans called for a 1/2" plywood top and a base made with 1x2's. Well, 1/2" inch didn't cut it. Rather than scrap what I already made, I decided to add another 1/2" to the top.

It weighed a freakin' ton (technical term) so I pretty much kept it in my drum room for about ten years. Last year I saw a thread about using 5-gallon buckets so I decided to modify what I already had. I demo'd the base and used the wood for the support pieces on the bottom side. I trimmed the top to fit my kit and cut it into thirds. I also re-used the piano hinge from the original design.

I used the original riser on a gig once and it took two people and a couple of furniture dollies to move the top. Now each piece is manageable and moving the pieces is easy now that I have the Rock N Roller cart.

The screws aren't self-tapping, just regular wood screws. 3/4" I think.

Edit: The screws holding the lid aren't regular wood screws. I forget what they're called but the heads are rounded and are flat on the bottom but the shaft is like a wood screw. I drilled a pilot hole for each screw. I used fender washers to hold the lids in place. Also I forgot to mention that there is a piece of plywood underneath each lid so that the lids didn't get deformed when I screwed them to the top. Surprisingly, the buckets attach and detach pretty easily.
 
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I already have the black material cut to size and hemmed. I also have the Velcro. I tried hand sewing the velcro in place but the thread would get all tangled up and knotted. I'll look into taking it to a seam-person. (have to be politically correct you know)

As far as the cost, I didn't keep a running total. Three or four bucks each for the buckets and lids. The wood was from an earlier attempt at a riser. When I got a subscription to Modern Drummer back in the 90's, they threw in a book that was a compilation of articles that Rick Van Horn wrote for the publication. It included plans for a "portable" riser. The plans called for a 1/2" plywood top and a base made with 1x2's. Well, 1/2" inch didn't cut it. Rather than scrap what I already made, I decided to add another 1/2" to the top.

It weighed a freakin' ton (technical term) so I pretty much kept it in my drum room for about ten years. Last year I saw a thread about using 5-gallon buckets so I decided to modify what I already had. I demo'd the base and used the wood for the support pieces on the bottom side. I trimmed the top to fit my kit and cut it into thirds. I also re-used the piano hinge from the original design.

I used the original riser on a gig once and it took two people and a couple of furniture dollies to move the top. Now each piece is manageable and moving the pieces is easy now that I have the Rock N Roller cart.

The screws aren't self-tapping, just regular wood screws. 3/4" I think.

Edit: The screws holding the lid aren't regular wood screws. I forget what they're called but the heads are rounded and are flat on the bottom but the shaft is like a wood screw. I drilled a pilot hole for each screw. I used fender washers to hold the lids in place. Also I forgot to mention that there is a piece of plywood underneath each lid so that the lids didn't get deformed when I screwed them to the top. Surprisingly, the buckets attach and detach pretty easily.

Great details, thanks. I would assume the lids would come off only with great effort but it seems like you can get them off and on pretty easily.

I wonder if you could get by with using just 9 buckets, instead of 12. Three sections, three buckets per section. That would reduce set-up and space requirements The buckets are pretty strong and the stage top, a drumset and a person aren't incredibly heavy. But that might not work with how you have the sections set up.
 
Ok, I decided to get off my duff and put the finishing touches to my bucket riser. First of all, I was a little worried about the latches working themselves loose. I found some D-rings at the dollar store for three for a buck. I had to buy two packs since I needed four.

I finally got the skirt done.

Here it is with the Gretsch kit set up.

It raises the kit about 15 1/2".


Special thanks to Deathmetalconga for giving Captain Procrastination a kick in the pants. My daughter told me to post my pictures and a description of how I built it on Instructables.com. I might just do that.

p.s. The screws are called sheet metal screws. They work just fine in wood, though.
 
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$200 @ Lowes

(10)3.5 gallon buckets and lids (debating on putting lights in them),1 sheet of 3/4" plywood,(5) 2x2s, (6) Squeeze Clamps, Hinges, Carpet, Screws, Etc.......and 8 hours of cutting and assembly.

It folds up into 3 sections, and is 24"'x 32"x 16" when stacked in my trunk. I can fit the riser, the 10 buckets, and all my rack hardware in the trunk of my car.

SOLID AS A ROCK! No bounce, no shake!

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risers.jpg
 
I thought about using the smaller buckets, but the five-gallon ones were actually cheaper.

By the way, I saw your pictures over in another drum forum which shall remain nameless (*cough* Drumchat *cough*). I stole your idea for the three sections.
 
Used the riser for the first time on a gig today. I played a three-hour gig with the surf band. No issues whatsoever.

Got to the gig about 1/2 hour before the other guys and had it all set up. After the gig they were all amazed at how small it packed up. From my perspective it was nice being able to see the audience better. I was able to make eye contact with more people than normal.

I made a short video of the setup:
http://s88.photobucket.com/user/lsits/media/Videos/Drumriser_zps64b55ecb.mp4.html
 
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