Shortened boom stand arm

i have always wanted to shorten the boom arm under my ride. it barely reaches out and the 12" off the back was just unnecessary and got in the way of my bass player.

so... i went to lowes and bought a $4 mini hacksaw and got down to business.

i removed a small roll pin that held the tilter to the rod and used a hammer to tap the tilter off of the rod. i used the hacksaw to take 8.5" off the front so i could keep the smooth rounded end.

here are my pictures.





after the cut.


i didnt use the roll pin when reattaching the titler.
the part of rod that was covered by the titler had the cross-cut pattern.
it was a ridiculously tight fit and didnt need any extra reinforcement. (had to hammer it on)


finished product...

Good job, TBM. Always good to have hardware that doesn't get sexually intimate with other band members on stage. Nice to keep things very basic.

Nice 'lefty' set up, bud. Like your kit.

aydee said:

Good job, TBM. Always good to have hardware that doesn't get sexually intimate with other band members on stage. Nice to keep things very basic.

Nice 'lefty' set up, bud. Like your kit.

Click to expand...

yeah i agree. it was the only cumbersome piece of hardware i had, so i had to cut it down.

and thanks for the compliment. your kits not bad either...
tell you what. if your ever in alabama, let me know, you can come by and watch me play it.

tbmills said:

if your ever in alabama, let me know, you can come by and watch me play it.

Click to expand...

Your Southern hospitality knows no bounds...; )

Nice job!

I've done this a million times myself.

It's nice that you just didn't cut and pop the pice back on--you actually took the time to make it look good by fitting the tilter to the smooth part.

Bravo.

If you decide to do any more, if the "diamond cut area" is lightly ground down, it fits easier and still stays put--but having to really hammer it (without killing it) does gives a tighter fit--as long as the piece doesn't blow apart...had it happen with a DW aluminum piece.
Luckily, I was able to fix it and still use the piece though--it just doesn't look as pretty up close haha!.

It's also a pretty good idea to put a little epoxy in there to make sure the tilter isn't going to ever get loose.

I've even re-drilled and placed the pin back in place on a couple pieces, but the epoxy always does the trick (and you can get it real cheap).

Devcon 5 minute clear works great, and I've even seen it in a Dollar Store.
Usually it's under $3, but for a dollar---even if you don't need it right then it's a good find!

If it was a really tight fit (like what I imagine it is), you're probably safe, but I'd check it in a couple weeks just to make sure.

Great job again, and it looks like a piece that you'd buy at the drum shop (which is the objective!)!

KarlCrafton said:

Nice job!

I've done this a million times myself.

It's nice that you just didn't cut and pop the pice back on--you actually took the time to make it look good by fitting the tilter to the smooth part.

Bravo.

If you decide to do any more, if the "diamond cut area" is lightly ground down, it fits easier and still stays put--but having to really hammer it (without killing it) does gives a tighter fit--as long as the piece doesn't blow apart...had it happen with a DW aluminum piece.
Luckily, I was able to fix it and still use the piece though--it just doesn't look as pretty up close haha!.

It's also a pretty good idea to put a little epoxy in there to make sure the tilter isn't going to ever get loose.

I've even re-drilled and placed the pin back in place on a couple pieces, but the epoxy always does the trick (and you can get it real cheap).

Devcon 5 minute clear works great, and I've even seen it in a Dollar Store.
Usually it's under $3, but for a dollar---even if you don't need it right then it's a good find!

If it was a really tight fit (like what I imagine it is), you're probably safe, but I'd check it in a couple weeks just to make sure.

Great job again, and it looks like a piece that you'd buy at the drum shop (which is the objective!)!

Click to expand...

it is tight... i put the titler on the rug and hammered the rod end down.
it took probably 40 hits...

if if ever comes even a little loose ill put the pin in. i didnt have a drill bit that was the right size but ill get one soon.

really,
i might just do it one afternoon and finish it right.


did you chop down the ride stand on your kick. it looks stout and badass. and its really low.

I've made a few of these bd ride mounts.

The top tilter section is height adjustable separate from the main piece on the L-arm.
I generally have about 2" of height adjustment depending on how long the center section is.

The taller the center section is, the more height adjustment there can be.

I based it off the old Rogers cymbal holder.

It's made from collar shaft locks and various tube diameters to fit the collar opening, with an outer tube to make it not look like a giant collar on a skinny tube.

Since I've made a few now, it takes about 20- 25 minutes start to finish to make one, and they are really sturdy.

KarlCrafton said:

I've made a few of these bd ride mounts.

The top tilter section is height adjustable separate from the main piece on the L-arm.
I generally have about 2" of height adjustment depending on how long the center section is.

The taller the center section is, the more height adjustment there can be.

I based it off the old Rogers cymbal holder.

It's made from collar shaft locks and various tube diameters to fit the collar opening, with an outer tube to make it not look like a giant collar on a skinny tube.

Since I've made a few now, it takes about 20- 25 minutes start to finish to make one, and they are really sturdy.

Click to expand...

do you have any closeup pictures. i really dont know what your describing.

Here's a couple of pics.

The collar locks, and the finished piece.
I don't have any "in progress" pics though.

You can see the epoxy in the bottom pic, but I use the clear stuff now, and you can't see it on the other mounts.

I'm using DW stands now, so I have a DW tilter on the mount.

Pictured is a Gibraltar Brake Tilter, and I have also have a Ludwig tilter for it too, so which ever stuff I'm using I have a matching tilter.

This is one of the very first "tries", the others are much cleaner tubing without all the scratches (& they're taller) but this one is still as sturdy as when I made it almost 4 years ago.

looks awesome!

a few questions though...

are collar locks a drum specific part? or is that a hardware store item?

and

what hardware was needed or compromised to produce one of these? and can you sacrifice one stand to make multiple mini-stands.

tbmills said:

i have always wanted to shorten the boom arm under my ride. it barely reaches out and the 12" off the back was just unnecessary and got in the way of my bass player.

Click to expand...

Very well executed mod. It looks OEM-quality. I did something like this once but I cut from the end so it didn't look as good as yours.

You might want to consider getting a drill press and boring a hole through the tilter housing and boom rod and putting a nut and bolt through them, or at least epoxying them together (although you'd have to take them apart). A cymbal stand is subject to a lot of vibration and twisting and the joint between the rod and housing may eventually work loose (of course onstage, only then does hardware fail).

Deathmetalconga said:

Very well executed mod. It looks OEM-quality. I did something like this once but I cut from the end so it didn't look as good as yours.

You might want to consider getting a drill press and boring a hole through the tilter housing and boom rod and putting a nut and bolt through them, or at least epoxying them together (although you'd have to take them apart). A cymbal stand is subject to a lot of vibration and twisting and the joint between the rod and housing may eventually work loose (of course onstage, only then does hardware fail).

Click to expand...

the tilter has a hole for a roll pin. im going to drill through the rod and put it back in.

thatll really look stock...

tbmills said:

looks awesome!

a few questions though...

are collar locks a drum specific part? or is that a hardware store item?

and

what hardware was needed or compromised to produce one of these? and can you sacrifice one stand to make multiple mini-stands.

Click to expand...

The locks are from the hardware store and are only a couple bucks apiece...$2.35 or something like that.

The lock (I think) is a 7/8 OD, 5/8 ID...have to look to be sure.

I use a 5/8 tube, drill the 2 holes (in line) for the hex screws, and put one lock on.

Then I use a 3/4 tube (the top section size on most stands) over it (so it doesn't look stupid with the big lock and a skinny tube) dab on a bit of epoxy and fit the other lock on.

Mine are around 3 1/2" total, so I don't use much tube.

I have so many old stands and tubes that I wouldn't use anymore, so I have the extra stuff to do this.

If someone wanted to make one of these, and wanted it tall, like the Ludwig holder, you'd use probably 5 or 6" for the "inner" tube, and 1/2 shorter for the 3/4 outer tube.

Even that much is not a lot, considering there's usually 18" of 3/4" top section tube on many stands, and if you never use that much, it's not going to make any difference cutting some off with a tube cutter.

It wouldn't have to be any longer than that because you can make the tilter rod a few inches long, and the L-rod can be a few inches tall, so there's a a good amount of height available.

The tilter itself adds a couple inches too, and you have to take it's height into consideration too in the overall size.

The "inner" 5/8 tube was from a mic stand top section, and the 1/2" rod of the tilter fits just fine.

Tools needed are a tube cutter and a drill w/good bits.

A vice helps a ton to get the holes drilled in straight, and for fitting the locks on without hammering, but I have made them without the vice, it's just a huge PITA to drill the holes in that short tube!

To shine up the locks (because they can sometimes look real crappy and dull) I use Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish.

They get pretty shiny with it, pretty close to actual chrome plating.
The ones in the pic weren't shined at all, and still look "OK", but they look way better shined.

i went to put the roll pin back in the stand last night and after drilling the hole i lost the pin!

i ended up using a small finish nail and bent it over... it looks kinda ghetto but its fine. i might go steal the roll pin from another stand or just take it out completely. when drilling i could not get the tilter off of the rod... at all. i used a hammer and i would only barely move. i might go try to find another pin a the hardware store. it would be nice to have it exactly like stock.

tbmills said:

i went to put the roll pin back in the stand last night and after drilling the hole i lost the pin!

i ended up using a small finish nail and bent it over... it looks kinda ghetto but its fine. i might go steal the roll pin from another stand or just take it out completely. when drilling i could not get the tilter off of the rod... at all. i used a hammer and i would only barely move. i might go try to find another pin a the hardware store. it would be nice to have it exactly like stock.

Click to expand...

You shouldn't need to remove the tilter from the rod. If you have a drill press or a very steady hand, it would be preferable to drill right through both together.

Those pins are called tension pins, not to be confused with tension rods, which are really bolts. You should be able to get tension pins at any hardware store.

Tension pins are a tiny bit bigger than the hole they go into and the groove down their side allows them to flex inward, reducing their diameter enough to fit in the hole.