The Drum Modification Thread

There is an unkown brand of drums (blackhorse) at my Church. This kit has been through some interesting times. I'm not sure what the original finish was, but now it has some weird finish that resembles a green truck bed-liner. I believe the shells are mahogany on the inside and possibly pine on the outer shell (I sanded one section off to the grain).

THE QUESTIONS:

Will removing this - incredibly disgusting looking substance - affect the sound of the shells drastically? The toms sound pretty good (considering over 3 year old DENTED heads) and the bass drum sounds nice. They are surprisingly resonant but not terribly over resonant.

Also, how do I move the ventilation rings that are in each of the drums?
 
Live and learn, I guess! I'd been reading up on it various internet forums and it sounded doable. I did it, all right - put my foot in it.

I sometimes get these urges to try things just to see what will happen, but I try to keep them relatively inexpensive and not too dangerous. My wife just says it's a man-gene thing, thinking I can make it better by tinkering with it.

At least this one wasn't dangerous.
 
I have a tama rockstar fusion set which i have looking to refinish. Right now its a simple red finish, and its just boring to me. I am looking for a natural/ stain finish mainly because i dont want to pay mucho bucks for a new wrap.

I re-did some old pacifics that i had, and when i pulled off the wrap it pulled off some of the wood, basically ruining the grain. What can i do this time to make sure that when i take off the wrap it will virtually look like the inside of the shell? Please answer asap!
 
Regarding removal of factory wraps. Sometimes heat from an industrial "blow dryer" works to soften the glue, but if your drum co. has a thing for gluing the entire wrap to the shell, it won't be easy. Patience is sometimes the key here. Also, if you hose a drumshell by ripping the wrap off, relax. A Keller shell isn't that expensive and it might even sound better. If you cannot do bearing edges: A) buy a router table and learn how, B) get somebody like Precision Drum Co. to do the edges for you and then assemble the thing yourself. Any way you look at it you're taking a chance, so don't worry. Building drums is relatively easy compared to making cymbals! :)


( :)* <-----------smiling because he doesn't know there's a spider on his lip.)
 
Usually rap finish are apply with contact ciment glue, so use laquer thinner it will soften the glue enough to remove the rap without damaging the shell.
 
Hi there. Having read all of the above, I'm not really all that confident about stripping my kit down myself etc (I've been playing for 9 years and I've never come across the terms "wrap" and "bearing edges" but then I don't know much about the technicalities of the drums, more just playing them lol... what are "wrap" and "bearing edges"?). Does anyone know of anywhere in the UK that will strip down drums and re-paint/ whatever them to custom colours etc etc? I'm due to have an operation in August so won't be able to play for a couple of months, this will be an ideal time for me to have these done as it'll take away the temptation to play when I'm not supposed to, plus I'll get an awesome looking kit. I have a Yamaha 9000 series kit from the late 80's, it's in a bright scarlet red, but I have a Recording Custom 12x10" tom, when I ordered I told the guy on the phone that the kit was a bright cherry red, he said "Yea, no problem, Yamaha only do one red on the Recording Cusrom"... Yea, they do now tool, but what about back then? Anyway, the 12x10" is a lush dark red colour, but the rest of the kit is bright scarlet red. It kinda stands out a bit. I'd like it all matching and looking sweet, maybe in black?

So anyway, back to the original question, anyone know of anywhere in the UK that does it? Preferably in Lincolnshire/ Cambridgeshire/ Nottinghamshire/ Yorkshire area (I don't want to have to travel hundreds of miles, but if there's somewhere that will do an astoundingly good job in, say, South London, I'll travel to it!!)

Thanks!!

Al

Well, I know this was a little while ago but, there is a guy i know, who is currently making me a custom kit, in red sparkle (28,14,16) and he also does refinishing of drums. His name's Alan Gilby of Richmo Drums. here's the site:www.richmo.com It isn't much, but email him and ask. It's definitely worth a try isn't it? He's also the guy who made the *LEGENDARY* premier resonator double shelled kit in the late seventies. So, give him a try. Hope this helps you
 
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I have a Yamaha Stage Custom Advantage kit that I really like. Wonderful features for the money. Anyway, I'd like to make it a bit more unique from a sound point of view. My first thought was to pick up some high end rims that could add some uniqueness to the sound. What do you think about this? If this is something commonly done, is there a preference for what folks believe to be primo rims to upgrade too?

I like a more vintage sound. Warm and fat. I like to do rim shots on my toms as well as my snare.
 
I have a Yamaha Stage Custom Advantage kit that I really like. Wonderful features for the money. Anyway, I'd like to make it a bit more unique from a sound point of view. My first thought was to pick up some high end rims that could add some uniqueness to the sound. What do you think about this? If this is something commonly done, is there a preference for what folks believe to be primo rims to upgrade too?

I like a more vintage sound. Warm and fat. I like to do rim shots on my toms as well as my snare.

Fork Out the money for wood hoops!!!! It would look pretty cool, or make your own wood hoops, which would be cheaper, but some hard work. Mind you, you would be very proud :D
 
Regarding drum re-wrapping....

Heyas,

Regarding the re-wrapping of drum shells.. here is one alternative that you may wish to consider.. PLease keep in mind that I am in no way associated with these guys, nor endorsed by them... I just like their product).

Go to http://www.rockenwraps.com/index2.html and take a look. Scott Rockenfield (the drummer for Queensryche) has a comapany that specialises in re-wrap kits for drums and heads.. ( I use a 24" decal on the reso head of my kick).

You can choose any "off the shelf" patterns that he has or you can have your own made up for just a couple of bucks more. There are some killer designs there. A few companies are beginning to use them for custom sets... The best part is.. you can remove the wrap when you want a change with no damage to your existing finish or shells!

There is a kit in a local music store here in Sydney that had taken an old kit and used the Rockenwraps and ended up with a fantastic looking set.. they hung it on a wall for everyone to see.. It really is a good product.

For guys looking for a killer logo head, get a decal or head made with whatever you want on it and look good.. ( a pic of my decal can be seen in message #49 at http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30834 )

Cheers!
 
...playing with screwdrivers again.

I, like so many other drummers bought an acrolite some years ago. I did not use it very much, so following my natural inclination towards tinkering, I stripped it, and used many of the parts for other projects. I was bored today, and the drum shops were closed, so I thought that I would see if I could put the little beast back together again.



I found the lugs, but I could not find the springs or the lug nuts, so I had to dig through every rat pile in my shrine to find what I needed. I could not find springs, so I got this brainwave and cut up some tubing to use instead.



I bought a length of this tubing to cut up for cymbal sleeves. I found it at a home brew/ winemaking shop. It was pretty cheap, and it works great for protecting cymbals . You will have to excuse this picture as it is a little out of focus, but you should get the idea.



as you can see, the tubing fit the lugs, and it is flexible, and rattle free. I used the bracket from a gibralter tom clamp as my template, as it was the right length for the insert.



I had to scrounge for the lug nuts. I did not have enough of the right size, so I used what I had. You can see if you look at the two lugs pictured here that the length of each is different. I also had to scrounge around for the rods. I also could not find the original butt plate, or the nuts and bolts for the throw off, so I had to pull out the old cordless and use a Gibralter throw off that I had.



As it was with that little piece-0-crap snare that I frankensteined back together, this snare is not any form of drum building art. It was just another excersise in improvisation that allowed me to transfer a bunch of odds and ends into a usable drum.



I could save myself a lot of effort buy just leaving this damn stuff alone in the first place, but what fun is that ?

Barry
 
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...playing with screwdrivers again.

I, like so many other drummers bought an acrolite some years ago. I did not use it very much, so following my natural inclination towards tinkering, I stripped it, and used many of the parts for other projects. I was bored today, and the drum shops were closed, so I thought that I would see if I could put the little beast back together again.



I found the lugs, but I could not find the springs or the lug nuts, so I had to dig through every rat pile in my shrine to find what I needed. I could not find springs, so I got this brainwave and cut up some tubing to use instead.



I bought a length of this tubing to cut up for cymbal sleeves. I found it at a home brew/ winemaking shop. It was pretty cheap, and it works great for protecting cymbals . You will have to excuse this picture as it is a little out of focus, but you should get the idea.



as you can see, the tubing fit the lugs, and it is flexible, and rattle free. I used the bracket from a gibralter tom clamp as my template, as it was the right length for the insert.



I had to scrounge for the lug nuts. I did not have enough of the right size, so I used what I had. You can see if you look at the two lugs pictured here that the length of each is different. I also had to scrounge around for the rods. I also could not find the original butt plate, or the nuts and bolts for the throw off, so I had to pull out the old cordless and use a Gibralter throw off that I had.



As it was with that little piece-0-crap snare that I frankensteined back together, this snare is not any form of drum building art. It was just another excersise in improvisation that allowed me to transfer a bunch of odds and ends into a usable drum.



I could save myself a lot of effort buy just leaving this damn stuff alone in the first place, but what fun is that ?

Barry

I have that same snare...how does yours sound and what heads do u have on it...i really like mine but i think it could sound better...i have a coated weather king on it with some crappy snare side head on the other end
 
I have that same snare...how does yours sound and what heads do u have on it...i really like mine but i think it could sound better...i have a coated weather king on it with some crappy snare side head on the other end

...Tyler.

I have a coated ambassador over ambassador snare on this. To my ears, it sounds pretty good, but my taste may be very different than yours. I have a pair of the old Premier die cast hoops on this, but I am going to switch back to triple flange. I also had to change out the strainer and butt plate to Gibralter. I can not say how that may have affected the sound (if at all). As I said in my post, my intent with this snare was to put together a usable drum from what was a pile of parts.

Barry
 
Does anyone here know if Mapex uses glue for the whole wrap? I'm considering refinishing my Pro-m. Does anyone have experience with mapex?
 
Does anyone here know if Mapex uses glue for the whole wrap? I'm considering refinishing my Pro-m. Does anyone have experience with mapex?

A Pro-M; no. But No kit will, but i have heard stories of some cheaper kits, such as low level CB's or percussion plus etc. That have actually had glue all the way around. But i don't see why. Kits like that are trying to produce the cheapest product possible, and why they would waste al; that glue, i don't know.
 
Tama Rockstar (2001 model) 5 piece
22", 14"x6.5" snare, 12", 13", and 16" toms.

The drums started out like this
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and now look like this
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dsc01033sqo7.jpg

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dsc01035ssq3.jpg


It was laquer red, but I stripped away the laquer, stained and varnished it, this is the finished product. I also had to replace the black plastic bass drum hoops with chrome hoops, replacing the bolts with vintage styled claws at the same time. I haven't set up all the cymbals I own, keeping it to the basic (and pretty) K Constantinople family of hats (13"), crash and flat ride, which is a pretty unique set up. The tom tom holder mounted from the bass drum was next to go, it looks crap, so I replaced it with a snare stand holding the tom, making the entire drum set wood and chrome... very happy. Furthermore, the skins, their all single ply battered of some description... = good jazz/vintage sound.
 
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