Does anyone make......

New Tricks

Platinum Member
Does anyone make a "one piece/whole kit" drum case?

It seems like a waste of time to put each drum into an individual case and then transport them one at a time.

I'd like to find a lightweight, fiber or plastic case that would hold all my (4 piece kit) drums. It would only end up being 24x24x72 and could easily be transported with a hand truck and easily be lifted.



I'd build on using plywood but it would end up being 3x heavier than the drums :)

Yes, I've made that mistake before on a different project :(
 
Instead of a case, how about a bag? A duffle bag would hold the toms, maybe you could find something different that would hold all of your drums.
 
That would work but I'd really like to have one rigid case to hold all the drums. In my situation, it would make transport and storage easier. I am one of those organized guys.

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I am in charge of the PA, lights and my drums. I'm trying to put together a clean and simple system to store and transport everything in as few containers as possible.

A lot of the gig gear would remain stored, including the gig drum kit. I want to load as few containers as possible, plus the the PA/monitor cabinets and go, knowing everything will be there.

It will cut my/our set up, tear down, load time/effort as well as assuring me that EVERYTHING is ALWAYS there. I hate that feeling of, "what did I forget".




I just found this thing, but it's 80 pounds. Something these appx dimensions but lighter material would be perfect.

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How big is your bass drum there big fella?

That is one well organized work truck you run there too. Order out of chaos, well done.

I hope you didn't steal all of those milkcrates lol.
 
He doesn't want bags though. I was thinking of mentioning one of those blue plastic barrels, but again, the bass drum is the issue.
 
At least they do make double drum bags.

You'll have to think a bit outside the box and maybe use something not originally intended.

Drum sizes?
 
How big is your bass drum there big fella?

That is one well organized work truck you run there too. Order out of chaos, well done.

I hope you didn't steal all of those milkcrates lol.

The kick is only 20"

And, I have 5 trucks with our name all over them so stealing the crates wasn't really an option :) Last time I checked, they were about $12 each.


I think I'll end up having to build it out of 1/2" plywood. At 40 pounds, I suppose it will work. I might be able to squeeze the hardware in there also.


The Amazon linked item would be great if it was big enough for the kick. I think I'd be satisfied with using two soft bags but, if they made the same thing taller, it would be perfect.

You'll have to think a bit outside the box and maybe use something not originally intended.

That is kind of my thing also. I am looking at horse troughs and whatever else I can think of :) Maybe a coffin :)

If I stack the drums and use a little padding, I need about 24/24/72"
 
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That's a pretty big case to deal with, not to mention the amount of dead air inside around the toms. You'd need to pad/secure them somehow. By the time you deal with 4 different size drums in one giant case, you might find it easier to deal with 4 bags, one at a time, which will also take up less room while not it use.

I can just picture you crawling inside the case to retrieve the kick! :)

I realize that I have big trunks for my touring gear, but I'm not dragging that stuff around myself to local gigs. At home, I'm all bags, all the time. Only an occasional hard case for a nice snare (Zelkova, Dunnett Cocobolo, etc.)

Bermuda
 
I can just picture you crawling inside the case to retrieve the kick! :)


:)

The case would be long/tall but not unmanageable. To remove the gear, it would lie flat, the 24x72 lid would come off and the drums would be easily accessible.

If I only have to transport my drums, I don't even bother with cases (except a big bag for the hardware, but I'm trying for a system more like your touring crates so everything is there in one case.
 
The touring option, though most I know use separate cases, is a big flightcase with wheels and a top lid.

That might be an option.

Just lay things out on the floor and draw up the compartments you need.

Whatever drum(s)'re more shallow than the rest can accomodate a removable compartment for cymbals on top and so on.

Alternatively, I'd just get bags for everything and then build a case to stuff everything as compact as possible.
 
If I only have to transport my drums, I don't even bother with cases (except a big bag for the hardware, but I'm trying for a system more like your touring crates so everything is there in one case.

That's the advantage of touring trunks, they can be configured to utilize all of the space. There's nary a wasted inch in any of my trunks: the two largest trunks hold 6 drums, sample pad, & hardware, and my two trap case sized trunks hold cymbals, pedals, and misc parts & backups.

But I can't imagine grappling with large cases for a local gig. Where do they go when not in use?

Bermuda
 
I've thought of the same concept and I have a 20-14-14-12 kit that I think can fit in something as little as 20Wx20Dx48L.. but nothing really exists at those exact dimensions. Building a custom ATA case is way too heavy like you mentioned. The other requirement is that I can safely lift it into my SUV [at worst] by myself.

I also have a PDP New Yorker kit which fits in a bag similar to that Protec one someone linked earlier. The kick goes in it's own bag and then I have just one other small Sterilite wheeled case for my H/W.

But I would love to have my main 20" kit in one big case.

I'll keep looking!
 
But I can't imagine grappling with large cases for a local gig. Where do they go when not in use?

Bermuda

It would be a dedicated gig kit and just stay in storage.

And, it's not that big. It's only a bit bigger than one PA cabinet, and not nearly as heavy (unless I over engineer it like my last project).

There are large PA cabinets that have to be hand trucked in so one more piece should be easy.


I remeasured and it's only 60" total. That's not too bad. 24x24x60 will move very easily, upright on a hand truck, and easily lay down flat for loading/unloading.



I'm also thinking of standard, separate fiber cases, all simply secured together somehow.


The other requirement is that I can safely lift it into my SUV [at worst] by myself.

Leverage :) Don't ever lift any more than you have to. I used to haul my 18x18x50" heavy PA cabinets in my 4 runner. They are tall so I leaned them back so the top 1/3 was the pivot point and lifted/pushed the bottoms. Piece-o-cake.

I vote for a nesting kit all in 1 bass drum bag.

That could be a great idea but, in every kit I own, the hardware won't allow for nesting.
 
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From a fellow sparky- Nice Truck! And you've got 5 of them! The panel truck is a nice way to go.
 
Start a trend - make a coffin drum case:

Perfect! The kick will fit in the wide portion and it will narrow down as the sizes decrease!! I could use it as a stage prop and come out of it to start off a set :)



From a fellow sparky- Nice Truck! And you've got 5 of them! The panel truck is a nice way to go.

Thanks!

I always liked setting up trucks. I figured, the less time I wasted digging through piles of crap, the quicker I'd finish the job.

We started using the full sized box vans 20+ years ago and I finally got the design pretty much as good as it's gonna get.

I haven't seen anything better.

Here's the latest bucket truck, not labeled or fully stocked at the time of the pic.

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