Homemade Compact Kit

Hey guys, I wanted to share my most recent summer project. I bought these drums individually on eBay and Reverb, the kick drum is made from a 16" Tama Imperialstar floor tom, the 10" tom is made from a Ludwig Backbeat, and the floor tom is an old 13" Ludwig Rocker. I replaced the lugs on the kick drum with lugs from a Ludwig Element, so they would at least kinda match the toms. I ordered and stained the hoops for the kick (I love the contrast with the turquoise oyster wrap!). For the wrap, I used 3M 90 spray adhesive instead of contact cement for the first time and it worked really well. So much easier and less messy than the contact cement. Considering the quality of the shells I used (I paid $45 for the 10" tom and $65 for the kick, and I already had the Rocker), I'm really surprised and pleased with the sound quality.
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Great look and sound. It’s funny how in the past many drummers hated the angled, bass drum mounted cymbal stand looks wise and claimed it affected the sound of the drum. Now it’s cool. I’m 80, started playing at 14 and I’ve seen things come full circle. The biggest change I’ve noted took place in the 70s when drums became a “ real instrument “ the the big kits with multi Toms became the norm. Now so many drummers, save big Rockers are looking to down size to lighter weight kits and hardware and it seems manufacturers are rushing to fill the need.. I went to a Sonor Safari with 16inch kick, a 10in mounted and 14in floor Tom then Yamaha Crosstown light weight hardware and now Bass mounted Cymbal stands are showing up again. The big difference for drummers is the fact that the bands guitar and keyboard members all have multi channel amps so if needed the compact kits can be miked whereas in the old days they carried old Fender or equivalent amps just for their specific instrument so drums being strictly acoustic, had to be bigger and louder And around and around we go !
 
Great look and sound. It’s funny how in the past many drummers hated the angled, bass drum mounted cymbal stand looks wise and claimed it affected the sound of the drum. Now it’s cool. I’m 80, started playing at 14 and I’ve seen things come full circle. The biggest change I’ve noted took place in the 70s when drums became a “ real instrument “ the the big kits with multi Toms became the norm. Now so many drummers, save big Rockers are looking to down size to lighter weight kits and hardware and it seems manufacturers are rushing to fill the need.. I went to a Sonor Safari with 16inch kick, a 10in mounted and 14in floor Tom then Yamaha Crosstown light weight hardware and now Bass mounted Cymbal stands are showing up again. The big difference for drummers is the fact that the bands guitar and keyboard members all have multi channel amps so if needed the compact kits can be miked whereas in the old days they carried old Fender or equivalent amps just for their specific instrument so drums being strictly acoustic, had to be bigger and louder And around and around we go !

Yeah, I've always been intrigued my smaller kits. I love the cymbal arm on the kick, such a space-saver!
 
16" Tama Imperialstar floor tom, the 10" tom is made from a Ludwig Backbeat, and the floor tom is an old 13" Ludwig Rocker.
10, 13, 16 ...... those are the same sizes as my Yamaha Manu Katche Jr. kit. Yes .... I love my big drums .... but I love my little drums too !!!
 

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I like the mounted ride. i see too many people call a kit compact but have cymbal stands for everything. when you add a ride stand, the footprint on stage is nearly the same as with a full size 4 piece kit. Great job!!
 
It looks good and sounds good. Have fun playing it. Peace and goodwill.
 
I like the mounted ride. i see too many people call a kit compact but have cymbal stands for everything. when you add a ride stand, the footprint on stage is nearly the same as with a full size 4 piece kit. Great job!!

After playing it for a few days, I think my full size side ride (a heavy Zildjian K Custom Dry Ride) adds just a bit too much weight on the kick. Plus I can feel the ride vibrate all the way down to my foot on the pedal. My 18" crash (which I use as a ride sometimes) is fine and I don't have this problem when I use it on the arm. So I think the full ride will need to be on a separate stand.
 
After playing it for a few days, I think my full size side ride (a heavy Zildjian K Custom Dry Ride) adds just a bit too much weight on the kick. Plus I can feel the ride vibrate all the way down to my foot on the pedal. My 18" crash (which I use as a ride sometimes) is fine and I don't have this problem when I use it on the arm. So I think the full ride will need to be on a separate stand.

I run an 18" uptown ride on mine so weight never was an issue. I could see a heavy 20 or anything 22+ that isn't paper thin not working great.
 
Love that turquoise oyster wrap. I have been looking at that for a while trying to figure out if it is more blue or more green. Different pictures online show it varying in color. What are your thoughts? More blue, more green, or a perfect, down the middle teal/turquoise color?
 
Love that turquoise oyster wrap. I have been looking at that for a while trying to figure out if it is more blue or more green. Different pictures online show it varying in color. What are your thoughts? More blue, more green, or a perfect, down the middle teal/turquoise color?

I see just blue
 
Love that turquoise oyster wrap. I have been looking at that for a while trying to figure out if it is more blue or more green. Different pictures online show it varying in color. What are your thoughts? More blue, more green, or a perfect, down the middle teal/turquoise color?

I'd say it leans more blue than green. I got it from PrecisionDrum.com, and it looks more greenish on their site, but I think it definitely looks more blue than green in person. Here's the link.

https://precisiondrum.com/high-quality-musical-drum-products/drum-wraps/
 
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