The Drum Modification Thread

To amend what GD said, I definitely use a regular bit when I do this. And I drill from the outside. I take my time, it's not TOO scary. ?

someguy, lmk if you need any help
 
So I ordered some copper sparkle wrap from Jammin' Sam today. I could not get exactly what I wanted, because what I wanted was just too much for me to handle. I wanted something along the lines of champagne. Precision's Bermuda sand would have ran me $690 for 3 drums Uhhhhhh And Gary called me. He was frank, "its expensive". They use real copper and silver flake to make it. I also considered buying full sheets from drummaker.com. But a member mentioned problems he had heard, I did some searching. That didn't sound completely safe. I also considered some tangerine sparkle and glass glitter etc. Finally came to copper sparkle. I wanted something vintage, I'm starting a Slingerland resto-mod project. I've seen actual Slingys with champagne, and they looked spectacular. Copper will work nicely.

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Old Dog new Cans said:
So I ordered some copper sparkle wrap from Jammin' Sam today. I could not get exactly what I wanted, because what I wanted was just too much for me to handle. I wanted something along the lines of champagne. Precision's Bermuda sand would have ran me $690 for 3 drums Uhhhhhh And Gary called me. He was frank, "its expensive". They use real copper and silver flake to make it. I also considered buying full sheets from drummaker.com. But a member mentioned problems he had heard, I did some searching. That didn't sound completely safe. I also considered some tangerine sparkle and glass glitter etc. Finally came to copper sparkle. I wanted something vintage, I'm starting a Slingerland resto-mod project. I've seen actual Slingys with champagne, and they looked spectacular. Copper will work nicely.

View attachment 99110
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Beautiful finish!
I'm not a fan of wraps, but this one would sell me.
 
CommanderRoss said:
Beautiful finish!
I'm not a fan of wraps, but this one would sell me.
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Thanks! However, the copper sparkle I received from Sam's is NOTHING like that at all. It's actually what I think "Gold Sparkle" should look like. It's very champagne-y, minus some of the great depth of color in champagne. He's no longer selling it on his site. At least it's no longer listed. No idea why.

https://imgur.com/FdI0stH
 
Mikecore said:
Farting around with a surplus drum...
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Excellent video and build. Those earlier PDP’s are really nice drums for the price, I foolishly sold a Platinum kit and that has been my one that I should not have let get away. That aside, really decent sounding snom for what you went into it with, I think you accomplished what you wanted. Really nice kit overall and playing too!
 
drumr386 said:
Excellent video and build. Those earlier PDP’s are really nice drums for the price, I foolishly sold a Platinum kit and that has been my one that I should not have let get away. That aside, really decent sounding snom for what you went into it with, I think you accomplished what you wanted. Really nice kit overall and playing too!
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I never owned one but I frequently played on a friend's PDP kit from the same era and it was great. He used coated 2 ply heads AND the Remo plastic muffle tray things with the foam ring and somehow they still had tone and life to them... It kinda blew my mind. And I'm typically a 'no muffling' guy so that really says something. It had an aftermarket pdp wooden piccolo snare that was a treat as well, he said none of it was really that expensive.
 
roncadillac said:
I never owned one but I frequently played on a friend's PDP kit from the same era and it was great. He used coated 2 ply heads AND the Remo plastic muffle tray things with the foam ring and somehow they still had tone and life to them... It kinda blew my mind. And I'm typically a 'no muffling' guy so that really says something. It had an aftermarket pdp wooden piccolo snare that was a treat as well, he said none of it was really that expensive.
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I was using Remo Emperor Ebony Suede heads that worked really well on those drums, the perfect mix between clear and coated. PS3’s on the bass, a 20” that had such a nice tone. Just really well made drums that were quite a bargain, the few that show up for sale reflect their value.
 
Some time ago I've found a thread in the drum gear section where someone was explaining how he had painted the inside of the shells of one of his cheaper sets using a sealer that would harden to compensate for the cheap, relatively soft wood the shells were made of.
I really enjoyed his idea, and so I did just that to a cheap Dixon snare I had lying around!
Here's a video I made detailing the whole process, with a before/after comparison at the end:
 
Even though you've probably all seen these, I'll put up a couple links to some drum mods I've done.
Individual posts (not stickied) have a tendency to get buried and lost.
I had some previous posts about some mods, but they're long gone.

A Project

This thread about working on beginner sets came up while I was doing a project: https://www.drummerworld.com/forums/index.php?threads/beginner-drum-set-restoration.181589/#post-1930259 so if Liam sees it, he can see what's involved in it for me. I play 18 and 20" bass drums, but wanted to get...
www.drummerworld.com

A Project-part 2: Inspired by Hollywood Jim

Part 1 was here: https://www.drummerworld.com/forums/index.php?threads/a-project.181615/ I wanted an inexpensive set with a 10 lug, 22x14 bass drum, matte black, cleared coated with a minimum of very small sparkles - mission accomplished. (y) But as soon as I finished and put it together, I...
www.drummerworld.com

Yamaha Stage Custom - current gen. - two tips

for anyone cutting down the 17" depth to something more reasonable. I cut from the batter side, and went about 1/4" in from the lug holes. I do this so that the blade doesn't catch in one of the holes and leave a big step that needs to be taken down. Anyways - the lug holes are close to the...
www.drummerworld.com
 
Some time ago I heard that mahogany was the thing. I found an old premier kit for sale in a music shop for £50

I took the 12" stripped it, oiled it, cut sharp bearing edges. A good friend with use of a laser cutter knocked out a plate to cover a large wound from the original tom mount
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It sounded awful so I gave it to a morris dancer
 
A while ago, I thought giant bass drums were a good idea. I picked up this 50s premier marching 26. I fitted spurs and eye bolts, ebony pinstripe, replaced a cracked lug, burst through original calf head and filled it with kittens. I even named it the death starIMG_20211205_094342521_HDR.jpg20200818_142454.jpg
It sounded beautiful and was lots of fun, sometimes getting several people playing it at the same time. Sadly it took up too much space so I gave it to a morris dancer
 
20" gong drum
IMG_20221009_111255778_HDR.jpgSpurs made from old floor tom legs with the help from a kind neighbour with a tube bender. Pearl tom mount fitted for cymbal boom arm
IMG_20221009_111859258.jpg
Rucksack back stitched to soft case. This allows transport of 3 piece kit with ride and hats on foot. Looks dumb but gets me there
 
I bought a "maple Yamaha" off gumtree for £70. I new what it was due to the lugs

The drum was in a poor state of affairs. Bothe heads overtightened and split, snares held on with sellotape, lugs dug into shell due to overtightening, main badge missing. The funniest thing is that it had been covered in wood effect linoleum.

I scrapped off the lino cut find a dark grey lacquer underneath with some scratching. I filled in the divots as best I could with epoxy and covered in Delmar green sparkle
IMG_20221029_135600456.jpg
It's a nice drum but cannot seem to shake the over excitable snares that fizz along to the bass floor and rack
 
KenDoken said:
I bought a "maple Yamaha" off gumtree for £70. I new what it was due to the lugs

The drum was in a poor state of affairs. Bothe heads overtightened and split, snares held on with sellotape, lugs dug into shell due to overtightening, main badge missing. The funniest thing is that it had been covered in wood effect linoleum.

I scrapped off the lino cut find a dark grey lacquer underneath with some scratching. I filled in the divots as best I could with epoxy and covered in Delmar green sparkle
View attachment 126511
It's a nice drum but cannot seem to shake the over excitable snares that fizz along to the bass floor and rack
Click to expand...
Not to spark this debate but when all other options have been exhausted you can always try cutting out a few of the middle strands of wires.
 
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