The Drum Modification Thread

Had some Yamaha T rods I wanted to use on a bass drum.
But they needed spacers, because the claws are recessed where the flat part of the rod hits.

Couldn't find anything close in size for plastic or metal spacers at the hardware store,
but I found some PEX tubing that had the right inner and outer diameters. It came as a 5 foot tube for $2.49
Always a sucker for a deal, I knew I could make it work. :ROFLMAO:

Marked off the right lengths and used a tubing cutter. Took about 15 minutes to do about 20 spacers.
They fit snug, compress just a tiny bit which should help them hold tuning,
and the cutter gave them a nice flat seating surface.
I made a few spares and have a lot of tubing leftover if I ever need to make more. Pics:


T rods - Copy.JPG

SC t rods - Copy.JPG
 
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wildbill said:
Had some Yamaha T rods I wanted to use on a bass drum.
But they needed spacers, because the claws are recessed where the flat part of the rod hits.

Couldn't find anything close in size for plastic or metal spacers at the hardware store,
but I found some PEX tubing that had the right inner and outer diameters. It came as a 5 foot tube for $2.49
Always a sucker for a deal, I knew I could make it work. :ROFLMAO:

Marked off the right lengths and used a tubing cutter. Took about 15 minutes to do about 20 spacers.
They fit snug, compress just a tiny bit which should help them hold tuning,
and the cutter gave them a nice flat seating surface.
I made a few spares and have a lot of tubing leftover if I ever need to make more. Pics:


View attachment 134805

View attachment 134818
Click to expand...
This is awesome. Is it very rigid? There are aluminum spacers on Amazon, I'll be assembling a drum or two soon and some of the claws have a lower point of contact, as you see with Champagne Drum and Ayotte claws.
 

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microkit said:
This is awesome. Is it very rigid? There are aluminum spacers on Amazon, I'll be assembling a drum or two soon and some of the claws have a lower point of contact, as you see with Champagne Drum and Ayotte claws.
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I would say it's more than rigid enough.
If you whip the whole 5 foot length around, it'll bend a bit,
but the short <0.5" sections are very rigid in the direction that the force is applied.

You might be able to squash it a little bit if you pressed real hard around the outside diameter,
but there's no real reason to do that.

PEX pipe is used mainly for plumbing in place of copper (or other metal) tubing.
I bought it at a different store but this is the right size for drum rods:
 
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I'm no expert but I've been told that PEX pipe doesn't do well when exposed to light, which causes it to fail faster. It still could last years for all I know, but I just wanted to through that out there because it may eventually fail which would suck on a gig. Again I'm not a plumber so I could 100% wrong.
 
wildbill said:
I would say it's more than rigid enough.
If you whip the whole 5 foot length around, it'll bend a bit,
but the short <0.5" sections are very rigid in the direction that the force is applied.

You might be able to squash it a little bit if you pressed real hard around the outside diameter,
but there's no real reason to do that.

PEX pipe is used mainly for plumbing in place of copper (or other metal) tubing.
I bought it at a different store but this is the right size for drum rods:
Click to expand...
From my background of working in small breweries I can tell you from personal experience that small diameter pex like you have there is wonderful stuff. It can handle moisture, very high PSI, temperature extremes on both ends of hot and cold, as well as rapidly fluctuating between extremes of high and low temperatures without failing. As @SYMBOLIC DEATH pointed out it can be somewhat susceptible to light exposure but for your application I highly doubt it would cause any sort of catastrophic failure. If you gig outdoors frequently or leave your kit near windows just make it a point to check the upper more visible pex spacers every six months or so just in case. If they develop hairline cracks just swap them out. I'll put $10 you having to replace a bass drum head before having to replace a section of pex.
 
wildbill said:
Had some Yamaha T rods I wanted to use on a bass drum.
But they needed spacers, because the claws are recessed where the flat part of the rod hits.

Couldn't find anything close in size for plastic or metal spacers at the hardware store,
but I found some PEX tubing that had the right inner and outer diameters. It came as a 5 foot tube for $2.49
Always a sucker for a deal, I knew I could make it work. :ROFLMAO:

Marked off the right lengths and used a tubing cutter. Took about 15 minutes to do about 20 spacers.
They fit snug, compress just a tiny bit which should help them hold tuning,
and the cutter gave them a nice flat seating surface.
I made a few spares and have a lot of tubing leftover if I ever need to make more. Pics:
Click to expand...
That's a good DIY solution. In case you don't already know, McMaster Carr is a good source for all kinds of hardware and tools.
 
I recently bought this great 1968 Ludwig Super Classic kit and it sounds fantastic but the tom mount , railmount tom holder and spurs left a lot to be desired . I barely got through my first gig with them .

I reached out to my friend Josh Allen at Independent Drum Labs ( INDe) and he made some suggestions that have made a huge difference . He has some great parts that will replace the older Ludwig parts and won’t required any drilling. Best if all they make the kit sound better and it is more reliable for gigging .

I ended up purchasing the INDe retail mount replacement , gearless tilter , BR2 mounts for the rack tom and bass drum and 10” aluminum spurs .
The spurs allow me to raise the front of the bass drum off the ground more and reside the weight.
The Gearless tilter is genius in its design and functionality .
I also replaced the very short original floor tom legs with standard longer Ludwig 9.5mm thickness spurs . Now I can get the floor tom in a more playable position for me . IMG_5955.jpegIMG_6166.jpegIMG_6167.jpegIMG_6168.jpegIMG_6169.jpeg
 
NUTHA JASON said:
a member sent me this question and before i answer it i wanted other people's input and experience as well. this might be a good place for all sorts of modification ideas.

j
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I had an old tama rockstar kit that i let them get wrapped, as for the tom mounting, i had not the latest kind of bass drum mount but it worked for me, i dont think switching to the newer version style of mount will effect the sound.
The legs for the bass drum, does Thomann send to the UK? let him check and order there unless he finds one in the UK
 
This rewrap took me about 10 years to complete!
These are all orphan Ludwig shells of various construction and all came to me in different stages of disrepair, badges missing etc. It was my first attempt at a rewrap and my only advice to anyone would be start on a set of shells that are properly round. These weren't and it was a bit of a pig to not get ripples or bubbles in it.

Kick is 22x14 maple, as is the 14x10 tom. The 13x9 is a maple/poplar/maple and the 16x16 is a 50s mahogany shell. So while the set is not 'correct', it does play nicely as a kit.
 

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I had this Ludwig bass drum for years. Its from a Jazzette 12x18 inch. Its been unloved and modified over the years. it still has the screw holes for the original rail mount but somone punched a big hole in it for the tube mount. I figured it was time to give it a second chance at life so along with a 8x12 inch ludwig tom I wrapped them in silver sparkle with wrap from Precision drum so its a full bond, not the tape style. I dont have a 14x14 so this floor tom is a 12 x 15 i already had that matched the mounted tom from the same kit. I cant wait to play these out next week, its such a nice little kit. The lugs on the toms are just generic not Ludwig like the bass.bd 1.jpgtom 1.jpgkit 3.jpgkit 2.jpg
 
Jasta 11 said:
I had this Ludwig bass drum for years. Its from a Jazzette 12x18 inch. Its been unloved and modified over the years. it still has the screw holes for the original rail mount but somone punched a big hole in it for the tube mount. I figured it was time to give it a second chance at life so along with a 8x12 inch ludwig tom I wrapped them in silver sparkle with wrap from Precision drum so its a full bond, not the tape style. I dont have a 14x14 so this floor tom is a 12 x 15 i already had that matched the mounted tom from the same kit. I cant wait to play these out next week, its such a nice little kit. The lugs on the toms are just generic not Ludwig like the bass.View attachment 142628View attachment 142629View attachment 142630View attachment 142631
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Looks great! Silver sparkle is always a fun color on stage because of the way it reacts with various colored lighting. Do you have the bass drum backwards? If so, was that a choice or an accident?
 
roncadillac said:
Looks great! Silver sparkle is always a fun color on stage because of the way it reacts with various colored lighting. Do you have the bass drum backwards? If so, was that a choice or an accident?
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That the way the holes for the tube legs and the large hole for the pipe were when I got it. whoever put the hole in the top should have just centered it for this small size bass drum. I dont mind, the tom is in a good position.
 
Jasta 11 said:
That the way the holes for the tube legs and the large hole for the pipe were when I got it. whoever put the hole in the top should have just centered it for this small size bass drum. I dont mind, the tom is in a good position.
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That makes sense. I looked a bit closer and I can see the bass drum legs now as well.
 
roncadillac said:
Just don't get the Gibraltar one, it's a piece of junk. This one from pearl is absolutely rock solid:
www.sweetwater.com

Pearl CHB75LB Bass Drum Shell Cymbal Holder

Bass Drum Shell Cymbal Holder
www.sweetwater.com www.sweetwater.com

Or you can just get a basic clamshell mount and use this Tama arm, also rock solid: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CACLJ--tama-caclj-cymbal-holder
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Thanks for the heads up on that Pearl arm!! The ludwig classic style is 99 buck and I dont need it to be Ludwig i just want it to be sturdy.
 
roncadillac said:
That makes sense. I looked a bit closer and I can see the bass drum legs now as well.
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So after Satrurdays gig, I decided to change the legs to the opposite side to allow a better tom position. It pushed my snare, and me, a little too far away from a comfortable position, all set now, poor drum has 2 holes i need to plug but thats ok. the sound is deep and loud, no internal muffling, Im so happy I got this drum back out there.
 
Jasta 11 said:
So after Satrurdays gig, I decided to change the legs to the opposite side to allow a better tom position. It pushed my snare, and me, a little too far away from a comfortable position, all set now, poor drum has 2 holes i need to plug but thats ok. the sound is deep and loud, no internal muffling, Im so happy I got this drum back out there.
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If you don't care too much about looks, especially considering the location of the holes, you could probably just pop some rubber plugs in there and call it a day. Maybe check the plumbing section of a hardware store.
 
roncadillac said:
If you don't care too much about looks, especially considering the location of the holes, you could probably just pop some rubber plugs in there and call it a day. Maybe check the plumbing section of a hardware store.
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i was looking at furniture hole plugs or maybe even wood too. tonight im playing it with the hole unplugged for now.
 
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