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Custom Drum Builder Profile: Kevin Bowen

May 14, 2012 in Drums, Inspiration, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

Where do you live? Lakeland, Fl

What are the sizes of the drums you built? 7×10 7×12 12×14 14×16 18×20 (depth x diameter)

What type of shells did you use? Keller maple shells, 10, 12, 14 are 6 ply and 16, 20 are 8 ply

What type of drum hardware did you use? Hoops are maple, lugs are a basic Yamaha style teardrop, but I powder coated them with an “antique silver vein” finish.

What type of finish/wrap did you put on your drums? “Sapphire Blue” water based dye, several coats of poly using steel wool between coats to get the satin finish.

What was your favorite part of building your drums? Watching the “finish” evolve between coats, sanding, poly applications.

What was the hardest part of building your drums? For me it was the “sanding.” I have trouble with my wrists (tendinitis). Second, would be applying the polyurethane. It was my first time and I had a few runs I had to repair on the first couple of coats.

How long did it take you to build your drums? Well… About 9 months. However, I had to put the project on hold several times. Probably about 80 hours total. The powder coating added a good amount of time.

How much money did it cost you to build your drums? For actual drum parts, I suspect around $1400. I had additional costs with tools, router table, powder coating equipment, etc.

How did you learn about building custom drums? I bought the “How to Make Custom Drum” book.

What is 1 tip you could share with someone who wants to build their own custom drums? Don’t rush process and don’t settle for “good enough.” If something doesn’t turn out the way you like it. Fix it or redo it. I made that mistake and had to refinish two drums after I had already applied the polyurethane. I thought it was “good enough” then once the drum finish was complete… “good enough” didn’t cut it. I should have made that call after applying the dye.

Custom Drum Builder Profile: Justin Kochenberger

April 30, 2012 in General Updates, Inspiration, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

Name: Justin

Where do you live? Philadelphia, Pa

What are the sizes of the drums you built? Snare Drum – 14×8, Bass Drum – 26×16, Floor Tom – 16×16, Rack Tom – 13×8

What type of shells did you use? All shells are 8 ply Keller VSS Maple with reinforcement rings on the snare drum.

What type of drum hardware did you use? All of my hardware is from drummaker.com. I used classic pearl style drum lugs along with the classic style bass drum claws to get a 70s style looking kit.

What type of finish/wrap did you put on your drums? The Wrap is a silver glass glitter.

What was your favorite part of building your drums? My favorite part in building process was putting on the wrap and beginning to see what the drums were actually going to look like.

What was the hardest part of building your drums? The hardest part for me was making sure all my measurements were exact and all the holes were drilled right. I was always nervous before drilling any holes into the drums.

How long did it take you to build your drums? It took me about 6 months to finish my set.

How much money did it cost you to build your drums? I want to say around $1500-1600. I didn’t buy everything at once so I forget exactly how much the total cost was.

How did you learn about building custom drums? I did research online, watching YouTube videos and read your eBook.

What is one tip you could share with someone who wants to build their own custom drums? Do your research and read the eBook before you begin to build your custom drums. It’s an exciting process to be building your own custom drums, just be patient with it.

Classy Custom Drum Pictures from K-Drums

January 9, 2012 in Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

Every time I get pictures in an email from someone who has used my eBook as a guide to build their very own custom drums I feel like I was able to make a difference in someone’s life. Today I got some amazing pictures of drums that Niklas Kilenstam built. I highly suggest you check out his custom drum company K-Drums and his band called  The Men. Let these pictures inspire you as you think about building your own custom drums!

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Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)

December 27, 2011 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drum Tips, Drummer resources, Drums, Drums History, How to Tune Drums, Product Review, Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

It’s been amazing year for Makedrums.com and I wanted to recap some of the most visited blog posts and pages of the site for the year 2011. If you are brand new to the site, this is a great place to start! Enjoy, and please join in the conversations and leave some feedback in the comments area! HERE’S to an even better 2012!

Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)

  1. The Cobus Method Review – How to Play Drums Like Cobus | How to Make Custom Drums
  2. My Favorite Custom Drum Builders | How to Make Custom Drums
  3. How to make Custom Drums | How to Make Custom Drums
  4. Drum Building – Pros and Cons of Tube Lugs | How to Make Custom Drums
  5. How to Wrap a Drum Shell Part 1 | How to Make Custom Drums
  6. Drum Building FAQ – How much time and money will I need to invest? | How to Make Custom Drums
  7. Drum Building Tools for the Beginning Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
  8. Ryan’s 1st Custom Snare Drum Build | How to Make Custom Drums
  9. How to Make an Inlay Jig for your Router Table and Cut/Install Perfect Inlay on your Custom Drum Set! | How to Make Custom Drums
  10. Reader’s Drum Pictures | How to Make Custom Drums
  11. 33 Drummer and Drum Related Gift Ideas For the Drummer In Your Life | How to Make Custom Drums
  12. 4 Tools That Make Building Custom Drums Easy | How to Make Custom Drums
  13. Drum Building Tools | How to Make Custom Drums
  14. 8 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
  15. Drum Building Tools for the Advanced Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
  16. Drum Building 101 – Don’t Let Your Drums Slip Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums
  17. That’s one very large custom floor tom… | How to Make Custom Drums
  18. My Drum Head Recipe – The Best Drum Heads for Bringing The Funk | How to Make Custom Drums
  19. 7 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
  20. Drum Building 101 – How to Prevent Your Drums From Slipping Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums

What would you like to see more of on the site in 2012? (Click here to leave a comment)

Bass Player – Turned Drummer Builds His 1st Custom Drum Set

August 3, 2011 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

This is a guest post from John A. Ledingham, PhD. He and his new custom drum set reside in Columbus, Ohio.

I started out not as a drummer, but as a bass player in my hometown of Springfield, Ohio.

One Thursday afternoon, the leader of a group I was playing bass with called to tell me the band had been hired for a six-night-a-week gig, scheduled to begin the following Monday night. However, “Eddie” wanted me to play drums, not bass.  In fact, I had an older set someone had given me to settle a debt and I had been practicing playing on them for fun.  I tried to explain to Eddie that I was nowhere close to being ready to play a drum gig. “If you want the gig, you play drums,” Eddie insisted. When Monday came I was able to get by on the drums, but only barely. That was almost 50 years ago and I’ve been playing ever since.

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Drum Builder Interview: Jeremy Wolfe’s 2nd Custom Drum Set

July 28, 2011 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

I recently had time to interview Jeremy Wolfe about his recent experience with building drums. This is the 2nd custom drum set he has built with the help of this site. Check out our conversation and pictures below!

Makedrums: Can you tell us about the drums you’ve built?
Jeremy: This is the second kit I have built. It’s the first using the E-Book. It was actually a rebuild from an older kit. The drums were originally wrapped in a dark red wrap. After using some wood filler and the “wet sanding” tip from the book the shells were then consistently smooth. I also plugged the original lugholes with filler because I was going for an alternate lug layout. Also the toms were cut to custom size. The 9×12 rack tom was cut to 7×12″ and the 16×16″ floor was cut to 12×16″. There was also a 10×13″ rack tom that was cut to 5×13″ which is now the snare drum. Finish is a simple white gloss spray with off centered double pinstripes that gradually get bigger according to shell size. Using the finishing steps in the book the build coat and pinstripe came easily. Top coat is the lacquer suggested in the book also and finally black hoops and hardware were put on to finish.
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How to Refurbish an Old Drum Set – Breathe New Life Into Old Skins

June 23, 2011 in Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

This is a guest post by Jon Lee of MNI Drumworks in Austin, TX.

In the fall of 1993 my parents gave in.  The past 18 years had been a torturous, ear bleeding ordeal for both my Father and beautiful Mother.  I had slapped, hit, tapped, knocked, kicked, and played EVERYTHING in every house that we had ever lived in, or vehicle we had owned.  From banging on pots, pans, lamp shades (great cymbals), to foot pedal trash cans (great hi-hats) and seat cushions…I was born to play drums.

Music Lane Studios, Summer 1994

The only drum kit I have ever owned is as a 5 piece Mapex Mars kit (later 6 piece) that I bought from Phil Fisher at the Drum Connection on North Lamar in the summer of 1993.  The kit is obsolete by today’s standards, but there weren’t a lot of technological advances in drum design for beginner kits in the early 90s.  When Pearl and Tama introduced suspension mounting systems for drum kits under the $1,000 price range, it was a revolution.  A concept that just about every drum company foreign or domestic soon adhered too, including Mapex in the late 90s.  For me, I got to hit stuff really hard, and could hit stuff really hard without breaking my parent’s .  If anything the first few weeks playing would have been like watching an Animal impersonator screaming WOMAN  WOMAN while banging away in the garage.

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Classic Custom Drums by Brian Roberts

May 26, 2011 in Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

I’ve been chatting with Brian Roberts who has recently sent me some amazing pictures of the drums that he has built with the help of the eBook. I hope to post an interview with Brian soon to find out more about these amazing classic custom drums that he has set out to make a company around.

Phillip,

Hi there. I downloaded your book about six months ago and it lit a fire inside of me, and I am in the process of starting my own drum company. I’ve built drums and wrapped drums before, but at this point, I have not built a drumset under my company’s name – Roberts Drum Company.

You see, the idea behind my drums company is to build drums that look, sound and feel like vintage drums – and vintage drums only. So you wont find any 45 degree edges on my kits or any all maple shells etc. Right now, I’m in the process of raising support to fund the first prototype kit (a replica of a 1960’s Ludwig Super Classic set in silver sparkle…14×24 kick, 9×13 rack , 16×16 floor w/ a black beauty clone snare. My website is pretty understated and simple at this point. However, I’d really appreciate it if you would still include me in your blog.

The website is www.robertsdrums.com

Thanks, Phillip! You are an inspiration to me!

Thanks Brian for the email and the pictures! The drums look amazing!

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Jeremy’s Custom Snare Drum Pictures

February 15, 2011 in Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

I just got another email from a customer in San Angelo. I love getting these emails and sharing them all of my readers! I hope that these pictures and stories from other drum builders will help you realize that you can build drums!

“Hi there! My name is Jeremy. I’m from San Angelo, TX. I just recently completed my first drum set. I built the kick and toms at the end of last year and completed the snare drum in early February. All of the tips and tutorials from your e-book and website really helped me along the way and now I have a hobby which I can enjoy for years to come. I have included some picture of the set. I did a natural tung oil finish on the kick/toms. I did a two-tone, dark walnut over natural maple finish on the snare. Thanks for all of the help and keep up the good work!”

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Esteban’s 1st Custom Snare Drum Build

February 8, 2011 in Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

Just got these awesome pictures in from Esteban in Ventura, CA! This is what he said

"First off I wanted to thank you for putting out your e-Book, it was a huge help. I wouldn't have even got into drum building without the e-Book. I just finished my first build yesterday, I built a 6.5"x14" 10ply Maple snare. It was totally fun and I'm planning on building the full set sometime soon. Thanks again, I'll keep checking your websites out to stay updated and what not. Hope to hear from you again bro."

Dude, all I have to say is: Job well done! These are some great photos of a great looking drum! Good luck on starting the full set!

If you like Esteban's snare drum, please give him some love in the comments section!

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