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Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)
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)
- The Cobus Method Review – How to Play Drums Like Cobus | How to Make Custom Drums
- My Favorite Custom Drum Builders | How to Make Custom Drums
- How to make Custom Drums | How to Make Custom Drums
- Drum Building – Pros and Cons of Tube Lugs | How to Make Custom Drums
- How to Wrap a Drum Shell Part 1 | How to Make Custom Drums
- Drum Building FAQ – How much time and money will I need to invest? | How to Make Custom Drums
- Drum Building Tools for the Beginning Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
- Ryan’s 1st Custom Snare Drum Build | How to Make Custom Drums
- 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
- Reader’s Drum Pictures | How to Make Custom Drums
- 33 Drummer and Drum Related Gift Ideas For the Drummer In Your Life | How to Make Custom Drums
- 4 Tools That Make Building Custom Drums Easy | How to Make Custom Drums
- Drum Building Tools | How to Make Custom Drums
- 8 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
- Drum Building Tools for the Advanced Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
- Drum Building 101 – Don’t Let Your Drums Slip Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums
- That’s one very large custom floor tom… | How to Make Custom Drums
- My Drum Head Recipe – The Best Drum Heads for Bringing The Funk | How to Make Custom Drums
- 7 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
- 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)
How to Refurbish an Old Drum Set – Breathe New Life Into Old Skins
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.
Bart’s First Custom Drum Set Build
I just got this email from a friend in Hungary and wanted to share his experience with you! Bart’s first drum set is a beauty:
Bart did an incredible job on building his very first custom drum set. Great job Bart!
Below is an email conversation/interview that I had with Bart. He has lots of great drum building tips so make sure to read all of it! Continue Reading....
What I Learned On My Recent Drum Build
Every time I build a new custom drum or custom drum kit I learn something that can usually help me improve upon a similar drum set the next time around. Each new drum I build gets better and better and I find more efficient ways to do some of the drum building tasks. Most recently I completed this drum set:
The drum building tip I picked up from building this drum set has to do with the order of the steps that I apply the inlay strip and finishing process. For this drum set I:
- Cut the inlay groove
- Applied about 4 coats of black stain
- Installed the inlay strip
- Sealed and gave a high gloss finish
Now, from looking at pictures of the drums and even looking at the drums up close you would never be able to tell what I did wrong. (not really wrong…but I will do this differently on the next drum kit that has an inlay that I build)
Here is what the aged pearl wrap looks like up close:
Look great right? Well I used some very nice tung oil for the high gloss finish for this kit and tung oil (along with other finishing products such as lacquer) tends to yellow or “amber out” over time. Since I installed the inlay strip before I finished the drum, the inlay with also be included in the “ambering out” that is already starting to happen to this kit. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact this amber color is often desired by many custom finishers. If you’ve ever seen a vintage guitar that has discolored over time you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about!
In conclusion the main lesson I learned from building this drum set was this: If you like the original color of whatever inlay strip you decide to use, you should mask the area where your inlay strip will go, finish the entire drum, and install the inlay once your finish is complete to prevent your strip from “ambering out”!
I hope this helps some of you builders venturing into the world of inlay! If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below. I would love to hear what you have to say!
How to Make an Inlay Jig for your Router Table and Cut/Install Perfect Inlay on your Custom Drum Set!
The follow section is taken right from the pages of “How to Make Custom Drums”. Like what you see? Buy the full version and learn everything you need to know to be able to build your very own custom drum or drum set!
Making an Inlay Jig for your Router Table
Inlay’s can make your drums look pro and classy. This design is extremely easy to make and to use. Just cut a piece of laminated MDF to the size (width or length) of your existing router table then cut a 2×4 to the same size and screw the 2 together. (see picture) Make sure to counter sink your screws so they don’t get in the way. All you need now are 2 clamps. Continue Reading....
How to Wrap a Drum Shell Part 2
This is the 2nd and last post on how to wrap your drum shells! Enjoy! Check out the first post here. Another important blog post to view along with this post is “How to Keep your Wrap Seams From Coming Up“.
After you have made sure there is not sanding dust on the wrap or on the shell you can apply your contact cement. If you have already drilled your holes for hardware you may want to tape the inside up so that no contact cement can run on the inside of the shell. Use a paint brush or roller brush to apply the contact cement to the shell, the back of the wrap, and the overlap! You’ll need to apply 2 coats to achieve maximum adhesion, and you can do them one right after the other. Leave no space uncovered or else you’ll have some bubbles in your wrap. Make sure you really get the overlap good! Consult the directions on your contact cement to get the best results.
Most contact cement needs about 15-30 minutes of drying time BEFORE you try to put the wrap on the shell. When the glue dries on all surfaces you may proceed. – Attention! – The glue must be dry for you to have a permanent bond, it sounds counter intuitive, but trust me, if you try to stick things together with contact cement when the cement is not completely dry, it will become un-bonded over time.
How To Keep Drum Wrap Seams From Coming Up
I have a confession to make. I recently discovered that the seams on the 2nd wrapped drum set I ever made are starting to come apart. This is unacceptable, but luckily you get to learn from my mistake. Wrapping your custom drums with a sparkle, glass glitter, onyx, pearl, or solid color wrap is an easy way to get a great finish on your drum without spending days, weeks, or months apply a stain and lacquer finish. Just make sure you do it right the first time or this will happen.
How to Prevent Your Drums From Slipping Out of Tune
Do you have problems with your tension rods detuning themselves as you play a gig? I know that I dealt with this for a very long time myself. I would sometimes find myself trying to tune my snare drum back up after a couple of songs because usually the lug nearest to where I hit my rim shots ends up detuning and dropping the drum’s overall pitch.
This just made me frustrated…until I found out about Loctite Thread Locker Blue.
Loctite has been great for me for the last couple of years that I’ve used it on my kits. I apply just a small amount to each tension rod on all of my drums. You have to be careful because this stuff can get messy.
I have also started to put it on all of my hardware screws and lugs screws that attach the hardware and lugs to the shell. One mistake you definitely don’t want to make though is getting the permanent Loctite thread locker. There are multiple ratings of adhesive-ness (is that even a word?) and you have to make sure you get THREAD LOCKER BLUE REMOVABLE. Continue Reading....
Reader Drum Pictures
