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Drum Building 101 – How much time and money will I need to invest?

January 12, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 1 Comment

How Much Money Will I Spend Building My Custom Drum Set?

I recently received an email asking how long it would take and how much it would cost to build a 5 piece drum set. Thanks for the question George, hopefully this answers it! The very first drum set I ever built was this: A 3 piece drum set (10” tom, 14” tom, and a 20” kick drum) that was stained blue and had gold “bling bling” hardware. I later built a snare drum to match the set but it came out a slightly lighter shade of blue than the other drums (more about that learning experience later). This drum set was my first ever experience with drum building. Before building this I had never worked with wood, I did not consider myself a crafty handyman, and I had never stained anything, unless you count grass and coffee stains! A couple of years before building my first drum set I became friends with a guy named Kevin. Kevin owned (and still owns) a recording studio in town. Kevin was the first person to introduce me to the idea of building my own drum set. He had a custom drum set in his recording studio that sounded amazing. When he told me that he made it with his bare hands I flipped out. When he told me how little he spent to make it I flipped out yet again. He had ordered all the materials for the set, stained it, put a clear coat on it, and assembled it…and HE RECORDS THAT DRUM SET ON 90% OF HIS STUDIO PROJECTS! My first build took about 2 weeks to get supplies shipped to me, 2 weeks to complete it and cost me approximately 0. Continue Reading....

How to Wrap a Drum Shell Part 1

January 5, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 4 Comments

Using a wrap to finish your drum is a great way to get an outstanding finish in very little time. If you are wrapping multiple drums you should find out if your wrap supplier has specific configurations already cut to size for your drums, if not you’ll need to calculate how much wrap you will actually need to buy to be able to cover all your drums. If you are unsure of how to do this, just ask your supplier to help you figure it out. First you will need to cut your wrap to size. An easy way to do this is to wrap it around your drum shell and mark the edge of the shell all the way around. This shows how to wrap a bass drum. If your wrapping a smaller shell follow the directions below as follows, but you’ll just end up with one seam

(Some wrap manufacturers don’t make wrap to go all the way around large drums, so you’ll end up having to use 2 pieces for larger drums – mark your cut line around the top of the shell)

(What your 2^nd piece of wrap for larger drums will look like, this will go on the bottom of a 22” kick)

You may use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the wrap. Sparkles are a little easier to cut than glass glitter wraps. Plan on sharpening your scissors frequently if you need to cut a lot of wrap. After you cut your wrap to the length of your shell, you’ll need to cut it down to the diameter of your shell. An easy way to do this is to use a flexible measuring tape (for sewing) to measure all the way around the shell and add an extra inch for overlap. Now lay the wrap down flat and measure out that distance and use a straight edge to mark your next cut. Continue Reading....

Makedrums.com | How To Make Custom Drums

December 15, 2009 in Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drummer resources, Drums, General Updates with 0 Comments

This video shows many of pictures that are included in the book "How to Make Custom Drums" – Over 100 color pictures that visually explain drum building processes! Learn how to build your own custom drums by reading "How to Make Custom Drums"

Drum Building 101 – The Pros and Cons of Tube Lugs

December 9, 2009 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 3 Comments

Tube lugs seem to be the lug of choice for most “custom” drum companies and for good reasons – they look great on any drum and are usually made out of solid brass which makes them very durable. There is however some characteristics about tube lugs that could make them difficult to work with for the amateur drum builder. You may have noticed that many lugs have an insert inside the lug that can move around slightly to accept the tension rod. Tube lugs do not have this move-able insert so your drilling must be precise.

Also, when you use tube lugs it is a good idea to grab some extra rubber gaskets or nylon washers/spacers to put in between the lug and the shell. They will come in handy if you install your lugs only to find out that the lug doesn’t have enough lift off of the shell for the tension rod to screw in straight. Example: Continue Reading....

Live Broadcast from the shop starting 9am (5/4)

November 30, 2009 in Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, General Updates with 0 Comments

I'll be working on finishing up some drums tomorrow wanted to broadcast it all live.Specifically I'll be staining a couple of bass drum hoops that i've already cut inlays into, and then i'll be cuting out sparkle for the inlay, waiting for the stain to dry, assembleing 2 bass drums and a floor tom…so it might not be the most interesting broadcast, but i'll try to throw in some witty comments for my viewers. You can also use Twitter to comment on the broadcast. @pellidrums (<–if you use twitter this makes sense to you) Hope you enjoy!

Makedrums.com Presents “How to Make Custom Drums”

November 23, 2009 in Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, General Updates with 1 Comment

Listen to a special message from the author!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

How to Make Custom Drums is a book that is meant to show you every area of drum building in detail and give you the instructions, confidence, and resources to build a drum, or start a custom drum company!

This book will tell you exactly step by step how to build your custom drum set including the snare, toms and bass drum while saving thousands of dollars!

What you will learn from reading How to Make Custom Drums

Step by step tutorials with OVER 100 HIGH QUALITY COLOR PICTURES! Tutorials include:
How to apply a wrap to any size drum
How to buy drum heads for up to 70% off retail prices!
How to use spray paint to save yourself money and create amazing custom designs
How to create stunning horizontal stripes using spray paint
How to create "candy cane" stripes using spray paint
How to create a glass like mirror shine high gloss finish
How to seal and finish the inside of the shells
How to cut bearing edges
How and where to outsource any shell wood work that you don't want to do or don't have tools for
How to layout and mark a drum for drilling including: lug and hardware placement for snare, tom, and bass
How to finish the bearing edge
How to cut inlay grooves in your shell and how to install perfect inlays
How to design and build a router table
How to design and build a sanding table
How to design and build your own jig to cut inlay grooves
Did I mention OVER 100 PICTURES TO VISUALLY EXPLAIN PROCESSES?
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE…

Not only am I showing your exactly how to build custom drums, I'm also throwing in some bonus materials to make it more worth your while!

BONUS MATERIALS:

How to create custom drum badges and kick drum logos
What not to do when building drums – I show and tell my costly mistakes so you won't make the same ones I made!
Resource list of drum building supplies, where to find wraps, where to get lugs and other drum building resource that are the best of the best.

Drums built in this book with building process revealed:

MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!!!

I'm so convinced that you'll be 100% satisfied with the content in the book that I'm offering MONEY BACK GUARANTEE if it is not everything that I say it is. If you are not completely satisfied with the information I share in the pages of How to Make Custom Drums, you get YOUR MONEY BACK!

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