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Tag Archive - custom drums

What does “100% Maple” Drum Shell really mean?

May 21, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates with 1 Comment

The other day I was carousing the Wal-Mart of music stores (Guitar Center) for some inspiration and ideas for a new kit I’m about to start building and happened upon a drum set that advertised 100% maple shells. The thing that struck me funny is that the drum set was only $599 for a complete drum set with mounting hardware (kick drum, 3 toms, and a snare drum). I just couldn’t believe my eyes, this set looked great, and for that price I was beginning to wonder how in the world I would be able to compete with a great looking drum with “100% maple drum shells” that could be purchased for less than half of what it takes me to actually build a similar drum set…

After I sat down and played on them I examined the shell, the hardware and the actual construction of the drum itself. There were a couple of very noticeable differences in the drums that I make and in the drums that were in front of me.

I might talk about some of the other differences in other posts, the first thing I noticed after turning over the snare drum and looking at the bearing edge was that there was no interior finishing done to the drum or bearing edge, and honestly the inside of the shell looked like any other cheap beginner drum set shell. It definitely didn’t look like the Keller maple shells that I use and recommend for building custom drums. I know that there must have been some corners cut to make this drum set so cheap so I asked one of the sales associates how these 100% maple shell kits could sell for $599. He explained that most of the cheaper “all maple kits” only have 2-3 actual full sheet plies of maple, and they usually have a couple layers of ground up maple plies that are just kind of filler in the middle of the drum. That way they can still get away with calling it “all” or “100%” maple shells, but in reality the shell will not play, feel or resonate like a true “all maple ply shell”. Interesting. Continue Reading....

4 Tools That Make Building Custom Drums Easy

May 10, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates with 2 Comments

1. Drum Key Drill Bit – Buy Now! – This tool is a must for any custom drum builder who is used to using only a drum key to assemble or disassemble their drum sets. This makes putting heads on and taking off heads about 10 times faster. I have built many drums before I finally found one of these and I can honestly say this may be my favorite drum building tool discovery in the past 5 years. (I know they have been available for longer than that, but I never knew I needed one so badly!)

2.Right Angle Drill – Buy Now! – This also makes assembling drums extremely fast. However when your screwing in any of your hardware screws (lugs, bass drum spurs, tom mounting hardware) you'll need to use a low force setting on the drill so it doesn't strip your screws. The reason I recommend a right angle drill is to be able to get inside those smaller diameter shells like 12" and smaller. With a traditional drill you won't be able to fit it inside the shell to screw the lugs screws in!

3. J-Roller – Buy Now! – If you are going to apply a wrap to a drum, this tool will help you get any unwanted air bubbles out from in between the shell and the wrap. This really is a must for applying wrap correctly.

4. Combo Square – Buy Now! – Ah the combo square, probably my most used drum making tool. I use this to mark the layout for all of the hardware that goes on to each drum. I also use it to mark stripe layout for paint, and for wrap. I don't know that I could build a drum without one of these.

These are some of the tools that you'll need to build a custom drum, to learn how to use some of them you can sign up for the free drum building tutorials sent to your email! If you want to learn how to use all of these drum building tools and learn the art of drum building consider buying "How to Make Custom Drums 2.0"

I'm always look for new blog topics, if you have any questions or ideas for blog topics I encourage you to leave a comment below!

5 Thoughts on Drum Building Safety

April 19, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates with 0 Comments

I have never had any major incidents when building drums, however there are some important safety precautions to take into consideration. Working with sharp powerful tools should make this obvious, but the joy and excitement of working with those tools can make thoughts of safety drift far away. With that in mind here are 5 tips I feel are crucial in any shop.

Clean your shop – Removing unneeded materials and tools from your work space will help insure that you and your piece are easy to move around as needed.
Pay Attention – Glancing at a TV or door/window or anything other than your cut invites contact with the blade. ALWAYS finish the cut before looking away.
Take your time – If you are in a hurry to get done making your custom drum then you need to take a look at why you are doing the work in the first place. Enjoy the process; it’s not always the destination but the journey.
Invest in yourself – YOU are the most important “piece” while working with wood so protect yourself as you would your project “piece”. Wearing safety goggles, ear protection, dust masks, etc. should be the rule, not the exception.
Use your head – Take some time before you start to plan out your cuts and “see” how they will unfold.

Following these guidelines should give you a much more enjoyable and safe drum building experience.

Thanks to Don Sternadel, manger of the Austin Woodcraft Store, for these great safety tips!

What I Learned On My Recent Drum Build

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

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!

April 5, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 0 Comments

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

March 24, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 1 Comment

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 Take Good Drum Photos

March 16, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

When you build your very own custom drum or drum set you'll want to take some great product photos to show off your work to everyone you know. In the past I've been lucky to work with some amazing photographers who have shot some promo pictures of drums that I've built, one of them being Chad Zellner. I recently emailed Chad and asked him to answer a few questions about taking drum product photos. Here is what he had to say:

MD (Makedrums): Can you tell me about your process when you take product photos…specifically drums.

Chad: Product photography is all about lighting and drawing attention to the product or specific area of the product. I always do multiple off camera lights to give depth to the photo and give it much better color than direct lighting. Direct lighting (or built in flash) is a huge no no.

MD: I know you’re a professional photographer and have great gear, so can I ever expect to turn out pro looking pictures with my Cannon Power Shot camera? How?

Chad: Absolutely. Many pro photographers get great looks due to their gear and post processing in Photoshop or some other program. But if you just want a good clear picture then you don't have to have a $3000 camera. One piece of advise if you plan on doing your own product shots far into the future is to learn basic camera functions. Most cameras have a manual mode that let you control shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Read online or in your camera's user manual to see how to change these functions and what they do. It may take you a little while to understand it but it's camera 101 and will definitely help you out in the long run. Avoid auto settings if you can.

MD: What if I wanted to take a picture and have everything white except the drum set? Like this one:

How would an amateur photographer achieve this look without spending tons on lighting and backdrops?

Chad: If you want this ''infinity" look there are a few different ways to get it. If you have the lighting equipment you can get this look very easily with a few white sheets. But if you don't have lighting but do have photo editing software you could spend the time to cut out around each piece. Other than that you might be better off hiring this one out for a good quality shot.

MD: Do you know of any free photo editing software that you could recommend?

Chad: Although I've never used anything but Adobe Photoshop, I have heard good things about GIMP. Don't hold me to it but it's the only free software I have heard of that is decent.

You can check out Chad's Photography at www.twopairphotography.com/blog
Chad will be making lots of photography 'how-to' videos in the future on their tech blog www.blogmeright.com

How To Keep Drum Wrap Seams From Coming Up

March 10, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 1 Comment

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.

Ryan’s 1st Custom Snare Drum Build

February 25, 2010 in Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 2 Comments

I just got these pictures in from Ryan in Lubbock, TX! Ryan cut his own bearing edges, marked his own lug layout, drilled for hardware, cut his own snare bed and put a clear satin finish on his drum – and he was able to do most of this from his apartment! Looks great Ryan!

Check out what Ryan had to say:

"Philip’s ebook “How to Make Custom Drums” is definitely one of the most specific and comprehensive drum-building guides anywhere today. Philip was able to take from his own experiences as well as the many vague and spotty resources available online and produce something that can truly guide anybody with a little time and desire to build their own custom drum/drums for a fraction of the cost of a “custom-ordered” kit. From the many pictures to the very detailed step-by-step instructions, Phillip not only makes building custom drums possible for the rest of us, but makes it incredibly fun and fulfilling. It’s exciting enough to get a new drum for yourself, but knowing that you not only designed it, but crafted it and put it together with your own two hands is monumentally more valuable than the $25 you’ll spend on this book. After buying Philip’s book, I was able to build and finish my first custom snare drum in a week mostly from the comfort of my own apartment. The whole process was so enjoyable that I can’t wait to order the parts necessary for me to build my first full drum kit! Philip has done an incredible job with this entire project and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed."

-Ryan, Lubbock, TX

How to Prevent Your Drums From Slipping Out of Tune

February 19, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drummer resources, Drums, General Updates with 4 Comments

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....

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