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Interview with Custom Drum Builder Ryan Voight

October 20, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drums, General Updates, Podcast with 1 Comment

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Philip: I’m here with Ryan Voight, who has recently built some pretty amazing snare drums and I’ve actually covered some of his progress on the blog, if you read down below you can see a couple of the posts and check out the drums he’s built. How’re you doing today, Ryan?

Ryan: I’m good, man. I’m happy to be talking about this stuff. I love building, I love working with my hands and this opportunity to build snare drums and use the book has been really awesome, it’s been excellent. I’m glad to share it with everybody.

Philip: Thanks, man. Well, I just wanted to ask you a couple questions, kinda give our Make Drums readers some insight into who you are and how you got started in the drum building. So, how long have you been a drummer or how long have you been interested in drums?

Ryan: I’ve been playing the drums since 1997, so, that’s what, 13 years I’ve been playing. You know, it’s kind of funny cause it started out, I’m a preacher’s son and it just so happened that we had moved to this little town in Kentucky. Our youth group needed a drummer and at that time I had taken about four years of piano, but the drums just seemed like, especially to an 11-year-old kid, seemed way cooler than the piano. So I just kind of went for it and man, never looked back. Ever since then I’ve loved playing the drums. I played in church, played for our metal band, the hardcore band, and more recently and preferably, played for some more, I guess, pop rock kind of stuff. Of course I’ve done worship, been doing that for about 13 years.

Philip: What made you want to get into drum building? How did you find out about making your own snare drums?

Ryan: Actually, it was from you. When I was playing with Day, we played with you guys I think in Pampa, Texas. Continue Reading....

Ryan Voight Knows How to Build Drums

October 7, 2010 in Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 6 Comments

Just got some amazing pictures of a new custom snare drum that Ryan from Lubbock built! Aside from being a great drum builder, Ryan is also a great photographer! Check out his work at www.rvoightphotography.com

I look forward to seeing more drum from you Ryan! Great job!

Bart’s First Custom Drum Set Build

September 7, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

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....

My favorite Custom Drum Builders

May 28, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drummer resources, Drums, General Updates with 3 Comments

I recently received and email from someone that was about to start building their very 1st custom drum set. He asked me how I decide on the finish and hardware of a particular drum or drum set that I’m building. This question has always been tough for me because I don’t always feel creative. I do however have a couple of places I like to go for inspiration.

I think that by seeing some amazing drums that have already been created, it can spark the creativity in my brain to think outside the box of just doing a normal looking wrap or a normal looking stain. When I go to a drum store I always look at all of the little details of the drums even down to the bearing edge or where they put the seam of the wrap.

…but let’s face it… most music stores that have drums don’t usually have the most amazing drums on display. This is where the internet comes in.

Some of my favorite custom drum builders are as follows: Continue Reading....

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....

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....