Tag Archive - drummer

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.
Continue Reading....

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

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

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

Instructional Drum Videos

November 30, 2009 in Drummer resources, General Updates with 0 Comments

I don't have any custom drum sets to work on in the shop today, so I've decided to make some instructional drum videos of all of the Rocketboys' drum parts. I will be broadcasting while i'm doing this, but i'm also going to be editing film from another camera to put on YouTube! I'll let you know when they are up.