Tag Archive - how to build custom drums

Custom Drum Builder Profile: Justin Kochenberger

April 30, 2012 in General Updates, Inspiration, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

Name: Justin

Where do you live? Philadelphia, Pa

What are the sizes of the drums you built? Snare Drum – 14×8, Bass Drum – 26×16, Floor Tom – 16×16, Rack Tom – 13×8

What type of shells did you use? All shells are 8 ply Keller VSS Maple with reinforcement rings on the snare drum.

What type of drum hardware did you use? All of my hardware is from drummaker.com. I used classic pearl style drum lugs along with the classic style bass drum claws to get a 70s style looking kit.

What type of finish/wrap did you put on your drums? The Wrap is a silver glass glitter.

What was your favorite part of building your drums? My favorite part in building process was putting on the wrap and beginning to see what the drums were actually going to look like.

What was the hardest part of building your drums? The hardest part for me was making sure all my measurements were exact and all the holes were drilled right. I was always nervous before drilling any holes into the drums.

How long did it take you to build your drums? It took me about 6 months to finish my set.

How much money did it cost you to build your drums? I want to say around $1500-1600. I didn’t buy everything at once so I forget exactly how much the total cost was.

How did you learn about building custom drums? I did research online, watching YouTube videos and read your eBook.

What is one tip you could share with someone who wants to build their own custom drums? Do your research and read the eBook before you begin to build your custom drums. It’s an exciting process to be building your own custom drums, just be patient with it.

Bearing Edges Explained

April 5, 2012 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drum Tips with 7 Comments

How to Install a Grommet Style Air Vent in a Drum Shell

April 5, 2012 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drum Tips, Drums with 3 Comments

Classic Custom Drums by Brian Roberts

May 26, 2011 in Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

I’ve been chatting with Brian Roberts who has recently sent me some amazing pictures of the drums that he has built with the help of the eBook. I hope to post an interview with Brian soon to find out more about these amazing classic custom drums that he has set out to make a company around.

Phillip,

Hi there. I downloaded your book about six months ago and it lit a fire inside of me, and I am in the process of starting my own drum company. I’ve built drums and wrapped drums before, but at this point, I have not built a drumset under my company’s name – Roberts Drum Company.

You see, the idea behind my drums company is to build drums that look, sound and feel like vintage drums – and vintage drums only. So you wont find any 45 degree edges on my kits or any all maple shells etc. Right now, I’m in the process of raising support to fund the first prototype kit (a replica of a 1960’s Ludwig Super Classic set in silver sparkle…14×24 kick, 9×13 rack , 16×16 floor w/ a black beauty clone snare. My website is pretty understated and simple at this point. However, I’d really appreciate it if you would still include me in your blog.

The website is www.robertsdrums.com

Thanks, Phillip! You are an inspiration to me!

Thanks Brian for the email and the pictures! The drums look amazing!

Continue Reading....

Interview with Custom Drum Builder Troy Townsley

November 9, 2010 in Drums, Podcast, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

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Had a great interview with Troy Townsley. He had some great insight for drummers looking to get sponsored by a custom drum company since he has been sponsored by some great drum companies as well as some great insight into his building process.

Mentioned in this Podcast:

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

_MG_0053trick strainerbutt plateblack and pearl close upnatural maple snareludwig throw off

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

Audio Clips From Bart’s Custom Drum Set

September 21, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 4 Comments

I just received another email from Bart with drum audio recordings of the custom drum sets that he recently finished building. Bart specifically designed these drums to sound great for Jazz. If you would like to hear how some custom drums that I have built to play for Rock N' Roll sound then check out this older blog post.

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Custom Drum Set made with help from makedrums.com

All recordings  flat EQ’s without  mix.

Track 3: Turquoise/Azure shellset (pictured to the right)
Specs: 4.5mm tom and floor tom (with coated ambassadors-top/clear ambassadors-bottom)
6mm bass drum (Remo power stroke 3 fiberskyn-batter/powerstroke 3 smooth white-resonant)
9mm snare drum (coated Remo ambassador X-batter/hazy ambassador-resonant)

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canto i
Track 8: Satin Walnut shellset
Specs: 9mm tom and floor tom (Remo fiberskyn amb.-top/clear ambassadors-bottom)
9mm bass drum (fiberskyn-batter/powerstroke 3 smooth white-resonant)
9mm snare drum (coated ambassador -batter/hazy ambassador-resonant)

Great work Bart. They look and sound incredible. The fact that they are the very first two kits that you have ever built speak volumes about your determination to build great drums. This is why I wrote "How to Make Custom Drums", to inspire drummers to build their own custom drums and then in turn so they can inspire other drummers who may have never even known that they could build something that would look and sound this good. Thanks Bart for inspiring us all!

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's first custom drum set buildBart did an incredible job on building his very first custom drum set. Great job Bart!

The first custom drum set that bart made

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....

That’s one very large floor tom…

August 25, 2010 in Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 3 Comments

I just completed work on a 20" floor tom and I couldn't be more happy with the results. It's huge, it's beautiful, and it sounds like a cannon going off (or at least what I think a cannon sounds like, because I have actually never heard a cannon going off.)

This was a fun build for me. This was the first time I had ever had wood burning done on a drum, and also the first time that I used Ego's rounded claw that actually attaches to the bass drum hoop. (I'll be adding a "How to Install Attachable Bass Drum Hoop Claws" section in the book soon!) You may wonder why I used bass drum hoops as opposed to flanged hoops…well if you can find me a pair of 20" 8 hole black chrome hoops I would love to know where they are. I searched everywhere for them, but no one carries or makes them.

Here are some pictures from the building process.

20 inch floor tom with black pearl inlay and wood burning

I wish I could say that I had burned that design onto the drum, but I'm pretty sure no one wants me to mess up their drum shell with my drawing/burning skills.

huge custom floor tom drum on the dirty shop floorI know, I need to sweep my shop floor. There is sawdust from cutting 3" inlay strips into 7 drums, and bearing edges on 3 drums.

Ego Rounded Claw for bass drum hoopsI really like the look of these attachable drum claws, however there are some installation tips that need to be addressed if you have never worked with them before. All of the tips I picked up on from using these hoop claws will be added in the the "How to Make Custom Drums" bonus section in the next week or so.

counter sunk screw keeps your bass drum hoop flush
These counter sunk screws are barely noticeable from far away, and they are flush with the inside of the bass drum hoops.

Completed 20 inch custom bass drum shell made into a floor tomNot a very good quality photo (camera phone), but this is the finished product with my badge attached.

I have been extremely busy the past month, and have slacked on keeping my readers up to date in the drum building community. For that I apologize and I will try to do a better job! I have lots going on in the shop these days so I should have plenty to talk about on here. I am in the process of building a studio kit that will be very much like this floor tom, except it instead of the black pearl inlay it will have aged white pearl inlay, and instead of black chrome all around it will be just chrome hardware. It will have tube lugs and hoop claws. 10", 12", 14", 16" and 20" kick. Here is a picture of my progress so far:

my custom drum set that I am building

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