Take your time when doing anything that becomes monotonous or else you will end up doing something that you will regret!
For example double check all of the cuts you make, all of the holes you drill, and don't try to cut corners when staining your drums. I thought I could be careful with my stain, therefore I chose not to mask the inside of the shell because I was in a hurry…and then this happened:
Learn from my mistake! Don't cut corners!
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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....
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!
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.
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.
I 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.
I 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.
These counter sunk screws are barely noticeable from far away, and they are flush with the inside of the bass drum hoops.
Not 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:
I had a post in April talking a little about this kit, but I wanted to update you on the finished product. This is a very classic sized kit: 14×22, 8×13, and 16×16.
I learned a lot from building this kit. Just a few things I learned from this build:
