Tag Archive - snare drum

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.
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How to Refurbish an Old Drum Set – Breathe New Life Into Old Skins

June 23, 2011 in Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

This is a guest post by Jon Lee of MNI Drumworks in Austin, TX.

In the fall of 1993 my parents gave in.  The past 18 years had been a torturous, ear bleeding ordeal for both my Father and beautiful Mother.  I had slapped, hit, tapped, knocked, kicked, and played EVERYTHING in every house that we had ever lived in, or vehicle we had owned.  From banging on pots, pans, lamp shades (great cymbals), to foot pedal trash cans (great hi-hats) and seat cushions…I was born to play drums.

Music Lane Studios, Summer 1994

The only drum kit I have ever owned is as a 5 piece Mapex Mars kit (later 6 piece) that I bought from Phil Fisher at the Drum Connection on North Lamar in the summer of 1993.  The kit is obsolete by today’s standards, but there weren’t a lot of technological advances in drum design for beginner kits in the early 90s.  When Pearl and Tama introduced suspension mounting systems for drum kits under the $1,000 price range, it was a revolution.  A concept that just about every drum company foreign or domestic soon adhered too, including Mapex in the late 90s.  For me, I got to hit stuff really hard, and could hit stuff really hard without breaking my parent’s .  If anything the first few weeks playing would have been like watching an Animal impersonator screaming WOMAN  WOMAN while banging away in the garage.

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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