Tag Archive - tube lugs

Truth Custom Drums @ Winter NAMM 2012 – Pictures and Videos

January 29, 2012 in Drummer resources, Drums, Inspiration with 1 Comment

Truth had some great drums at their booth. They just released a Matt Greiner signature production model kit that sounds phenomenal! If your interested in hearing what Truth Drums sound like you can check out their new site  that provides high quality audio samples of truth drums.

You can also keep up with Truth by following them on Twitter: @truthcstmdrums

1. Check out the putting green on the side of that snare drum!

Custom snare drums by Truth

2. Adding a 15″ maple ring in between the tube lugs adds a very interesting look.

Notice the placement of the tube lugs Continue Reading....

Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)

December 27, 2011 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drum Tips, Drummer resources, Drums, Drums History, How to Tune Drums, Product Review, Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

It’s been amazing year for Makedrums.com and I wanted to recap some of the most visited blog posts and pages of the site for the year 2011. If you are brand new to the site, this is a great place to start! Enjoy, and please join in the conversations and leave some feedback in the comments area! HERE’S to an even better 2012!

Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)

  1. The Cobus Method Review – How to Play Drums Like Cobus | How to Make Custom Drums
  2. My Favorite Custom Drum Builders | How to Make Custom Drums
  3. How to make Custom Drums | How to Make Custom Drums
  4. Drum Building – Pros and Cons of Tube Lugs | How to Make Custom Drums
  5. How to Wrap a Drum Shell Part 1 | How to Make Custom Drums
  6. Drum Building FAQ – How much time and money will I need to invest? | How to Make Custom Drums
  7. Drum Building Tools for the Beginning Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
  8. Ryan’s 1st Custom Snare Drum Build | How to Make Custom Drums
  9. How to Make an Inlay Jig for your Router Table and Cut/Install Perfect Inlay on your Custom Drum Set! | How to Make Custom Drums
  10. Reader’s Drum Pictures | How to Make Custom Drums
  11. 33 Drummer and Drum Related Gift Ideas For the Drummer In Your Life | How to Make Custom Drums
  12. 4 Tools That Make Building Custom Drums Easy | How to Make Custom Drums
  13. Drum Building Tools | How to Make Custom Drums
  14. 8 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
  15. Drum Building Tools for the Advanced Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
  16. Drum Building 101 – Don’t Let Your Drums Slip Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums
  17. That’s one very large custom floor tom… | How to Make Custom Drums
  18. My Drum Head Recipe – The Best Drum Heads for Bringing The Funk | How to Make Custom Drums
  19. 7 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
  20. Drum Building 101 – How to Prevent Your Drums From Slipping Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums

What would you like to see more of on the site in 2012? (Click here to leave a comment)

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

4 Tools That Make Building Custom Drums Easy

May 10, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates with 2 Comments

Drum key drill bit1. Drum Key Drill Bit – Buy Now! – This tool is a must for any custom drum builder who is used to using only a drum key to assemble or disassemble their drum sets. This makes putting heads on and taking off heads about 10 times faster. I have built many drums before I finally found one of these and I can honestly say this may be my favorite drum building tool discovery in the past 5 years. (I know they have been available for longer than that, but I never knew I needed one so badly!)

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right angle drill for drum building2.Right Angle Drill – Buy Now! – This also makes assembling drums extremely fast. However when your screwing in any of your hardware screws (lugs, bass drum spurs, tom mounting hardware) you'll need to use a low force setting on the drill so it doesn't strip your screws. The reason I recommend a right angle drill is to be able to get inside those smaller diameter shells like 12" and smaller. With a traditional drill you won't be able to fit it inside the shell to screw the lugs screws in!

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j-roller for wrapping drums3. J-Roller – Buy Now! – If you are going to apply a wrap to a drum, this tool will help you get any unwanted air bubbles out from in between the shell and the wrap. This really is a must for applying wrap correctly.

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Combo Square for marking lug and hardware layout4. Combo Square – Buy Now! – Ah the combo square, probably my most used drum making tool. I use this to mark the layout for all of the hardware that goes on to each drum. I also use it to mark stripe layout for paint, and for wrap. I don't know that I could build a drum without one of these.

These are some of the tools that you'll need to build a custom drum, to learn how to use some of them you can sign up for the free drum building tutorials sent to your email! If you want to learn how to use all of these drum building tools and learn the art of drum building consider buying "How to Make Custom Drums 2.0"

I'm always look for new blog topics, if you have any questions or ideas for blog topics I encourage you to leave a comment below!

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

Drum Building 101 – The Pros and Cons of Tube Lugs

December 9, 2009 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 3 Comments

Tube lugs seem to be the lug of choice for most “custom” drum companies and for good reasons – they look great on any drum and are usually made out of solid brass which makes them very durable. There is however some characteristics about tube lugs that could make them difficult to work with for the amateur drum builder. You may have noticed that many lugs have an insert inside the lug that can move around slightly to accept the tension rod. Tube lugs do not have this move-able insert so your drilling must be precise.

slingerland lug copy

TubeLug

Also, when you use tube lugs it is a good idea to grab some extra rubber gaskets or nylon washers/spacers to put in between the lug and the shell. They will come in handy if you install your lugs only to find out that the lug doesn’t have enough lift off of the shell for the tension rod to screw in straight. Example: Continue Reading....