Junk drums need TLC

B

BlindCowboy

New member
OK. I'm not a drummer. But, i've got a studio and a friend of mine said that he had a nice set of drums in his garage that needed a little cleaning.

"I was going to save them to pass down. But, i'd love to hear you get some use out of them." <- Guilt trip and anger will ensue If I get rid of them.

Bring 'em over and i'll take ya out to dinner. (Chinese buffet cost me more than the drums are worth)

You get the picture. So, it turns out to be a bass, 2 toms, and a floor tom. Bracket is broke on the bass drum that holds the right tom up. One of the legs on the floor tom is messed up. The whole "kit" had been stripped and painted with flames. Heads sound like paper kids drums that you see at Walmart. And, like I said, I know nothing about drums.

A couple of my buddy's came over last night to jam, and saw the 'kit'. Some laughed, hard, often, pointing fingers. It was embarrasing. However, the drummer said, "It's not a plywood kit. They're semi decent drums that are all f@#$ked up. No face plates, no markings.

So, i'm gonna make an attempt, wasted probably, to revitalize these things. I need whatever information anybody may have on revitalizing a drum kit. Parts, brackets, what are some decent heads, etc...

Any help would be appreciated. I'll probably redo one of the toms and if it's semi-decent, i'll move on to the others.
 
First thing I would suggest is to get new heads(top and bottom).

For the replacement parts you need.. take them off and take them to a music store or somewhere you can buy/order drum hardware. The staff there SHOULD be able to help you..

If not.. and you're pretty handy.. just remake some of the parts yourself.
 
The best improvment sound wise would be to get some new heads. Look into a thin single ply head for the bottoms(ex. clear remo ambasadors i think) and something along the like of clear remo emperors for tops of the toms. Any drum can sound decent if it's got heads and tuned.

Look into diffrent types of wraps for on the shells if the flames aren't looking good. It'll really improve the looks and isn't that much of a trouble.
 
Thanks guys for the responses. Actually, your comments are quite uplifting. I may end up with a drum set after all...

Secondly, How do you tune a drum? I'm a guitar player. Timpanic pressure? Torque Keys? I'm not getting it.
 
I'm not a drummer either so I decided to buy the cheapest kit I could find,... without getting the little kiddies set,..to get my feet wet as far as playing and recording are concerned.
I found a kit brand spankin' new from the factory,..5 piece,...for 200 bucks. I cant for the life of me remember the brand name of those things. I'd have to go look at the original kick head that it came with.
Anyway,..my point is,..what is being said here is true,..I put new heads,..(Remo,..mentioned above) studied a little on tuning,..bought some sound rings and moon gel (i think thats what its called,..that blue stuff) and those things sound pretty darn good! I've had the kit for a few years now. Every now and again I think of upgrading but dont really need to!
I'll put up a picture of my set-up,..I set 'em up with my pads as well. Pretty versatile and it is way more drums than I can even play.

Have fun renovating the kit!!!!!

take 'er easy,...
Calwood
 

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So, a second to the drum refurb. I fixed the broken bracket for the right tom and went to put the tom on. When I got to measuring them for new heads, I realized that I have 2 toms that are both 12x9.

Is it OK to have two toms that are the same dimensions, or will I just have two drums that will sound exactly the same?
 
<< Is it OK to have two toms that are the same dimensions, or will I just have two drums that will sound exactly the same? >>

it's perfectly fine. if you suspend/balance the drum on your finger and tap the shell pretty hard with your finger--that will give you the drums' fundamental pitch. most folks aim to tune their drums so that it's in tune with the drums' fundamental pitch. you might get lucky and have two drums the same size with different fundamental pitches.

if not, i'll use a guitar analogy--you've played in alternate tunings before, right? dropped the E down to D, or played in open G? doesn't hurt the guitar at all, does it? you can do the same with drums. just tune one of the drums higher or lower than the other. you might have a little "problem" with overtones/ring, but if you can get the heads in good enough tune, a little moongel will go a long way to solving the rest.


cheers,
wade
 
I have an old used kit also. I just recently tuned the heads, they were really loose. Then I opened up large tom and tightened up all the lug screws inside, they were also really loose.

Tuning is weird, it takes a lot of time and adjustments. Definitely play with muting them in different ways. Tightening the heads really make them sustain and ring out, it's amazing.

I got a new pedal, and it's been giving me big problems adjusting it. But I kept on adjusting it in every possible way and it's getting better. It has 3 surfaces on the beater, I use wood for a harder click and less rebound.

There's all kinds of new issues when dealing with drums, it's more than I ever thought. I got a book or 2 on it, that helps too.

Mine are wood ply with thick black plastic wrap made by Samson. I'd say used for fist kit is the way to go, you get more and don't mind messing with them, and less money means you can take your time learning about them. I had them here and for long periods of time, I just didn't play them. But now I get on em every day or every other. You'll love em, and nothing beats the sound on your recordings, even if your playing isn't great, it beats the hell out of a drum machine, I've never used my drum machine after being able to keep even the simplest of beats on the kit.

check out my 'fun' track, I had a blast with that one, I tracked some drum practicing and picked the best part and jammed to it. I still use tthe machine as a nice click track tho.
 
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