What is the most "rigged" thing you've ever done.

Tim Brown

Tim Brown

New member
I was sitting outside a few minutes ago thinking about some recording I was doing in 1986, and then it hit me - what is the most rigged thing you've ever done?

Drummers are notorious for rigging hardware pieces together - after all - it's sort of like a big erector set - a lot of different brands are all the same diameter, so it's easy to create some gigantic freaky hardware pieces.
I've even seen a drummer who made a Rack out of PVC pipe. It was funny, but you know what - the thing actually worked. (He didn't use rack clamps - the rack was in pieces or sections that were permanently glued together, and he had made cymbal arms using pieces of PVC and made a "cymbal post" by simply drilling through a Cap, and putting a bolt through it. He said he got the idea from Martin Chambers of the Pretenders who had an all white rack, and had powder coated the entire sonor 5 piece drumkit white.)


In the spring of 1986 my band (well what was left of it - the rhythm guitarist moved to Alabama, and the bass player - my younger brother - quit. That left the lead singer/keyboard player, the lead guitarist, and myself) was doing some songs for a local filmmaker. He was making a film about Vampires and wanted some Hard Rock songs for it - eventually he abandoned the project, but we were in a rush to get these songs demo-ed for him.

(I've still got the tape here somewhere and when I find it, I'm going to put at least put one of the songs online.)

We were recording them at my singer's house in their family room (all wood with a huge stone fireplace - the room sounded awesome for recording in - plus there was a giant stairwell just outside the doorway to the family room.

During the middle of the recording - my kick drum pedal's pedalboard snapped in half.

What was I to do?!?!
Think think think, how could we finish this recording in time?

Luckily, Glen's dad had a wood shop in the garage.
So I went out in the garage and made a heel-plate and pedalboard out of a piece of 3/4" cabinet grade plywood scrap he had there, and used a hinge (the same exact kind that is on a DW pedal) that he had laying around.

I played on that pedal for several months while I tried finding something to replace my old faithful, but now Frankenstein-ish, Slingerland Tempo King pedal.

That was when I first made the switch to chain drive pedals...I never did like the feel of them, having started with a leather strap, they just didn't feel right to me.


So, what kind of hardware rigging have you done?


Tim
 
huh! interesting stuff :)
if I look at my so-called "drum-set" and things around it - it IS actually like a collection of junky things ... most of dums included :D
I have the whole bunch of Frankenstein-ish things around... like my snare mic and bass mic's stands are "made up" of guitar stands bases combined with some old cymbal stand's top part/arm ...but it's all sorta' boring stuff... The funniest thing I have ever made , I think, is that "special" mic stand for a junk optimus condenser mic (which I use as special effect mic...don't ask ;)).... so the stand is made of square wood base with four 'adjustable' rubber feet on the bottom (came off amp-stand, which at one time were replaced with wheel-feet), plastic flag pole wall-mounting bracket/mechanism with adjustable angle, pipe-in-pipe type adjustable shower curtain pole (I don't know what they are called exactly...you know the ones with rubber ends, so you twist one pipe against the other and adjust the length that way...).... so I 've got that twisting plastic rode out from inside ...drilled bunch of holes through both pipes ...so I can adjust the length (telescopic style), then I use a bolt that goes through the hole and it has large plastic wing-nut (that part came from TORO mower) .... argh... I gotta make a pic of this poor thing... something to laugh at :D
 
here.
some "modern marvels" from my cave:
shower curtain optimus-"over-my-head" mic stand
guitar-stand'n'scraps bass mic stand ...I have similar thing for sm57 to 'beam'-it to over the snare drum... :D
roto-toms stand "mounting system" ...heh heh ..yeah "the system" lol. The story here is simple: i've got old used rotos with mounting bar and nothing else...so made up the rest outa' junky parts laying around. Funny or not, but this way I actually got more 'adjustabilty' than the original stand would give me, (I can make roto-toms bar to sort of lean over the tom-stand and toms)...

/respects
 
Tim Brown said:
I was sitting outside a few minutes ago thinking about some recording I was doing in 1986, and then it hit me - what is the most rigged thing you've ever done?
Click to expand...

I think there are pictures around here of some of my rigging. Three biggies:

1. My add-on tom, my least-used crash cymbal, and one splash cymbal are all hanging on a Tama mic stand.

2. Before I had a mic mount for my snare drum (should have bought five, bought four), I hung a mic clip using three strings clipped to three nearby drums with clothespins.

3. I had problems with my bass drum mic (on a mini-boom) tipping. Using masking tape, I fastened a roll of quarters to the other end of the boom as a counter-weight.

4. I built two wooden verticals (that I haven't used yet) and have parts for two more, with the intent to fasten a heavy blanket between them to keep the sound down so I could record later at night. :D
 
I've used PVC for a limited rack system. I've used clamps (designed to clamp electrical conduit) to clamp goose necks to mic stands (for mic'ing drums). I used rope and wire to secure broken cymbal stand tripods and to secure a broken drum throne. I used electical cord to replace a broken strap on a kick pedal. I've used duct tape to hold cases together, to keep a bass drum from sliding, to secure a tom (the mounting arm stripped) and for more other quick fixes than I can even remember.

I made a set of chimes by cutting and grinding steel tubing to size. I've used everyhing from saw blades to break drums to cardboard boxes for impromtu percussion in various recording sessions.
 
mikeh said:
I made a set of chimes by cutting and grinding steel tubing to size. I've used everyhing from saw blades to break drums to cardboard boxes for impromtu percussion in various recording sessions.
Click to expand...

Makeshift percussion is fun. We had a jam session last week at work. I used an old computer monitor as a washboard, two plastic bowls as makeshift congas, used a paperclip holder as a (bad) shaker, then replaced it with a couple of paper salt packets....

:D
 
1) Take my old cracked power crashes (20" 2000 series and 17" SIgnature, both Paiste) and put the 17" ontop of the 20", and put a wuhan china on top. They make a trash can lid sound, and the decay sounds like that of a china (since the vibrations cause the top china to vibrate).

2) Use string to fix my broken boom stand which holds my heaviest ride :p .

3) I got a really really old bell, and the mounting hole wuz too small for any cymbals tand. SO i took string and i tied the bell to a cymbal stand. The string is notted udner the bell's hole, so the bell doesnt fall. Only problem is i cant hit it in rapid succession, since one hit causes it to go flying all over the place :p .
 
I played in a punk bank when i was 15, and we didnt have a cymbal stand so we hung a piece of string from the ceiling and tied a nail to the end of it and hung the cymbal on it. we didnt have drumsticks either so we used whatever we could find, some wood sticks we found outside. at on time we even used two large pencils I think.. we didnt even have a drummer, so we took turns playing drums. (thats how I started playing drums)
I have also used large amounts of duct tape on various things. :D
 
Anders said:
I played in a punk bank when i was 15, and we didnt have a cymbal stand so we hung a piece of string from the ceiling and tied a nail to the end of it and hung the cymbal on it. we didnt have drumsticks either so we used whatever we could find, some wood sticks we found outside. at on time we even used two large pencils I think.. we didnt even have a drummer, so we took turns playing drums. (thats how I started playing drums)
I have also used large amounts of duct tape on various things. :D
Click to expand...
Off subject, but I've heard that some bands are actually sponsered by duct tape.
 
I once had a B8 Pro heavy ride that cracked on the edge while playing. So I fired up my TIG welder and welded it back together, then sold it on Ebay a month later, the guy still has it and it has never re cracked from what i know, you can only do that with cymbals made from the B8 bronze alloy, not the B20, it has to be heat treated before and after welding.

Anyhow I also had a cheap bass pedal bend in the center while being stomped on, so I once again fired up the welder and welded a piece and stainless flat bar underneath, to strengthen it up so we could finish our recording.

I also had a paiste 18 inch dimensions crash that cracked on me and I had to Tig that thing back together also,lol.

Had a bass drum tension rod break on me and I had to Silver solder it together then grind it down to fit through the claw.

the list goes on and on and usually involves some form of welding or soldering,lol.
 
My most successful rig job involved a screwdriver, a multi-clamp and a hi-hat mounted (bonham style) tambourine. I didn't want the tambourine to be mounted on the hi-hat pull rod as it gets in the way, but I did want the same effect that you get when mounting a tambourine on a hi-hat. My solution was to attach the clamp to the hi-hat stand, about a foot below the hi-hat cymbal. I attached a screwdriver to the other end of the clamp and attached the tambourine to the screwdriver, which was approximately the same diameter as a hi-hat pull rod.
 
Built an e kit from remo practice pads with radio shack triggers mounted inside to the lids of gallon sized aluminum cans wedged in the foam inside thepad. Those were wired to rca jack and fed through a DM5.

To mount the things, I tooka pearl rack, and used 1/2 inch galvanized pipe (in some spots, in others all i could find was black pipe and it is all rusted now) and fitting to make mounts for the pads. One the bent down in a big "U" holding the "snare" pad, and others that held the Toms up at an angle. The pads were mouutned to the pipe with a wood block screwed to flange.

For the cymbals and hats I used pintech diongbats that were mounted on huge carriage bolts, each with about 50 hex nuts on them for girth, and wrapped with hose from a clothes washer to give somehting with a bit of give on the outside for the clamps to grab. With everything ratcheted down properly it played pretty well actually.

Oh the kick is the best part, a peiec of plywood about 1 foot square with more galvanized pipe that was connected in a manner that essentially was like the roll cage of a jeep or something, and supported another remo practive pad, so the kick pedal acutally played more or less like a normal bass drum set up.

Most rigged thing ever. I would take that thing, and put the output through an old guitar amp, distort it to hell and make thunderous beats. Very fun.

Trouble was though that it never sounded like an acoustic to me, and played differently so i dismantled it.

Daav
 
Not trying to sound like a dick, but how to people dig up posts like this? It's cool how they act normal about it. Anyways, not my most rigged thing, but i think it was at the whiskey a while ago we didnt have enough mic stands and we used an extra moniter stand and rubber banded an sm58 to it.
 
mjm620 said:
Not trying to sound like a dick, but how to people dig up posts like this? It's cool how they act normal about it. Anyways, not my most rigged thing, but i think it was at the whiskey a while ago we didnt have enough mic stands and we used an extra moniter stand and rubber banded an sm58 to it.
Click to expand...

We had a video shoot once and didn't have a crane, so we used a 20-ish foot tall stepladder, with the tripod straddling the cross brace to hold it up, and duct tape to keep the tripod from falling out to the side and stabilize it. Oh. Yeah. The camera was manned. :D

---From "Top 50 things I could get away with in Tennessee but couldn't get away with here in California...."
 
LOL@ DR. Zee- That's some slick rigging you have there! Thanks for the chuckle...

my2cents: That's an awesome idea with the hi-hat tambourine. I might actually try that!


On the subject, I've triggered a set of Rubbermaid trash cans to a DM5 for a trashcan kit (very bad stick response, BTW)...used bailing twine for quick-fix snare cords (quite effective)...a bucket for a drum throne (ouch!) as well as a doctor's office stool (much more comfortable)...whittled a drumstick down to act as a bass pedal beater (didn't last long and sounded horribile)...cut down a hopelessly broken 16" crash down to an 8" splash (great results there)... laid an 18" floor tom on the floor on it's side on top of a piece of plywood to try to use as a 2nd bass drum... a layered duct tape snare head to finish practice (ugh!). I also have an old Ludwig bass drum with a missing arched spur so I had to either use a rope tied to the bottom two lugs and attached to the throne to keep it from creeping away. I've also used the old hinge trick, Tim, with an older DW pedal as well. But to top it all, I removed all the hardware and wrapped an enitre 5 piece set of Ludwigs in Silver X-mas wrapping paper simulate a chrome kit. It didn't last but a month before I got rips and tears though. Aaah, those were the days...
 
fritzmusic said:
I've triggered a set of Rubbermaid trash cans to a DM5 for a trashcan kit (very bad stick response, BTW)....
Click to expand...
wha! it actually worked?! crazy :D

here's another lil' thing I could mention. I've used cuts of painting roller and cuts of old bamboo stick to make "massive" :) mallets... I have picture of them here with my boom=boom-special drum :D

another thing - non-drum related, but the most freaky "project" I had so far, it was converting two sony casstte decks into tape-delay "system" ... the result I've got can hardly justify the effort... but it's one of a kind 'effect' sorta' speak :o

/respects
 
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