Building drums

[songsj]

I have an inexpensive Slingerland drum kit from Music Yo. I am considering
buying Keller maple shells and using the Slinerland hardware [ lugs, mounts, etc. with the exception of the snare drum ] I realize the Slinerland stuff is not the highest quality but I only use my drums for recording, they don't take a terrible beating and never get moved and I'm thinking the maple shells have to be a huge improvement over the 6ply cheap mohagony shells on the kit.
I'm trying to build or aquire a good sounding home studio kit on a budget.
Does this sound like a good idea as long as I'm willing to put in the time.
Thanks.

 

[MadMinute]

Building drums is not the easiest thing to do. And it can be expensive, depending on what shells you use and if you ruin something in the process.
The biggest considerations are having bearing edges cut, drilling the holes for the hardware, and making sure those bearing edges are absolutely flat.

If it were me, and all i was using those drums for was recording, I would put some good heads on them, tune them really well, and go with that. As long as those shells you have now are ok, and not out of round or warped or whatever, you should get decent sound out of them.

If you're trying to change the sound drastically, or sound like someone else you've heard, then I'd say first of all that tone from drums, like guitars, has alot to do with the person playing them.

If you like the sound of maple drums, and want that specifically, then do yourself a huge favor, and save yourself the aggravation and go buy a maple kit. It may be a bit more expensive moneywise, but it'll save you alot of grief.

If you're really interested in learning to build drums, I'd suggest trying something more forgiving, like a set of PVC pipe octobans or the like. I did this and it was'nt that difficult, but the bearing edges are not easy to get right. You can google "homemade octobans" and there are some sites with instructions on how to do it. Start there, and work up to building Keller shells.

Just my .02


Peace.

 

[matty_boy]

Some companies (and I believe Keller is one) will do bearing edges for you. If you are handy, I say go for it. A few of the members here have built kits, and they have turned out well. I would look closely into the costs first, but it doesn't seem like a bad idea provided that you feel up to the task.

 

[Tim Brown]

I have an inexpensive Slingerland drum kit from Music Yo. I am considering
buying Keller maple shells and using the Slinerland hardware [ lugs, mounts, etc. with the exception of the snare drum ] I realize the Slinerland stuff is not the highest quality but I only use my drums for recording, they don't take a terrible beating and never get moved and I'm thinking the maple shells have to be a huge improvement over the 6ply cheap mohagony shells on the kit.
I'm trying to build or aquire a good sounding home studio kit on a budget.
Does this sound like a good idea as long as I'm willing to put in the time.
Thanks.

It's not worth it. Th hardware on those Slingerland drums is a really low grade metal....on top of that, if you want to add on drums at a later date, you won't be able to match the hardware.

Keller shells are excellent. And you can have your bearing edges cut for about $20 per drum, if you have it done at the time of purchase.
Also, most of the places that sell the shells, will do the hardware layout and drilling for a small charge.


You really have 2 viable options:

1. Keep the set you have, and learn to get the best sound that you can out of them.

2. Sell the kit you have for the most that you can get out of it, and put that money toward building a kit.
If you do choose to build a kit, let me give you a few tips:

For general recording purposes, the best kick drum size to use is a 20" Diameter. 22"'s work well, but the 20" will give you more punch.


Use shallow shells rather than "power" shells....the smaller length shell reacts faster, and gives you more attack, and more of a solid pitch, while the longer length of the "power" shells causes the "note" of the drum to be longer, so the drum has a bit more boom, and less punch.

The best snare depth for overall use is a 5" deep drum. It will have a good crack/snap to it, and if the shell is thick enough it will have good "body" to it.


Tim

 

[songsj]

Thanks for the replies, I'm really on a budget right now, I was going to purchase the Adonis shells with the bearing edges already cut. However I would still have to mark and drill the holes [ if I use the slingerland hardware. ] I agree about he smaller size for recording, The yamaha maples I've recorded on are mush Like you described, 20" kick and smaller toms but man they don't sound that way recorded. Sound wise my main complaint is with my rack toms, They just sound cheap. I've put new pinstripe heads on them and a powerstroke on the kick. It was an improvement but tuning is a bear as it seems when I get the toms sounding a little better [ tuned higher ] I get terrible snare buzz. I tried retuning the snares after that to no avail. I record mostly ballads so clean musical tom fills are a must. I might just order the rack toms and see how they turn out. If I like them then I can finish the rest of the set. I figured I could switch the shells [ all 5 ] for around 300.00. While this Slingerland hardware is surely bottom end My drums don't take much of a beating. I maybe record 3 to 4 songs a year, so I'm not as concerned with durability as I am with sound.
If I go ahead with this I'll post how it goes.