A Few Final Pics

[JLee]

Not to belabor the point, but I took a few last shots of the edrum set that show it at its present stage (finished, but with no real ride cymbal - the cymbal in that position will actual be the crash)

Thanks for all the interest.

Picture #1 shows the entire kit, when viewed from the drummer's seat
#2 shows the bridge inside the floor tom, with the cone removed
#3 shows the spring, located at each end of the bridge
#4 shows one of the shells from the front, including jack positioning
#5 shows the kit from the front

[JLee]

And finally, the "ride" cymbal. It is meant to be a crash cymbal, but is serving the purpose of a ride until I figure out what I am going to do for a ride cymbal.

[Stoovey]

Very nicely done. How much did you spend altogether on this kit?

[tbone]

Congrats! Well done, I've been following your project and you've really tackled many problems - I commend your determination!!
now get practicing!!! :)

[JLee]

Stoovey

Thanks.

All told, with hardware, shells, module, rack, etc., I figure about $900-920. I misplaced a few of the receipts, but that would be pretty accurate.

TBone

Thanks as well. Unfortunately a number of those problems were of my own making- being logic-challenged and all.

I actually have gotten in a few practice sessions, so considering that was the primary reason for doing this kit, it should be "mission accomplished" if I just stay consistent.

[tbone]

Do a little practicing for me, too, if ya don't mind - I need it!!

[tcraw1010]

And now, because we are that damn demonding . . . .


WE WANT SOUND BYTES !!!!

Maybe even a video clip of you playing them.


:D



TOM

[JLee]

I will see if I can figure out how to do sound bytes. I am in my forties, you know, and the technology of most things today is totally beyond me.

As far as video clips, no one on this forum has done anything so wrong as to deserve that . . . .

[skaman]

haha^^. nice drums very comendable work. (as if it meant anything coming from me) very nice looking. good practicing!

[JLee]

Skaman

Thanks very much. And, as you are a frequent poster on this forum, it does very much mean something coming from you.

[adrock]

looks awesome. i must say your journey has inspired me to eventually build an E-Kit for myself to practice open. and now that i see it all together, i must say i am very jealous:)

but yeah, very nicely done (applause):)

[Silky7483]

Thats lookin a whole heck of a lot better than mine, but I better not speak too soon.

What are you using for the hi-hat foot pedal?

I almost forgot to mention that if you go to RadioShack, they have a foot pedal meant for a keyboard, for sustain. However, I bought it and it actually works as a ghetto footswitch with my D4. Best part is that it was only $9! I might take it apart and retro fit it to this Tama hi hat stand I bought at GC for $20.

Anyway, thats looking sexy, and I'm envious.

SIDENOTE:

Has anyone seen the 40 Year Old Virgin yet? That movie killed me within the first 5 minutes. I recoginzed the MST3K thing on the wall, the Doug Henning Poster, and what really killed me was his Roland kit...ugh. Fortunately I don't share his predicament. ;)

Sorry that was random, but you said you were in your 40s and I saw the word Roland and it all clicked.

EXCELLENT work. I'd love a review of how well those spring loaded bridges are working out and how everything sounds. The snare I made has some trouble understanding more complex fast stuff I play, and occasionally has difficulty interpreting flams. Do you have that problem?

[JLee]

thanks very much for the replies.

Actually, the hi hat pedal is a Roland TD6. Seems to work pretty well. And since it is not the newest model, it was fairly cheap on Ebay- $55 if I remember correctly.

The bridges are working out pretty well, and not just because of the feel. I am pretty sure that at this point I would be pretty frustrated if I were to have just positioned the bridge in such a way as to make it immovable. Some small tinkering with adjustments with both the bridge and the module have made a huge difference.

As far as the snare, i am very fortunate in that it worked out very well. It recognizes both closed rolls and very fast open rolls (well, fast for me anyway). Occasionally it might miss a note or two, but not too bad. I really need to read the rest of that manual.

Haven't seen the movie yet, but want to. THE OFFICE is pretty funny, although I don't think the premise and the pseudo-documentary format will afford it a long life.

I will have to keep my eyes out for the poster.

[poppinfresh]

uh i looked aorund but i never found out wehere exactly the piezo goes. Does it touch the head or does it go inside. And what exactly is the purpose of the spring loaded bridge.

Great job on the set, it looks fantastic.

[JLee]

uh i looked aorund but i never found out wehere exactly the piezo goes. Does it touch the head or does it go inside. And what exactly is the purpose of the spring loaded bridge.

Great job on the set, it looks fantastic.


Thanks for the compliment.

The piezo is actually mounted on a metal platform, that is in turn mounted to the bridge that spans the width of the shell's interior. The piezo is mounted brass side UP (I learned the hard way). The piezo itself does not touch the head, but you will need to either buy a foam cone on www.musiciansfriend.com, or make one yourself. As far as the latter is concerned, I had trouble getting the cone to finish with the right consistency, so I bought mine. The cone is adhered to the brass side of the piezo, with the point up, and that tip of the cone is what contacts the head.

The main purpose of the spring loaded bridge is that it allows me to adjust the amount of contact that the foam cone has with the batter head, allowing me to also adjust for differences in the head tension, etc..

[JazzCat]

I bet that setup works as good as it looks.

Rock on.

[JLee]

Thank you. It came out pretty well.

[tcraw1010]

Jon:

Which cones are you using for the contact between the head and the piezzo?

I didn't see anything in those pics.


Still hoping you can figure out a way to get a sound and/or video clip of how the drums sound. I mean, it doesn't have to be your best immitation of Niel Peart or anything . . . maybe just some samples of hitting each of the drums - maybe with some different sound samples. (This is where the value of the video clip comes in) ;-)


GREAT JOB ... and CONGRATULATIONS !!!!



TOM

[JLee]

Tom,

You're back!!! Good to hear from you.

As far as the cones, I just ended up buying them from Musiciansfriend.com. I gave it a shot making my own, but they just did not have the consistency that I though would be required, and I sure did not want the whole outcome compromised because I was unwilling to shell out the 7.99 per cone needed.

As soon as I figure out a way to get clips up, I will.

It is not that I am afraid for anyone to hear my drumming, as I am actually not bad - not great, but not bad. it is just the technology that throws me. Also, I live in a house of fairly small rooms, and my girlfriend had to remove a lot of her belongings from the room just to accomodate the edrumset, and I don't want to start adding more electronics that will take the displacement even further.

Bottom line is, with the DMPro, you can make the set sound like anything you want. I have it set up to sound like an acoustic drum set at the present. You can literally tune each trigger to whatever you want, bringing it up or down a little at a time.

I will say though, I still don't have the dual zone ride thing solved, so at present, I am practicing with a single zone cymbal. No bell. Not really the end of the world though. The set definitely serves its purpose.

[tcraw1010]

Well, if worst somes to worst, you can always pick up a Roland dual zone e-cymbal off of ebay or something.



The Forum seemed to be down for a bit - which would explain my absence (among some other things).



Glad to see everyone again, though . . . . well, y' know.



TOM

[skaman]

does the cone get beat up at all? i'd imagine that being in the center you might nail it every once in awhile.

[skaman]

does the cone get beat up at all? i'd imagine that being in the center you might nail it every once in awhile.

question still stands...

[JLee]

question still stands...


Sorry Skaman, never saw the original question.

Sure, you do end up making direct contact with the cone, or at least the tip of it, as it is dead center of the drum head (that is, if the measurements are correct).

However, it is foam rubber with quite a bit of give to it, so I do not forsee damage happening very easily. I guess over time it could take its toll, but it would definitely take a while.

[weldman]

few questions for you jlee

1) whats that black ring the piezo is on?
is it just some mouse pad foam?

and 2) where in homedepot do you get those little black rubber spacers?
the guys at lowes didnt know what i was talking about lol :rolleyes:

[JLee]

few questions for you jlee

1) whats that black ring the piezo is on?
is it just some mouse pad foam?

and 2) where in homedepot do you get those little black rubber spacers?
the guys at lowes didnt know what i was talking about lol :rolleyes:


The black ring you see underneath the piezo is actually just a rubber washer, with a hole in the center smaller than the diameter of the piezo itself. I did this because 1) I thought I could get the piezo to adhere better to rubber than metal and 2) I felt it would further help me avoid false triggering by providing still another layer of protection.

The rubber spaces I actually got from a local hardware store. I have found that, for parts like these Home Depot employees are nearly useless to help (though that was not always the case, just after they hired a former GE CEO to run things) and that they are more poorly stocked than a lot of neighborhood hardware stores.

[weldman]

The black ring you see underneath the piezo is actually just a rubber washer, with a hole in the center smaller than the diameter of the piezo itself. I did this because 1) I thought I could get the piezo to adhere better to rubber than metal and 2) I felt it would further help me avoid false triggering by providing still another layer of protection.

The rubber spaces I actually got from a local hardware store. I have found that, for parts like these Home Depot employees are nearly useless to help (though that was not always the case, just after they hired a former GE CEO to run things) and that they are more poorly stocked than a lot of neighborhood hardware stores.


hmm i have a true value store around here

they are great
they spend time with you and explain painting/staining or whatever you have to ask

thanks what i like about the smaller hardware stores