Material suggestion

[Silky7483]

Hey everyone...long time no posting. I was fooling around with my electric set I started building today and I used some interesting yet common cone material I thought Id share with you all.

A while ago I was in CVS with my girl-fiend and she was looking in the beauty aisle. At the time, I was trying to find a suitable cone material for my triggers. Therefore, anything remotely spongelike or foamy, Id squeeze and tap. Then I saw them...latex foam makeup sponges.

http://www.absorene.com/prodsumm/ilatex.jpg

Maybe you know the kind. Theyre usually white and are very smooth. They don't look porous at all and they come in assorted shapes. They had bags of round ones as well as triangular ones that looked like wedges of cheese. I ended up buying a big bag of the round ones for like a dollar.

Just today I finally got around to testing them out. I cut them (rather sloppily) and stacked them like a DEVO hat. You know what I'm talking about.

I tossed the head back on and whammo! Perfect! Much better than this other more rigid foam I was using before. This stuff was very quiet and triggered beautifully.

SO as long as you dont mind looking a little weird buying a big bag of makeup sponges...you're golden. I imagine if I had bought the triangles I could have put two back to back to make a pretty awesome cone. Good stuff!

[JLee]

And I am guessing, a lot cheaper than the 7.99 Roland foam cones cost.

Nice work. Excellent ingenuity.

[tcraw1010]

The only potential problem I would see with those is that the shapes are just insufficient enough to make them not work as well or as efficiently as, let's say, the Roland cones. Don't get me wrong, it's a great and creative idea . .. and if you could get it to work and work well - you will be revered amongst DIY E-Drum Builders . . as Jon (JLee) has become. :cool:


I do know that they sell foam/foam rubber products at many hobby and/or hardware stores (and even some foam rubber specialty stores). I wonder how much one could purchase a block for, and then shape the cones oneself. OR, perhaps there is some sort of a "cone mold/cutter" one could use (kind of like a cookie cutter) for the foam rubber.


In any case, great thinking !!!!



TOM

[Silky7483]

Yeah, I second that Kudos to Jon. His work here is extremely impressive.

I think the only legacy I'll leave here is my refusal to spend any substantial amount of money on ANYTHING.


In the next couple of months, I'll be moving from a rural house to a small apartment. Therefore, I'll be stepping up my e-kit build. I'll be sure to post any useful info I learn here. The only thing thats going to kill me is the mounting hardware. $35 for a tom clamp?!?! COME ON! I've got rent to pay...

After playing my cheapo cone a little more, I'm even more pleased. Just a few minor tweaks to the module and it was near perfect. I think a bit more tension n the head and it'll be perfect. My last homemade cone would miss subtle flams and got confused with sloppy paradiddles. It was also noisy because it was more rigid. It'd make this weird "pang" noise. This material also handles cross talk much better. I'm psyched to finish off the toms.

[poppinfresh]

so how exactly did you make them stick to eachother? tape?

[Silky7483]

yeah, double sided scotch tape. Glue or rubber cement probably would have worked just as well though. I loves me some rubber cement.