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My Rogers kit came with a 20x14 BD, which I always found a tad wimpy for louder music, but great for small group work. In '93 I found a 24x14 of the same vintage at Songbird Music here in Ottawa for $95.00. It had a lot more sound, though a bit less controllable. I still use this drum with the Jivewires, as it's got just the right amount of oomph for kicking the horn accents in the style that we play. In 1995 I decided that I needed a more punchy-sounding drum, and after looking at the price of new bass drums, set out to build up my own. I wanted a 22 inch drum of either 16" or 18" depth. I thought what the heck, and went for the 18. I ordered a Keller shell from the Precision Drum Company in N.Y. State, found an old Rogers BD with a broken shell (again at Songbird), and used its lugs and T-rods (I did use modern spurs, however). Precision did the polished bearing edges for me (very nice work), and supplied hoops. The only hard part for me was measuring and drilling the lug mounting holes. The old adage, measure 5 times - drill once, was never more apt! One out-of-line hole, and that lug would be cock-eyed forever! I had been thinking of using only 8 lugs per head, as the drum would never need to be tightly tuned, but the usual 10 lug design won out, as I could just line up another 22 inch shell and copy the spacing between lugs. And I still had to drill two holes per lug, and they had to be exactly right. 8 lugs simply would have meant way too much math for a guy who usually only has to count to four... The drum was then hand-sanded, and covered with 3 coats of clear polyurethane using a foam(!) brush. I could have spent more time on the sanding, to get that nice, acoustic guitar body finish, but I was a bit too eager to get the thing built so I could hear it! It's OK though, as you can't see the lack of finishing until you get quite close anyway. This drum has worked out amazingly well, if I do say so! I also use a full front head (no mic hole), and that greatly increases the bottom end. I installed a mic inside, and ran the cable to a jack drilled in behind one of the spurs - just plug and play. (Oh that computer P&P should work so well!) I love the reactions of some people when they first hear this drum acoustically. Itsa-gotta-whole-lotta WOOF! It has been a very nice feeling, having set out to create something, and actually have it work! :o) I do think what helps tremendously sound-wise is the full front head, and very little muffling (a piece of 4 inch thick foam, about a foot wide, just touching each head). I experimented with a mic hole (only 4 inches across) and could notice the loss of fullness. The big trick to using the two heads was adjusting my playing style. Like most drummers who came up with rock and roll, I was in the habit of playing the beater into the head and resting it there. If you try that with this drum, the head gets muffled and the beater bounces a bit. So, you have to play like the old big band guys, and let the beater come off the head (just like one does with the rest of the kit). This is easy to do if you play heel down. If you play heel up like I do, then it does affect your balance. It is a bit harder to play fast on this bass drum what wit the head vibrating so much. You have to learn how to control the rebound. Cost-wise, in U.S. dollars, the shell was $100 - having the bearing edges done by Precision was $20, the hoops were $20 each, and then shipping/duties/tax from New York to Ottawa. The Rogers BD that supplied the hardware was about $50 Cdn. All in all, much cheaper than what one would cost from one of the major drum companies, even if you figure in my labour. This drum has worked out very nicely! I get a nice, punchy sound, and many compliments from others that hear it or try it out. It fits in a conventional fibreboard bass drum case, though it is a bit heavy, and I've managed to rip the carrying handle right off! It was reinstalled with bolts, and has held up well since then. You can find links to drum sites at the bottom of my Music page, and at my Handdrums page as well. |
