Cocktail Kit Questions

[Famous Willy]

Hey Everybody!

Okay, so I'm getting really close to starting my cocktail drum, and I have a few design questions left. The basic idea is that I'm taking two 1970 12 x 15" Ludwig marching drums, taking the lugs off, finishing them in either champagne sparkle or more likely orange fire swirl, putting the lugs back only on the top of the snare and the bottom of the bass, and joining the two together. The goal is to have a drum that detaches in the center to hold all the hardware for easy transportation. I'm going to line the seams of the two connecting ends with something akin to that chrome detailing stuff people put on car doors, or maybe the clear vinyl equivalent. I'm going to have a baffle under the front head consisting of hard fiber board, foam, and another piece of hard fiber board. I'll install it basically the same way Keith did his. I'm cutting a set of snares in half and welding them to the muffler apparatus to get the snare set up. For the accessory attachements, I'll use floor tom brackets with "s" arms and a latin percussion claw for a cymbal. I'll probably steal Keith's hi hat idea, too. The floor tom legs will just be standard floor tom legs and brackets--whatever I can find that is cheap and cool. I'm going to install a conga handle on the outside for easy carrying. Head-wise, I'll use a coated ambassador on the top and a coated powerstroke 3 for the bottom. I adjusted an old pearl strap drive pedal and will just use a wood strip attached to the floor tom legs via two holes to hold it in place.

Here are the questions:

1)Does anyone know any sources for cheap toms? I found the page of a company that sells old stock slingerland shells dirt cheap, but they don't have bearing edges and I don't know anyone who can cut them, at least for a price that makes the drums a bargain. Interstate music has cheap 8" and 10" add on toms for $100 that I could easily refinish. but I'm not convinced I want to get drums of such low quality. I haven't found any used sources that sell at a reasonable rate, and tiny vintage drums are hard to come by. Keith's kids bongos= cool and cheap, but I want double headed drums. Whatever drums I get, I'll have 16 70's Ludwig Classic lugs to dress them up with. In that case, the cheap Pulse 8 and 10s would work perfectly, as they are four lug drums. Still, $100 is a bit more than I'm looking to pay.

2)For all of you who play cocktail drums regularly, what size tom(s) do you recommend? If I do one, I was thinking a 10", and if two, an 8" and 10". Normally I hate power toms, but I've noticed 8x8 and 8x10 seem to be pretty standard for these sizes in both jazz and rock sets. I like the aesthetic of keeping the set simple--I don't need one of those sets I've seen with five toms since I never play more than three anyway.

3)I'm struggling to find an elegant solution to the storage compartment issue. What I want is basically along the lines of the bass drum in the Yamaha HipGig set up--internal storage in a shell that splits in half. Does anyone know how Yamaha makes it work? Here are the three ideas I have:

a)Have some sort of internal collar so that the top drum "slides" on to the bottom drum. Of course, I can't figure out what material to use, or how to "lock" the two into place for travelling. Hooks and loops would work fairly well, but look ugly.

b)Have a set of three pegs that insert into three holes, ala a deadbolt. Again, locking is an issue.

c)Use some sort of a hinge and latch--today, I'm leaning here. The question is, how do I make the apparatus sturdy?

4)Keith--in case I go for the venting idea you used, would you recommend making the hole before refinishing or after? I'd prefer to make it after, probably.
Thanks for your help. Inside, I'd wrap all the parts in a blanket to keep the shells and heads safe.

Thanks for all of your help with my drum-nerdly issues. When I finish the set, I'll send in a picture!

Will

[Famous Willy]

I think I solved the "joining" issue. I'm going to use a detachable hinge--like they use on record players, and then have three twist locks, like you find on old brief cases. That should hold the drums together solidly, keep them from opening up in transit, and look more attractive than hooks and eyes. I priced some 8 and 10" toms at drummmaker.com and can get pretty decent shells from them for about the same price as the crappy ones I'd get made by Union drums. The only issue I'm finding now is that the available 10" hoops require 6 lugs. Using the extra Ludwig Classic lugs removed from the bottom and top of the other drums, I'll come up 4 lugs short on a four lug and six lug drum. Anyone know a decent source for vintage Ludwig parts?

[Keith Cronin]

Anyone know a decent source for vintage Ludwig parts?

Those are extremely common, and quite possibly even NEW Ludwig lugs will fit - I don't think the've changed the design in decades. Check any decent drum shop.

Have fun with your project!

[Keith Cronin]

Keith--in case I go for the venting idea you used, would you recommend making the hole before refinishing or after? I'd prefer to make it after, probably.
Thanks for your help. Inside, I'd wrap all the parts in a blanket to keep the shells and heads safe

I'd cut the hole first. The hole cutter can leave some rather raw edges, which require sanding. If it ripped up your wrapped finish at all I don't know how you'd fix it after the fact. You can probably get a much cleaner appearance by wrapping the drum after you port it, cutting the holes in the wrap with an exacto knife. Another possibility would be to get some kind of trim for the edges of the hole. My drum is a natural wood finish, and I used a black magic marker to darken the edges of the port, to call less attention to it.

[Famous Willy]

Thanks for your reply!

I've been to your website a few times and really dig what you did with your drum for cheap. For some reason I thought you used that wrap material people use to protect the micing holes in their bass drum heads. Did I imagine that, or did you use it on the snare holes?

My plan was to try to use one of those for the hole if I do decide to vent the shell. I think the chrome finish would look cool...it would unite the hardware. Of course, I've been having a bit of a hard time finding the latch clasps that I want to use to join the drums in a chrome finish.

I'll have to check the Ludwig catalog for the lugs. I have a late 80's/early 90's Ludwig marching drum that has the same design for the lugs, only they are twice the size as the 60's ones. I think it will be easy to find lugs that fit...I just want them to look right, too. And actually, I'd prefer new ones to old ones, as the vintage heads charge a ton for vintage anything nowadays--especially in Detroit. I won't get started.

Thanks for all the help!

Will