Peace Manhattan cocktail kit

[Bruce (the K)]

Now that I've sold my Yamaha Club Jordan on Ebay, I can finally come clean. I'm totally in love with my new Peace Manhattan cocktail drum set. The Yamaha was a quality instrument but the Peace is just an incredibly clever design that has the one thing I've been craving (as a drummer who's never owned anything but a cocktail drum): a real snare drum.

I tested one out a few months ago and wrote about my impressions to this board. A few weeks later, I decided to order one from Music123.com, just to see if I preferred it to my Yamaha. I'd been impressed by the snare drum sound but not by the kick drum or the overall quality. Since they had a 45-day return policy, I decided I had nothing to lose but the shipping cost.

I quickly discovered that the reason the clamps had seemed flaky was that the legs had too short a knurled surface for them to grip. I couldn't lower the kick drum to the position I preferred. I swapped the legs that came with the drum for some floor tom legs with more knurled surface and that problem was solved. The next problem was the position of the tom tom. It mounted at a very awkward angle. I solved that one by bending the mounting arm toward me a bit. Another problem was that the arm that held the high hats was too high. I solved that by bending it to a more compact shape. Finally, the foot pedal didn't clamp well onto the chromed metal bracket. I solved that by drilling two holes and mounting a piece of scrap wood on the bracket for the foot pedal to clamp onto.

What I have now is a nice, compact little 3-piece set with high hats, a crash/ride, and various noisemakers. The wooden snare has a nice pop and the kick drum thumps nicely. The little tom tom sounds good as well. (The set comes with Remo Ambassador and Pinstripe heads.) However, I couldn't leave well enough alone (not after reading all the "modern cocktail r&d" posts on this site).

Actually, I saw Kelly Smith's post for his Rogers Astoria and that sent me back to look at the Rogers catalog pages at The Lounge. I noticed that the Rogers Park Lane seemed to have one configuration that was similar to my drum's: snare mounted over kick drum. I realized that all I needed to do to convert my drum to a 4-piece was to mount the snare to the side of the kick drum, exposing the top so it could act as a floor tom.

That's what I did! I mounted two more clamps, one on the snare and one on the kick drum. These were Gibraltar floor tom clamps and they are identical to the 10 clamps that came on my set (3 for the legs, 6 for the posts that hold the snare to the kick, and 1 for the tom tom). I also bought a long piece of threaded stock for about $1.35 and hack-sawed a piece of it off to use as a fourth post. I did end up with a working 4-piece set but I find it a little awkward to play on so I mostly stick to the original configuration. Still, I know I have that extra "working element" when and if I need it.

The drum cost me $510 (including shipping) and, while the quality isn't quite as good as the Yamaha, it is quite satisfactory and the sound of the snare makes it all worthwhile.

You can check the set out at Music123.com. Just search on Peace Manhattan.

[John Mettam]

Hey Bruce,

Thanks for all the info! This is what this site is all about! Here is an easy link to the PEace Manhattan page on music123.com:

http://www.music123.com/item/?itemno=71036&match=1

John

[Guest]

I am very happy that you lkie your peace kit. I am endorsed by peace.If you wnat to add more excitement to your kit,add wheels. I play on the grand ole opry.I just roll my kit from the dressing room to the stage,play,and roll it back to the dressing room again.Enjoy you kit!.thanks-Johnnie Barber

[Guest]

I am very happy that you like your Peace kit. I am endorsed by peace.If you wnat to add more excitement to your kit,add wheels. I play on the grand ole opry.I just roll my kit from the dressing room to the stage,play,and roll it back to the dressing room again.Enjoy you kit!.thanks-Johnnie Barber