My micro kit

[Swampgas]

I know this is a cocktail forum, but the inspiration for this set came directly from this board. It is made from a 20.00 floor tom, and uses a 29.00 Pulse piccolo snare. My goal is to ditch the standard HH stand in favor of an X-hat, and to attach the snare to the shell of the floor tom. As far as cymbals go, I will use the 13'' HH's and the 16'' Paragon crash. At the moment, I have my 17'' AA crash in the ride position. It is useable, but I need a couple of Moongel pads to dampen it. I will probably look for some kind of crash/ride and add a couple of smaller cymbals. Your suggestions/comments welcome!


http://photobucket.com/albums/a98/Swamp ... 20Project/

[multiperc]

nice work!
what heads are you using on the tom and how are you tuning it? before I built my coctail kit, I did something similar with a 16x16 tom and it was great but a challenge to tune. also, how did you go about deciding about port size and placement....and how has it improved the sound?

[Swampgas]

Tuning has been an ongoing process. Since this is not a traditional floor tom, the top head resonates every time the bottom head is struck (and it is a lot.) I guess it's what it is like if you had your head in front of a kick drum. I don't usually muffle toms, so this is something new to me. Right now, I have 3/4'' weather stripping surrounding the top head for muffling. Cutting the port holes has eliminated some of the problem. I reused the top head in the photo by cleaning it up and putting it on the bottom. I put a new Evans G2 head on the top.

I got the idea for the port holes from Keith Cronin. I couldn't find a 4'' hole saw, so I opted for cutting (2) 2 1/8 holes. I would have to say the porting really didn't change the sound that much, but lets a lot of air escape. BTW, I bought some lug locks. They really work!

[multiperc]

cool. How do you like G2 (clear, I see) as a top head? I have a coated G2 on the top of my 24x14 and it's nice and round, though the attack is a bit softer than on a coated G1; I'd gander that the clear has good attack but has more overtones than a coated one.

WHERE DO YOU GET LUG LOCKS?? I haven't seen them for decades!

[Swampgas]

drummaker.com has them. I think it cost 7-8.00 for 10 delivered. My bottom lugs are pretty loose, but the locks hold 'em in.