Okay--the purpose of this thread is to see who can come up with the cheapest way of making a decent cocktail drum. We'll compare just the main drum itself, but if you have tricks for cheap pedals, mounts, tom toms, or cymbal arms, include those after your main drum price.
Here's my entry:
On ebay I frequently see vintage 15" marching snares go for almost nothing--$30 if you can find one locally. Aitwood.com has 15x24" 6 ply maple cocktail shells for $88 plus $30 for edges. Add $14.85 for three 10.5mm legs from drummaker.com and 19.80 for 6 classic floor tom mounts (these are a little on the flimsy side, but I've never stripped one. They are cheap to replace).
Stripping the marching snare gives you all the lugs, rims, and possibly heads you need (you'd probably need to buy at least one head). It also gives you snare wires to cut and the internal muffling arm turns into the snare fan holder once you remove the muffling felt and weld the wires to the arm, Resell the marching shell on ebay to cover the cost of heads. Finish the drum with a clear hand rubbed finish--$8.
$30 marching drum
$88 15x24" cocktail shell
$30 edges
$14.85 three legs
$19.80 six mounting brackets (for legs and gadgets)
$8 finishing oil or wax
_________________
$190.65 plus shipping
Tom tom tricks--musiciansfriend.com often sells 8 and 10" tom Pulse add-on sets for around $80.
Pedal trick--they also sell a Pulse pedal for $30 that has a nice metal plate and dual chain drive. It coverts very easily.
Hi hat stand trick--I stole this from John--get an S-shaped bar (two bends), two U-clamps, and two cymbal felts. Mount the bar to the drum with a floor tom mount, then attach the first U-clamp, a felt, the bottom cymbal, the top cymbal, another felt, and a top U-clamp. A closed hi hat stand for less than $20.
I don't have a good cymbal stand trick. Used and new bass drum mounted cymbal stands are equally expensive, not to mention shipping. I tried one of those cheap Wuhan splash holders, but they can't handle the weight of more than a splash and they strip easily. The Ludwig bass mounted stands are about $70 new , but they come with a bracket.
Okay, so beat that!
Will
how to make a cheap cocktail set contest
Cheap Cocktail Drum
Hey Will,
I have beeen working on a project that fits your bill. I t is very similar to your project exept that you actually use the shells from 2 marching snares or toms instead of buying a new one. THat way you save the $120 for the new cocktail shell. If you get concert toms you have less spare hardware and fewer holes to fill.
The only questionthen is glueing and finish. You probably want a strip of reinforcing wood on the inside of the seam. If you have a nice finish already you can get a piece of chrome trim from a hardware store.
I also agree with you on the Pulse pedal. I have purchased on and converted it. It took 5 minutes and is a decent pedal. I have pictures etc and will post a page when I get back from an upcoming trip.
$60 2x marching drum
$15 three legs
$20 six mounting brackets (for legs and gadgets)
$10 reinforcing strip & chrome finishing strip
$30 Pulse pedal
_________________
$135 plus shipping
- JOHN
I have beeen working on a project that fits your bill. I t is very similar to your project exept that you actually use the shells from 2 marching snares or toms instead of buying a new one. THat way you save the $120 for the new cocktail shell. If you get concert toms you have less spare hardware and fewer holes to fill.
The only questionthen is glueing and finish. You probably want a strip of reinforcing wood on the inside of the seam. If you have a nice finish already you can get a piece of chrome trim from a hardware store.
I also agree with you on the Pulse pedal. I have purchased on and converted it. It took 5 minutes and is a decent pedal. I have pictures etc and will post a page when I get back from an upcoming trip.
$60 2x marching drum
$15 three legs
$20 six mounting brackets (for legs and gadgets)
$10 reinforcing strip & chrome finishing strip
$30 Pulse pedal
_________________
$135 plus shipping
- JOHN
Crazy!
So your trick was to get concert toms with a matching finish...cool.
My old cocktail set was two drums glued together, but the holes from the hardware I removed made refinishing mandatory. Plus, it's difficult to get the drums perfectly even, so one piece of wrap wouldn't do the trick. Even though I got the two marching drums for free, I still ended up spending as much as I would have for a new shell on wrap...that's why I went the new shell route. Your way is way cooler--the aged shells are a perk.
I was worried about needing some sort of reinforing strip in the center of the drum, and since my shells had reinforcing rings, I thought I might be sunk. However, after I used a ton of wood glue to bond the seems and wood filler to fill gaps after that, the two shells couldn't be broken apart. I always hear carpenters say that the glue is stronger than the wood itself. I didn't even use gorilla glue or anything fancy like that--just Elmer's yellow wood glue. So if you find yourself going nuts looking for a reinforcing ring, don't go nuts over it.
Otherwise, you could go to a craft store and get one of those adjustable wooden hoop things people use to work on needlepoint projects. They are cheap and adjustable to diameter.
Precision drum gave me a strip of chrome finish (the kind Tama and Pearl used to use in the 80's on their chrome finish kits). It worked well and has held up fine.
I think I've got to concede the contest to you...I can't imagine going cheaper without getting a lot of free parts (speaking of free parts--the cheapest way of getting marching drums is to be friends with high school band teachers...every decade or so a new band teacher orders new marching drums instead of repairing old ones. Any band teachers who want more space in their drum closets tend to give old drums to their friends...especially if the friends clean the closet out for them, repair what's repairable, and haul away the junk. I've built two drumsets, a cocktail set, and two sets of timbales and still had shells to give away thanks to band teachers I've known). Anyway, congratulations!
Will
So your trick was to get concert toms with a matching finish...cool.
My old cocktail set was two drums glued together, but the holes from the hardware I removed made refinishing mandatory. Plus, it's difficult to get the drums perfectly even, so one piece of wrap wouldn't do the trick. Even though I got the two marching drums for free, I still ended up spending as much as I would have for a new shell on wrap...that's why I went the new shell route. Your way is way cooler--the aged shells are a perk.
I was worried about needing some sort of reinforing strip in the center of the drum, and since my shells had reinforcing rings, I thought I might be sunk. However, after I used a ton of wood glue to bond the seems and wood filler to fill gaps after that, the two shells couldn't be broken apart. I always hear carpenters say that the glue is stronger than the wood itself. I didn't even use gorilla glue or anything fancy like that--just Elmer's yellow wood glue. So if you find yourself going nuts looking for a reinforcing ring, don't go nuts over it.
Otherwise, you could go to a craft store and get one of those adjustable wooden hoop things people use to work on needlepoint projects. They are cheap and adjustable to diameter.
Precision drum gave me a strip of chrome finish (the kind Tama and Pearl used to use in the 80's on their chrome finish kits). It worked well and has held up fine.
I think I've got to concede the contest to you...I can't imagine going cheaper without getting a lot of free parts (speaking of free parts--the cheapest way of getting marching drums is to be friends with high school band teachers...every decade or so a new band teacher orders new marching drums instead of repairing old ones. Any band teachers who want more space in their drum closets tend to give old drums to their friends...especially if the friends clean the closet out for them, repair what's repairable, and haul away the junk. I've built two drumsets, a cocktail set, and two sets of timbales and still had shells to give away thanks to band teachers I've known). Anyway, congratulations!
Will
Cheap cocktail set
If it isn't too late to get in on this...
http://www.nationalmusicsupply.com/inde ... ProdID=120
A website that has a 16x16in. floor tom for $66. (They have a 14x16 tom for $60.) Could you make a basic Astoria or Lake Side type set by adding a pedal and cymbal mount? I don't know if it's cheaper than the above alternatives, but it'd be quick to put together.
http://www.nationalmusicsupply.com/inde ... ProdID=120
A website that has a 16x16in. floor tom for $66. (They have a 14x16 tom for $60.) Could you make a basic Astoria or Lake Side type set by adding a pedal and cymbal mount? I don't know if it's cheaper than the above alternatives, but it'd be quick to put together.
robertm
Check this out: http://www.pearldrum.com/masterworks.asp
The section on this page titled 'wood and thickness options' contains a brief but good description of shell materials and addresses some of the questions you had.
Hope it helps with your decision.
Check this out: http://www.pearldrum.com/masterworks.asp
The section on this page titled 'wood and thickness options' contains a brief but good description of shell materials and addresses some of the questions you had.
Hope it helps with your decision.