Well, I got lucky today...

[SRT80]

A couple days ago I figured I'd post a wanted ad on craigslist for a used cocktail kit. Sure enough, last night I got a reply. I went and picked this kit up today for $120. Not a bad deal I don't think. I just need to get me a pedal. I will be using the snare and tom for my nephews little drum set I'm making him.

I mainly just wanted the main drum since I'm gonna use my snare on a stand. I got some cleaning to do though. I will plan on tomorrow evening doing that. Once I get all the hardware cleaned, i will probably take a ride up to drum supply house (drummaker.com) and get a sheet of wrap. Gonna either do silver sparkle or gold sparkle. I might do a pearl. Gonna wait til I get there to look at the wraps in person.

But here it is...it's a little dusty, but I like it!

[ricky]

Alright!...good to hear you got this for a good price{I think too} can't wait for pics of the re-wrap! peace!

[SRT80]

Kind of got lucky again today. I have been on a craigslist selling spree lately. Was in the attic seeing what else I could unload and I found a old pearl bass pedal. I forgot all about it. I think it came with a used rhythm traveler kit I bought awhile back. I got it reversed and it works great.

All I had to do was get a new strap. Ended up using a piece of strap from a camera bag. The original strap was like vinyl I think. This camera strap is working and it seems durable. I think it will work fine. This pedal didn't have a chain.

So, there's another $50 or so saved.

As far as wrapping go, I'm really considering the sparkle brite glitter film from dick blick art supplies. I know there is a guy on ebay who sales this stuff. I have talked to a few drummers on other forums who have used this stuff and they said it worked great. It just sticks over the old wrap.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/spark ... tter-film/

I know my mom used this stuff once and once it was stuck to plastic, it wouldn't come off. It sticks pretty good. She had the red sparkle in it. I'm gonna go with the gold sparkle or silver sparkle.

I'm lookin' at like $43 for that. Or I could spend $87 for a sheet of real wrap to do the main drum and another $43 for a half sheet to wrap the snare. So with taxes, I'm lookin' at around $142. Plus a drive to Nashville and time removing the old wrap.

Decisions...

Steve

[SRT80]

Well, I got my heads and other hardware ordered. I found a guy local who's gonna wrap the drums for me. I got a pretty sweet deal on some drum wrap too.

Everything should be in by the middle of next week. Then depends how long it takes to get wrapped. I'm gonna let him look over the repair job I did on the bearing edge and see if he needs to recut the edge or do anything else to it.

Glad I found a local who can do repair and custom work.

Really excited. Pictures soon...

Steve

[SRT80]

Update...

I dropped the cocktail drum and firecracker snare off yesterday. The ruby red diamond pearl wrap looks great. This guy does some nice work. Was checkin' out some of his other projects in his shop.

Goin' with new wrap, I decided to replace most of the hardware. The lugs on this kit wasn't in the best shape so I got all new lugs. Well not really new, but they look new. I took them off of some toms I had sittin' around not bein' used. The new lugs didn't line up with the original holes, they are smaller. So the guy is gonna fill in the bottom hole with a dowel and redrill for the new lugs.

Everything might be ready this Sunday. If so, will get pics. Gonna be a sweet little kit.

Steve

[ricky]

Good to hear you are getting this thing done.I am in the process right now of getting my floor tom priced for a re-wrap myself.I will probably keep the lugs I have right now as they are still getting the job done and don't look to bad.Going for a black onyx pearl...again I need to get pics of a before{then an after}.keep us up to date on your kit too!

[SRT80]

I wouldn't have changed the lugs if I didn't have these. I just had a spare 12" and 13" tom I once used for my acoustic/electronic kit. So it was no extra expense.

The black onyx pearl will look great. I noticed my wrap had some scratches and was bubbling in small areas. It wasn't that bad and I planned on a rewrap anyways so it was no big deal.

I went with the ruby red diamond pearl because it was the cheapest of the pearls and it looked pretty good too. Especially laying the chrome lugs on it, looks very classy.

If I find I really like the cocktail drumming, I will probably have this guy build me something like this...



Instead of 18" drums, I will go with 16" with a 13" or 14"snare on seperate stand. Or I might just have him build me a 24"x16" drum. But I will play my kit I have now before I jump into anything.

Steve

[SRT80]

Went and got my drums this evening and I love the results. I just put it together quick and haven't had time to really tune. The snare is awesome though. My drum guy (Billy Baker) fixed it up nice!.

What he did...

Fill in the old lug holes, just 1 hole for each lug and installed these newer lugs. Filled in one of the top mount holes and moved it over. That's why there is a gap between the snare mount and the other 2 mounts. I felt like I could adjust the hi hat better not being so close.

I'm goin' out in a few but wanted to share some pics. I will probably get it out in the sun tomorrow for better pictures. This red diamond pearl is sweet. I believe the only place you can get it is from drummaker.com.

More details and pics later...

Steve

[ricky]

The red diamond pearl looks awesome! More pics!

[SRT80]

Thanks. It was too gloomy of a day to get them outside for better pics. I have learned one thing though. I'm not sure if the cocktail drum is for me after all.

I have spent a lot of time playin' today and when I play more fast temp stuff, my shin and calf feels like it wants to cramp up. I'm sure it's probably the way I'm playin'.

I'm pretty much resting my foot on the pedal as I would if I was sittin' down. If I try to keep my foot off the pedal and knee bent, I start to lose my balance. I guess I will play around with it more to see if I can get comfortable with it.

All and all after everything, I'm right at $350 in this kit. Good news is I got a nice sound with a remo muff l ring and the powerstroke 3.

Steve

[SRT80]

Took some more pics. Decided I'm gonna go with this setup. I had originally ordered some boom arms but I think when they come in I will return them to guitar center for a refund.

I do want to replace that 14" crash with a 16", but no hurry. This 14" just sounds a lot better than the stock 15" crash that came with the kit.

Maybe the 3rd pic of snare will give you better detail on the finish. This is a killer lookin' kit and sounds pretty good too.

Steve

[ricky]

The kit looks great ,good job on the picture too of the snare drum.!
I will tell you this,getting adjusted to standing up and playing takes a while,the soreness and all is the downside.Eventually you will build up the endurance for extended play by practicing.The plus side is you are playing something unique,cool and different then what most people perceive as a "drum set".Take this to a gig...see what the response will be.I think it will be worth it,especially if it fits the music you are playing.

[SRT80]

UPDATE...

I guess the stand up playing just took a few days to get used too. I'm not cramping up like I was and feel a lot better now playin'. I guess it's like when you lift weights for the first time, you get pretty sore, but after a week of workin' out, the soreness goes away.

The next problem I was runnin' into was my shoulder hurtin' when playin' the hi hat. I had it as low as I could go and it was puttin' a strain on me. Easy fix. Decided to use the boom arms and closed hi hat attachment. I do want to get another L-rod to replace the Z rod.

Took the kit outside, set it up, and got some better pics. Let me know what you think...

Steve









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[ricky]

well...I am jealous,that kit looks even more killer in the sunlight...
Glad to hear you are loosening up playing this bad boy! take care and keep rockin...