Author Topic: That old kit.. Acoustic conversion  (Read 2255 times)

Offline Dobly

That old kit.. Acoustic conversion
« on: October 18, 2017, 06:25:14 AM »
Some of you will recall a few years ago I found a drum kit on the side of the road.  I grabbed the lot and took it home. I spent many weekends removing rust and cleaning. I then converted it to an electric kit for my then 9 year old son for xmas.  The system I used then was to try to copy the DM10 pads with the metal disk and foam. So much foam..

The module I got for the kit is an Alesis DM8.. I remember it  only cost me about $200AUS. Seemed reasonable at the time.

It got played for months after that but at some point during renovations it got packed up and sat in a pile of loose hardware on the floor. For about a year.

I recently had some success with modding my own DM10X pads and was keen to try the mod on my son's kit and get his kit set up again. 

First the money shots..





And here is the mod that went into the pads.. Just like on my DM10 pads the 'fulcrum' on the top piezo gives it amazing isolation from the rest of the drum.



Silly me added dual zones to the tom pads.. Head and Rim.. DM8 doesn't have dual zone on the toms.. D'oh. So long since I looked at the specs of the DM8. Oh well he'll get my DM10 module some day when I upgrade. ;)

The kit actually has 2 more toms to put on. Alas they both have those home made heads I made out of heavy duty fly screen mesh.. That mesh does not work with the fulcrum system above.

The ride and Hi Hat are from my DM10X kit. I don't like them and use acoustic hats and ride on stage.  The little crashes and rack came from a ekit I got about a year ago for $50AUS.

It was a bit like this sort of kit..



Was so cheap because the pads no longer worked (ie: all the piezos had come loose).. .I fixed them all. But I digresss.

The kit above is playing really well. Perfect for his level of playing.



Re: That old kit.. Acoustic conversion
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2017, 05:49:01 AM »
Your son's a lucky chap  :)

I've had quite good success making my own mesh heads using silkscreen printing mesh. The 43T size (thread count per inch) is somewhat similar to commercial mesh heads and I've made several heads using 3 layers of it, sewing it around the hoop like you do, but with finer thread. Though slightly bouncier than a Roland mesh head, it's very tough material and significantly quieter, and works perfectly with my side-mounted fulcrum triggers. It's also quite cheap. Just throwing that out there in case you want to experiment further making your own.

Offline Dobly

Re: That old kit.. Acoustic conversion
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2017, 08:24:39 AM »
Your son's a lucky chap  :)

I've had quite good success making my own mesh heads using silkscreen printing mesh. The 43T size (thread count per inch) is somewhat similar to commercial mesh heads and I've made several heads using 3 layers of it, sewing it around the hoop like you do, but with finer thread. Though slightly bouncier than a Roland mesh head, it's very tough material and significantly quieter, and works perfectly with my side-mounted fulcrum triggers. It's also quite cheap. Just throwing that out there in case you want to experiment further making your own.

Note sure what the grade of this stuff is, but it just did not work with the side mounted fulcrum system. Maybe it's too thick or maybe ... .. How high above the baring edge to you have the top of your rubber? Also, I found that my regular pads with there REMO Silent Stroke heads were too hot so I added 100K resistors to each. Have you had to do that that ignotus?
 

Re: That old kit.. Acoustic conversion
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2017, 01:30:34 PM »
As I can get at the triggers from underneath, I don't take the head off, so I don't really know the height they'd be at. As I can adjust the height of the trigger by loosening a lug screw I just press the foam against the head until I feel a slight bump from above.

Yeah, I made an in/out board with 10k trimpots that's inside the module (megadrum), so all triggers go through that. When you have DIY pads with varying voltage ranges it's handy to be able to dial them up or down.

Offline Dobly

Re: That old kit.. Acoustic conversion
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2017, 09:18:34 PM »
As I can get at the triggers from underneath, I don't take the head off, so I don't really know the height they'd be at. As I can adjust the height of the trigger by loosening a lug screw I just press the foam against the head until I feel a slight bump from above.

I can't do that.. Mine are sitting on wooden blocks.. That said I can feel a slight bump in the head above each.  The drum that my diy mesh head failed on has the top of the rubber around 2 to 3mm above the bearing edge. It was just terrible with the head.



Yeah, I made an in/out board with 10k trimpots that's inside the module (megadrum), so all triggers go through that. When you have DIY pads with varying voltage ranges it's handy to be able to dial them up or down.

I like it. What a cool idea..

Re: That old kit.. Acoustic conversion
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2017, 04:43:32 AM »
Actually, making the in/out board was a nightmare. It's far handier to just add a pot to each pad because if I need to make adjustments I have to open up the module.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2017, 04:48:40 AM by ignotus »