Author Topic: DM10X bass drum fix  (Read 4388 times)

Offline Dobly

DM10X bass drum fix
« on: September 03, 2016, 02:17:01 AM »

(Modifying this thread as the original images stopped working when PhotoBucket started charge for service that was free for 14 years)

As you may seen in my 'bass drum curse' thread...

http://www.alesisdrummer.com/index.php?topic=6784.0

I was suffering from frequent breaking of the wires on the peizo. This was due to the design where the peizo was attached directly to the metal plate, which even under a few layers of foam and/or rubber copped a hammering from the beater.  Even with the peizo moved to the edge away from where the beater hits, the wires still came off.

Member rhysT suggested I have a crack at the newer bass drum design as seen on the current range of Alesis drums.



 I took his advice and it was a major success.. This is how I did it.

As you can see, the older DM10x bass drum pad has 3 holes around the center circle.



I marked these on paper



Then marked with texta on the metal plate and used a punch to make a dint where the drill would go to help with the drilling




WD-40 to lubricate the spot where I was about to drill and a little tub of water to dip the drill bit in to keep it cool. Oh, and two bricks to stop me drilling into the tiles on the back deck. The wife is so fussy. :)



Holes done.



Next I used a skewer and some tape to measure the depth of the hole. I didn't want the screw to come out the back of the pad.



These will do. Technically a wood screw, but good enough for this and capable to make its own way in the unthreaded plastic hole.



Step 1 done. Note the 3 holes are NOT centered.. I need to line up the paper template with the metal plate in drum and eyeballing it lined it all up where the holes needed to go.



The screws sit a little proud of the metal. They should be counter sunk but I don't have the know how do to that. One slip and the hole will be too big.

Next I soldered on the piezo wires.



And mounted it on some K-Flex rubber tube. I aimed to make the peizo sit around half way up. 



The white stuff is double sided tape. The top of the peizo has a small square of tape on top and a small piece of K-Flex.

The K-Flex I used was this one.



Next I measured up and cut 3 fairly equal tubes of K-Flex.

Then bound them together with some gaffa tape, stuck them to the metal plate with double sided tape and jammed some slices of K-flex in side each to firm them up a little. I don't know if this last bit was required but I did it anyway.



From the side it looks like this.



(Sorry about the rubbish depth of field on my mobile phone. )

From the front it looks like this.



How does it play? Amazing.. Way way better than before. Feels perfect. Nuff said.

As for it's response I could not be more pleased. Sensitivity on it is at 43. That said, it is dynamically great. It plays smoothly from the softest to the hardest hits.

This upgrade was a major success. Thanks again rhysT for the tip.




 
« Last Edit: July 14, 2017, 05:58:58 AM by Dobly »

Offline rhysT

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2016, 09:14:57 AM »
Well done Dobly and kudos to Medeli for improving the kick pad trigger configuration.

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2016, 09:50:04 AM »
Well done Dobly and kudos to Medeli for improving the kick pad trigger configuration.

Agreed.. Someone at Medeli had this brain storm. It is far superior to the original design.

Note: I tried the pool noodle. It only lasted 3 hits. It was far too rigid. It was a serious threat to the integrity of the hardware. Everything shook when I hit it.

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2017, 08:38:36 PM »
Interesting! I might try this one day
DM10X kit, DW-3K double pedal, DW-3K tractor throne, 5AN VF sticks, Simmons DA200S, PS4 Gold headset.
Mods:
Remo silentstroke mesh conversion with 1/4" charcoal layer added on top of plates.
Sounds:
Bluejay in Module & EZdrummer 2 on laptop

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2017, 01:27:19 AM »
Interesting! I might try this one day

Go for it adrian97c. This mod is over a year old now and the bass drum is still going strong. It feels so much better to play too. Having the beater hit in the that pile of k-flex feels much more like hitting an acoustic bass drum, than the horrible metal plate system they had before.

That and the fact that the piezo wires are under no pressure and are still on after this year, this mod is recommended (by me anyway) ;)
« Last Edit: August 09, 2017, 05:58:57 PM by Dobly »

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2017, 10:43:20 AM »
Do you plan on doing this for all of your pads?
DM10X kit, DW-3K double pedal, DW-3K tractor throne, 5AN VF sticks, Simmons DA200S, PS4 Gold headset.
Mods:
Remo silentstroke mesh conversion with 1/4" charcoal layer added on top of plates.
Sounds:
Bluejay in Module & EZdrummer 2 on laptop

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2017, 05:45:10 PM »
« Last Edit: August 09, 2017, 05:53:18 PM by Dobly »

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2017, 08:58:18 PM »
Are the new DM10X mesh pads all the same in the inside? Do the all look like the bass drum pad?
DM10X kit, DW-3K double pedal, DW-3K tractor throne, 5AN VF sticks, Simmons DA200S, PS4 Gold headset.
Mods:
Remo silentstroke mesh conversion with 1/4" charcoal layer added on top of plates.
Sounds:
Bluejay in Module & EZdrummer 2 on laptop

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2017, 09:54:32 PM »
Are the new DM10X mesh pads all the same in the inside? Do the all look like the bass drum pad?

I'm not sure about the new DM10X pads.. But suffice to say I had to deal with 3 different types of pads to get my mods done.

  • Bass drum
  • 10" Toms
  • 12" Toms

What I'm saying is you may need to adapt to get the job done.

For example, my bass drum mod has the piezo mounted on the metal plate. On the pad mods the piezo is mounted on the ribs on the base.

The 12" pads have an issue were if you play a C4 note very loud near them they resonate which triggers the base piezo. ie: certain songs with my band the rim triggers would fire. I fixed that with a big hard rubber pad, but that meant i had to find a new home for the rim piezo. (that is why it now lives on a bit of wood underneath the area were I actually hit the rim)

I also made my 10" and 12" pads taller and recovered the drums in red sparkle covering. Making them taller meant I needed to get new long lugs for the rim. I could not get them the right length so I use Allen bolts on my pads. They look great and are easy to use.

DIY is fun. Go for it.

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2017, 01:53:07 PM »
Do you think that it will be better than the 682 Drums cone? I have converted all of my pads bar the bass with this method but have lost the cone I ordered originally due to it taking me a year and a half to order a mesh head for the bass :)

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10X bass drum fix
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2017, 07:50:20 PM »
Do you think that it will be better than the 682 Drums cone? I have converted all of my pads bar the bass with this method but have lost the cone I ordered originally due to it taking me a year and a half to order a mesh head for the bass :)

I tried a DIY cone mod on my pads. Almost worked but had a noticeable hotspot when you played right above the cone.

I'm not familiar with the 682 Drums cone so I can't speculate if my mod is better. The bass drum mod above works so well I don't even think about it any more. It just works.  My pad mod I linked to above is getting to that point too.