I was thinking about maybe trying this, because I have heard from some that it is a great way to save some money but still get a custom sound. I was wandering how many of you guys have tried it, how did it go, and how would you recommend doing it?



thanks guys!








_________________
Drums ARE my life.

There are a lot of places to go to get supplies. Drummaker.com and amdrumparts.com both sell everything you need and will do the bearing edge cutting and drilling for you for a fee ( I 've heard amdrumparts does it for free as long as you order everything from them). This works if you want a wrapped kit. If you want a lacquer kit, you'll have to do it all yourself because lacquering a shell with holes drilled in it is a pain in the butt.

You'll save on the labor charges but you won't save much on the hardware. Depending on what you want, you could still spend over $1000 just on hardware.








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www.pjclevenger.com

www.medicinemandrumsaz.com

DML Special: 20% off all drums.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights do make a left!

Timekeep69 wrote:

There are a lot of places to go to get supplies. Drummaker.com and amdrumparts.com both sell everything you need and will do the bearing edge cutting and drilling for you for a fee ( I 've heard amdrumparts does it for free as long as you order everything from them). This works if you want a wrapped kit. If you want a lacquer kit, you'll have to do it all yourself because lacquering a shell with holes drilled in it is a pain in the butt.

You'll save on the labor charges but you won't save much on the hardware. Depending on what you want, you could still spend over $1000 just on hardware.

Yup. What he said. The do it yourself places will save you money on the shells and lugs and such, but you still gotta pay full price for your stands and whatnot.....If you already have that stuff it's no big deal though. As soon as I have a spare $1500 laying around (who knows when that will be) I'm gonna try building a kit. I think I'm gonna go acrylic-no need to stain, laquer, or wrap. I love the way they sound. And I think that's where the biggest savings will be. A vistalite or OCDP acrylic or DDrum acrylic kit would cost a lot more.








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i'm gonna build my own snare soon. I'll be ordering my parts from amdrumparts.com theyre'll cut my bearing edges and drill my hold for me, i'm gonna get black diecast hoops, and some nice looking black lugs, and have my vocalist stain and laquor the shell (he used to refinish furnature for a living) it shouldnt be too expensive. the diecast hoops will probly b the most expensive part








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xdoseonex wrote:

i'm gonna build my own snare soon. I'll be ordering my parts from amdrumparts.com theyre'll cut my bearing edges and drill my hold for me, i'm gonna get black diecast hoops, and some nice looking black lugs, and have my vocalist stain and laquor the shell (he used to refinish furnature for a living) it shouldnt be too expensive. the diecast hoops will probly b the most expensive part

No offense but you're assembling your snare drum, not building it.








_________________
www.pjclevenger.com

www.medicinemandrumsaz.com

DML Special: 20% off all drums.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights do make a left!

Timekeep69 wrote:

No offense but you're assembling your snare drum, not building it.

That's a fact.... of course, lots of custom builders are really just assemblers when you consider what's really going on.








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zen_drummer wrote:

Timekeep69 wrote:

No offense but you're assembling your snare drum, not building it.

That's a fact.... of course, lots of custom builders are really just assemblers when you consider what's really going on.

Yes and no. Drilling straight holes and cutting good bearing edges isn't as easy as one would think.

I don't agree with the argument that because most companies use Keller Shells they're all the same or that it's not really building. Carpenters don't cut down the trees and make their own 2x4's. Most furniture makers buy their wood from someone else too.

To have someone else apply a finish, cut the edges and drill the holes is really the same as buying a desk from Wal-mart and saying that you built it and in reality all you did was take it out of the box and assembled it.

Same thing.








_________________
www.pjclevenger.com

www.medicinemandrumsaz.com

DML Special: 20% off all drums.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights do make a left!

^ that is a flawless point in my opinion, kudos to you, what happens to the look of the wood if you only apply a stain and nothing else, would its just look dull?








_________________
After I funked my drumset at 11 o'clock, i rocked it all night long, and then we swung til the early morning, where I jazzed all over it. The next day my drumset and i did a little reggae, then shuffled, made a little salsa, and then waltzed.

Lol, thats somewhat true, it is basically assembling, not making.

What me and my grandad did was baught a long, straight piece of maple, soaked it in the bath-tub, made a mold, turned it around that mold to make the sphere, I think we got around 5 times maybe, but then reinforced it with pieces of wood, then drilled all the holes, put the edges on, then assembled Lugs I had lying around my house, It's almost done, we decided to paint it. But we still gotta make something, we are going to make the mounting pit so, it's going to be fun..

Me and my grandad have also made um, 6 pairs of Drumsticks, they are my favorite sticks to use.

So, if thats not drum building I dunno what is.
I'll also put pictures up soon of the drum..








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Tama/Zildian/Mano Percussion/RythmTech

HeaveyDrummer wrote:

Lol, thats somewhat true, it is basically assembling, not making.

What me and my grandad did was baught a long, straight piece of maple, soaked it in the bath-tub, made a mold, turned it around that mold to make the sphere, I think we got around 5 times maybe, but then reinforced it with pieces of wood, then drilled all the holes, put the edges on, then assembled Lugs I had lying around my house, It's almost done, we decided to paint it. But we still gotta make something, we are going to make the mounting pit so, it's going to be fun..

Me and my grandad have also made um, 6 pairs of Drumsticks, they are my favorite sticks to use.

So, if thats not drum building I dunno what is.
I'll also put pictures up soon of the drum..

Now THAT'S drum making!








_________________
www.pjclevenger.com

www.medicinemandrumsaz.com

DML Special: 20% off all drums.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights do make a left!

yeah when i build i go through Bestdrumdeals.com
they do any cutting or drilling. so i get to do all of the fun work haha.








_________________
Colten
4 piece Risen kit
dw hardware
zildjian and sabian cymbals

HeaveyDrummer wrote:

Lol, thats somewhat true, it is basically assembling, not making.

What me and my grandad did was baught a long, straight piece of maple, soaked it in the bath-tub, made a mold, turned it around that mold to make the sphere, I think we got around 5 times maybe, but then reinforced it with pieces of wood, then drilled all the holes, put the edges on, then assembled Lugs I had lying around my house, It's almost done, we decided to paint it. But we still gotta make something, we are going to make the mounting pit so, it's going to be fun..

Me and my grandad have also made um, 6 pairs of Drumsticks, they are my favorite sticks to use.

So, if thats not drum building I dunno what is.
I'll also put pictures up soon of the drum..

dude you gotta tell me what ply you used and what you used for a mold cause now i wanna build a 20x20 kick








_________________
Colten
4 piece Risen kit
dw hardware
zildjian and sabian cymbals

xrftsx wrote:

yeah when i build i go through Bestdrumdeals.com
they do any cutting or drilling. so i get to do all of the fun work haha.

Is it me or do they only have 2 colors for wrap?








_________________
www.pjclevenger.com

www.medicinemandrumsaz.com

DML Special: 20% off all drums.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights do make a left!

building your own DRUMS is fairly cheap but to make a SET with hardware, cymbals, etc. it's a bit more pricey. drum shells can easily be bought at a local drum luthier or via online through many shell producers. i've heard that DW gets keller shells for their maple and birch drum set. for anything exotic like bubinga and birdseye maple your gunna have to look real hard or be really friendly with ur local drum luthier but other than that drilling holes are kinda hard, if u screw up once it's over, there is nothing you can do to save that shell and u just lost [insert price tag of shell here] bucks. always measure twice and then measure again, you don't wanna screw anything up

Nhara wrote:

always measure twice and then measure again, you don't wanna screw anything up

Industry standard is measure 20 times, drill once.








_________________
www.pjclevenger.com

www.medicinemandrumsaz.com

DML Special: 20% off all drums.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights do make a left!