Tiny Bop Kit: Custom Build

crlujan

crlujan

Senior Member
Posted over at Ghost Note but I thought I'd post here too since this is the forum that really got me goin'.
First build here. I fell in love with Craviotto's little New York kit and decided that it would be a helluvalot cheaper to build it myself. Of course, I don't have the one ply steam bent shells that Craviotto builds. I basically just stole the sizes (and adjusted a little bit) and built this kit out of Keller 6 ply shells. Super Tangerine Glass Glitter in 7x10, 13x13 and 13x16.
Gotta build a 13 inch snare next. The 14 just seems so huge with this kit. Hopefully a Vaughncraft shell finished in Tung.
The kits sounds great. Still could use a little tuning. Always a long and constantly changing process.
Had the badges made by the local trophy shop. Not that I'm gonna start a company and try to sell 'em. Just thought it would be cool to have some badges on 'em.
The only thing I haven't done yet is the Tangerine inlays on the bass drum hoops. And I'll throw another cymbal up too.
Please don't mind the First Act kit in the background. That's my 2 year old's kit.
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Looks great. And I love bass drum hoops and the badges are cool. Good job.
 
All the details on this kit are really really cool. I like the badges, the finish, the flat base stands and a sparkle inlay on the kick hoops will look just amazing. Nice work! I totally dig it. It's almost as small as that little first act kit.
 
WHAT A COOL KIT!!!
Congratulations man it is really nice, it looks like a true labour of love.
I really like your cymbal set up to, I have just trimmed down to ride and hat and no rack toms just floor, I feel liberated! I can just nail grooves! Anyway great kit, are you gonna make another?
 
Wow thats really fantastic! The finish looks great and the badges are a really cool idea, I'm glad you made them round! Really nice work man.
 
thomas77 said:
I really like your cymbal set up to, I have just trimmed down to ride and hat and no rack toms just floor, I feel liberated! I can just nail grooves! Anyway great kit, are you gonna make another?
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Yeah, that's how I usually set up too. But I just had to build the rack tom too for the more jazz oriented stuff. I've got a boogaloo band I play with and it's just kick, snare, floor tom, hats and a ride.

I'm gonna build a snare next. I'm thinking 5.5x13. I'd love to build another kit. But it'd have to be for someone else. I can't afford to make another one for myself. And I'd probably make my kit the same sizes anyway; just a different finsh.
 
Drummer Karl said:
That`s absolutly amazing! So you drilled the holes for the hardware parts? I still couldn`t do that, I would be too afraid of messing it up.
That looks so great and must sound brilliant!

Can you get any recordings?

Karl
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Yep. Layed it out and drilled it myself. It wasn't a problem at all. Really fun actually.

I'll try to get some sounds up some time soon.
 
crlujan said:
Yep. Layed it out and drilled it myself. It wasn't a problem at all. Really fun actually.

I'll try to get some sounds up some time soon.
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I`d really appreciate some sound clips! =) That would be so great!

I`ve got another question though: How safe is it to put the rack tom on a snare stand? I think about that when I get my kit built....but I`m not sure whether it is really safe when gigging without a stage or when accidentally ramming against the tom with the stick while playing? How stable is it?

Thanks very much,

Karl
 
Karl I'm thinking it would be just as stable as any snare sitting on a snare stand. Not something I've done but just a guess.
 
Drummer Karl said:
How safe is it to put the rack tom on a snare stand? How stable is it?
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I think it's probably more stable on a snare stand than on anything else since the snare stand is right underneath it. I want to keep a virgin bass drum. So my other choice is to have is hanging off of a cymbal stand. That, to me, seems like it would be more likely to tip over than a snare stand. I know it doesn't happen often but I gotta believe it would be less stable hanging off of a cymbal stand.
 
crlujan said:
Yeah, that's how I usually set up too. But I just had to build the rack tom too for the more jazz oriented stuff. I've got a boogaloo band I play with and it's just kick, snare, floor tom, hats and a ride.

I'm gonna build a snare next. I'm thinking 5.5x13. I'd love to build another kit. But it'd have to be for someone else. I can't afford to make another one for myself. And I'd probably make my kit the same sizes anyway; just a different finsh.
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Little Kits are the coolest! I think it stops me going up my own bum when I play, forces me to support the other musicians more. And as I'm 6ft 4 and 14 1/2 stone it makes me look a bit odd to, which is a bonus!
 
Very cool kit. Someone else here converted a 13-inch tom into a bass drum (see the index in hardware mods thread in other gear sub-forum). I didn't think your original set was all the oversized in the first place but this is clearly more compact and will fit into smaller venues.

My only other comment is that the snare seems to be too big and out-of-proportion for the rest of the set. I'd suggest getting a 13- or 12-inch shell 3 or 4 inches deep and finishing it off with your own lugs and wrap to match.

I think it would be cool for someone to show a dwarf monster kit - 9 or more pieces, none more than 18 inches.
 
Drummer Karl said:
I`ve got another question though: How safe is it to put the rack tom on a snare stand? I think about that when I get my kit built....but I`m not sure whether it is really safe when gigging without a stage or when accidentally ramming against the tom with the stick while playing? How stable is it?
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I've done it that way for the last 4 years or so, and not once have I had the stand or the drum fall over. You need to make sure that the stand can adequately grab the tom, though- some of them won't adjust down to 10" if your tom is that small (I've got that problem on a Roland electric kit at church). The only real bad thing about using a snare stand is that it MUST be directly over the stand's tripod, and that means the stand will limit where the tom can be in relation to the kick.

My new kit has the suspended toms on a stand, and that's extremely nice, especially when moving back from a 4 to a 5-piece kit.
 
Love it man, reminds me of my blue sparkle ludwigs just a wee bit tinier :)

Congrats on the build... I'm impressed :-D
 
crlujan said:
Gotta build a 13 inch snare next. The 14 just seems so huge with this kit.
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The ride looks gigantic too. But it's a nice looking tiny kit. Would be better if the pic shows you playing the drums so we can get the impression of how small the drums are. Is the 13x16 bass drum converted from floor tom?
 
simple kit user said:
The ride looks gigantic too. But it's a nice looking tiny kit. Would be better if the pic shows you playing the drums so we can get the impression of how small the drums are. Is the 13x16 bass drum converted from floor tom?
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The ride is a 21" Bosphorus Traditional.

We've got a couple gigs this week so I'll try to get some pics. And sound too.

My original 13x16 bass drum was a converted tom but this entire kit came from all blank Keller shells. Built piece by piece.
 
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