DIY Small Kit For Practice, On A Budget

wraub

Gold Member
Anyone interested?

I used a hi-hat stand and a Tama floor tom from thrift stores, hats from a pawn shop, a Pearl Short Fuse snare from Craigslist, an unused bass pedal and some scrap lumber to make a fun practice mini-kit for about a hundred bucks. :D

Anybody else doin' it on the cheap? Please post yours! :)



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Definitely interested.

I just bought a Pearl short fuse. Haven't quite found the sweet spot of tuning for it yet.
 
Understandable... I'm not sure if it wants a tighter tuning, or looser... It definitely has a sweet spot, and I think I'm close...
Luckily, I got extra heads, just in case. :)

Are you trying to make a smaller kit, or experimenting, or...?



Definitely interested.

I just bought a Pearl short fuse. Haven't quite found the sweet spot of tuning for it yet.
 
Update: :D

I took the floor tom apart, tightened every screw, and stuffed a "PDP brand official drum pillow" :D inside before putting it all back together... I retuned with the Rob Brown method of bass drum tuning, and...it sounds like a very muffled bass drum.

But...it does sound like a muffled bass drum. ;)
It is definitely good for lower volume practice, and this little set-up is pretty awesome, imho.
 
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I have found that with the reso head cranked and the batter tight you can get a nice popcorn snare, almost a piccolo snare (almost) sound from it, and with reso still cranked but batter fairly loose, it can sound quite groovy and warm... with this, any small changes to either head seem to make a big difference.
The more I play with the tuning, the more flavors I find, but, I know those I just mentioned are good.
It's actually my main snare atm, just because. ;)

Definitely interested.

I just bought a Pearl short fuse. Haven't quite found the sweet spot of tuning for it yet.
 
Update-
The Short Fuse snare seems to like a looser tuning, or, maybe I do... :D But, I find the smaller drum tuned lower makes a quite pleasing sound.

Also, I rethought the "bass tom" cradle and changed the batter head to an Evans EC Reverse Dot. Now it actually thumps, in a small way. It'll get a new reso next, something black, I think. Also, looking at removing the mounts for the legs, and wrapping it to match the snare.

I also added a new cymbal stand, and now the kit has an 18" crash ride, too.
 
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Awesome, I frequently run a 2pc. Currently driving a pearl midtown. The band I'm filling in for requires tom work but my 'norm' is 2 or 3pc.
 
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