Yet another DIY Bass drum

[Timmkatt]

Although I built Kiks from combining my KD9 and PDX8 pads which worked well I had always though of making a kik out of a Pearl M80 snare. This past weekend I did just that. Pics and the details...










I used a Pintech 10" head. I removed the throw but mounted the snare butt inside the shell to mount the cone. The cone and sensor are mounted to an L bracket which I can adjust using the snare butt. There is a memory foam cylinder mounted inside which rests against the center of the head where the beater strikes-this is similar to the the Roland kd 120/140. This cuts down the bounce and gives the drum a feel/response similar to an acoustic/mylar head.

An aquarian super thin pad is mounted to the mesh head for durability. A note on this...Alot of debate on which beater to use felt or hard plastic. I prefer felt and have found that the felt does not wear the mesh heads but the mesh will grind down the felt beater quite rapidly so the pad is there to prevent this. The drum is surprisingly quiet even with the beater striking the pad. I was able to checkout a KD140 at GC and was able to get a feel for how the head should be tensioned and the pressure of the foam. I mounted a stiff felt disc to the outside rim for a nice clean look. I like this kik so much I just ordered the second M-80 and head which I will have tomorrow and will have the second Kik done this weekend.

[Russ]

Nice work as usual Timm, love your diy projects! One question regarding beaters, as i'm mostly a felt guy too. Have you ever tried to use the softer bomber beaters instead? Would they be responsive enough while promoting max durability?

[DrumRookie]

Dang, that looks sweet!
Nice job on that, it must have took forever to make it look that good :P
I like that you used an actual drum and used it as a kick, it give more of a real drum kit look (and probably feel?) to it.
Keep it up!

[kickinit]

Wow man... that's really cool... I love seeing people's DIY projects... now I want to do one for my e-kit!

[Timmkatt]

Thanks for the comments. On the Bomber Beaters...I had thought about using one of those and in fact saw them at GC and took a look at them. They have a hard felt core just like the old style round felt beaters and the thicker soft outer wrap is maybe 1/2'' thick so I think it would hit solid enough. I may have to try one some day.

[Russ]

Hmm, that's good to know. I had no idea they had a hard center, I just figured they were a pillowy fluffy wool design for softer hitters and a more mellow sound(and singers that hate loud kicks).