12X14 FT turned into an effects Snare/Floor tom

[SpazApproved]

My friend showed me a band called Snarky Puppies. Their drummer actually uses a couple of snares turned off as toms and turns them on for cool effects and sounds. So I decided since I now have 3 of these floor toms to try one myself.

So I ordered up a DW Throw off with 3 point butt



Took the drum apart and decided where the throw off would go.
So I taped up the rim just to check it


and tested the new hoop

[SpazApproved]

Then I taped up the drum for protection and started finding the center of the lugs


Marked each side (throw off and butt)
then measure out my distances. I used the same distances I measure from my other DW snares


Then used the gaskets to mark my hole locations


The kit came with different length bolts for the different plies

[SpazApproved]

drilled my holes and test fit the pieces




Then the tough part. the snare bed.
They said no longer than 3/16" deep.

[SpazApproved]

peeled off the tape


Then tested a snare wire I had lying around. Didn't realize it didn't make it in storage and was bent so ordered a new one



Bought a Pearl 42 strand


comparison

[SpazApproved]

Now she's finished!

[Ricardo]

That thing should have large versatility.
Anything from a deep snare to a vintage parade drum and back to the tom it used to be.

I'd like to hear how much better your invention will sound over today's marching drums you hear at football games.............I hate those drums.
When (and why) did the sounds of marching drums change so drastically ?

Good job, Spaz.

[SpazApproved]

yeah I haven't fine tuned it yet. Was waiting till I put it back on my kit so I have a reference point in sound and tone.
But I'm excited to see what happens.

[Squidlly deadlly]

Nice snare , good work ,i used an old lud marching snares for years that had about that size , probly not the best for jazz or very soft music ,it takes a minimum of hitting to trigger the bottom head , but for rock and roll its quite ok , ricardo the reason marching snares sound so diffrent is because they crank those heads to the point of wrecking the lugs ,i dont like that sound either , but if you take a marching snare and replace the strainer with one like spaz used above ,and tune the head normaly sorta speak they sound very good.

[late8]

Great pics and write up. Is this big guy going to be a side snare?

[pcs90]

I love Snarky Puppy, was curious if anyone was going to try something like this. Their main drummer is using 3 snares now (the main 14" one, 14"x9" deep snare and 10" popcorn). That deep snare sound is more versatile than I would have thought originally. I've seen him use 4 snares once...

As far as marching snares, they are tuned very high for the projection and to be more articulate for complex stickings. I can't imagine modern competition marching band or DCI music being played on lower-tuned marching snares...just wouldn't sound right. The hardware and heads are made to withstand these extreme tensions, but if you remove this and replace with normal snare hardware, I imagine it would sound very good.

[SpazApproved]

Great pics and write up. Is this big guy going to be a side snare?

yes if you look at a picture of my current setup. This is my left side floor tom. I'll be keeping it right next to my popcorn snare drum so I'll have all my snare drums next to one another. But I'll keep this off to use as a floor tom until needed and turn it on and off. I'll keep my standard 6.5x14 as my main snare.

[late8]

yes if you look at a picture of my current setup. This is my left side floor tom. I'll be keeping it right next to my popcorn snare drum so I'll have all my snare drums next to one another. But I'll keep this off to use as a floor tom until needed and turn it on and off. I'll keep my standard 6.5x14 as my main snare.

Great idea!

[drummer]

You guys that do all this custom work... so impressive!
I don't have the knowledge or the guts to do that stuff.

[weezy]

I'd like to hear how much better your invention will sound over today's marching drums you hear at football games.............I hate those drums.
When (and why) did the sounds of marching drums change so drastically ?

Today's marching snares sound terrible to my ears as well. No tone at all, just a high, tight, dry pop.

Looks like you did a fine job Spaz. I hope you wind up liking what you hear.

[Texdrumr]

Wow what an awesome project. Great work Spaz!

[late8]

I see a single strand of LED DrumLites. Are all of your drums going to have a single strand or are you doing singles on the snare and going double for the rest of the kit? Thanks....

[FlyByNight]

Very cool! I bet it sounds like a beast.

[myk]

Wow nice work Spaz,love to hear it

[SpazApproved]

I see a single strand of LED DrumLites. Are all of your drums going to have a single strand or are you doing singles on the snare and going double for the rest of the kit? Thanks....

They are all single strands. I have all the lights in and functioning I just haven't had the time to change the top heads from black to white coated. I'm hoping to do that next week! So from the top it's funny only my snares glow. But under the kit the entire thing glows as I use clear reso heads.

[Bish]

This thread is fantastically amazing. What a great job you did!

[Markadiddle]

My friend showed me a band called Snarky Puppies. Their drummer actually uses a couple of snares turned off as toms and turns them on for cool effects and sounds.

Larnell Lewis, one of my favorite drummers. The guy is one of the most amazing talents I have ever heard in my life!


Great idea Spaz! Now ya got me thinkin'.... Any chance you're going to throw some sound samples up here?

[SpazApproved]

Larnell Lewis, one of my favorite drummers. The guy is one of the most amazing talents I have ever heard in my life!


Great idea Spaz! Now ya got me thinkin'.... Any chance you're going to throw some sound samples up here?

yeah I'd like to do some video once I get her dialed in. So far it's being a PITA.

[worcesterbruce]

I love seeing the pics, showing the stages of the project. So cool, thanks for sharing.

Question re the LED lights. Do you gang them all together and power them with one power supply? I've toyed with trying them

[SpazApproved]

I love seeing the pics, showing the stages of the project. So cool, thanks for sharing.

Question re the LED lights. Do you gang them all together and power them with one power supply? I've toyed with trying them

correct all the drums get linked together with a long cable that plugs into one power supply and control module

[CycleDude]

That is seriously cool, Zack.