Post by "The Freq" on Feb 24, 2007 11:39:01 GMT -5
I just thought I'd post a few little drum "gizmos" that I built out of scrap steel and parts I had kicking around my house and garage. I've always had problems finding certain pieces of music gear at the shops we have here. Soooooo, rather than wait weeks for something to come in via ordering, I try and build it.
Below are 3 of many items I have built for fun and yes, they actually work.
First, a cowbell/ pedal. I know, nothing new but out of 3 music stores in my town, no one had one, so I went online, looked at a few pictures of similar cowbell pedals and came up with my own plan. I looked through the stuff I had in my garage and built this in 4 hours.
I used an old cowbell, an old solid steel floor tom leg that I cut and bent into and "L" shape, an old curved piece of tube steel from a wheel chair arm, 2 bolts from an old rear seat out of a '78 Chevy Suburban that I ground to points to be used as spurs and an old cymbal stand part that I cut short and used for the main shaft. The base was made from welding a few pieces of flat steel and bending the ends up a bit for the spurs.
My next idea to build was a Snare drum pedal. I built this for one reason only and that was to enable me to play snare with my left foot while I had a kick drum to play with my right foot and then play bass guitar at the same time. Why you ask? Because I like a challenge haha. Actually, I play bass guitar in a small acoustic style band and wanted to add drums without adding another person to the band, thus I cover both bass guitar and drums..;-) People freak out when they see me play both but really, it's all about having fun.
This pedal was made similar to the cowbell one using some flat steel strips and more Chevy Suburban bolts with one difference. I made a "U" shaped bracket at the end and drilled a hole through it. I then took an old cheapo snare stand I had kicking around and took one rubber foot off and put it in the "U" bracket of the pedal piece I made and then drilled a hole through that. I then placed a nut and bolt through both parts. The spurs keep the pedal from sliding and having the snare stand connected to the pedal, stops the stand from sliding away.. I then took an old beater and took the felt head off. I then welded a hollow steel tube to it and drilled 2 holes in this tube. I then welded 2 nuts over these 2 holes. I then took 2 bolts and filed them to a point and inserted them into these welded nuts. The drumstick slides into the tube and then the 2 bolts with points are tightened onto the stick, holding it in place. It's fully adjustable that way.
One last pedal. I made a Trigger pedal for my Roland Pad 11. I used the same
base design as the other pedals with spurs except I welded a piece of steel at roughly
45 degrees to the bottom plate to act as the holder for the electronic trigger. Now, the toughy was how do I make a trigger. A trigger is basically a "piezo element" and they can be found in tons of things that make sounds (smoke detectors, door buzzers, toys, etc). You can buy them dirt cheap IF you have a store that sells them. However, I found in my box of broken junk, an old Mattel drum pad toy.. On it were 4 pads.. I simply ripped the pads off this toy, made sure the piezo element was in good shape and fastened this Mattel pad to my homemade pedal base. I then soldered an old 1/4 inch cable and end to it and "voila"!!! it works.
I use it to trigger sounds in my Roland Pad 11 with my foot while playing my main kit.
What you see in these pictures are not the fully finished.
I will grind them down and paint them nice nice.
I built all these in one day at a cost of a little bit of welding
wire, argon gas and a little bit of planning. Of course the pedals
I had already which I bought at roughly 10 bucks a pedal in
garage sales. You guessed it, the pedals needed work but
I fixed them with parts I had. They're Camcos and I've used
this model of pedal for decades. When I see a used one in
a garage sale, I snag 'em no matter what condition they're in.
They are GREAT pedals in my opinion.
Yes, I could buy all this stuff new but hey, I don't like waiting
weeks for stuff that music stores should carry, besides, I love
coming up with these crazy things. I don't mind spending the
bucks to get the good stuff believe me. If you've seen my gear
on other posts on this forum, you know I love toys, but it's just about
having fun and seeing if I can actually make this stuff.
glen "the freq"
Below are 3 of many items I have built for fun and yes, they actually work.
First, a cowbell/ pedal. I know, nothing new but out of 3 music stores in my town, no one had one, so I went online, looked at a few pictures of similar cowbell pedals and came up with my own plan. I looked through the stuff I had in my garage and built this in 4 hours.
I used an old cowbell, an old solid steel floor tom leg that I cut and bent into and "L" shape, an old curved piece of tube steel from a wheel chair arm, 2 bolts from an old rear seat out of a '78 Chevy Suburban that I ground to points to be used as spurs and an old cymbal stand part that I cut short and used for the main shaft. The base was made from welding a few pieces of flat steel and bending the ends up a bit for the spurs.
My next idea to build was a Snare drum pedal. I built this for one reason only and that was to enable me to play snare with my left foot while I had a kick drum to play with my right foot and then play bass guitar at the same time. Why you ask? Because I like a challenge haha. Actually, I play bass guitar in a small acoustic style band and wanted to add drums without adding another person to the band, thus I cover both bass guitar and drums..;-) People freak out when they see me play both but really, it's all about having fun.
This pedal was made similar to the cowbell one using some flat steel strips and more Chevy Suburban bolts with one difference. I made a "U" shaped bracket at the end and drilled a hole through it. I then took an old cheapo snare stand I had kicking around and took one rubber foot off and put it in the "U" bracket of the pedal piece I made and then drilled a hole through that. I then placed a nut and bolt through both parts. The spurs keep the pedal from sliding and having the snare stand connected to the pedal, stops the stand from sliding away.. I then took an old beater and took the felt head off. I then welded a hollow steel tube to it and drilled 2 holes in this tube. I then welded 2 nuts over these 2 holes. I then took 2 bolts and filed them to a point and inserted them into these welded nuts. The drumstick slides into the tube and then the 2 bolts with points are tightened onto the stick, holding it in place. It's fully adjustable that way.
One last pedal. I made a Trigger pedal for my Roland Pad 11. I used the same
base design as the other pedals with spurs except I welded a piece of steel at roughly
45 degrees to the bottom plate to act as the holder for the electronic trigger. Now, the toughy was how do I make a trigger. A trigger is basically a "piezo element" and they can be found in tons of things that make sounds (smoke detectors, door buzzers, toys, etc). You can buy them dirt cheap IF you have a store that sells them. However, I found in my box of broken junk, an old Mattel drum pad toy.. On it were 4 pads.. I simply ripped the pads off this toy, made sure the piezo element was in good shape and fastened this Mattel pad to my homemade pedal base. I then soldered an old 1/4 inch cable and end to it and "voila"!!! it works.
I use it to trigger sounds in my Roland Pad 11 with my foot while playing my main kit.
What you see in these pictures are not the fully finished.
I will grind them down and paint them nice nice.
I built all these in one day at a cost of a little bit of welding
wire, argon gas and a little bit of planning. Of course the pedals
I had already which I bought at roughly 10 bucks a pedal in
garage sales. You guessed it, the pedals needed work but
I fixed them with parts I had. They're Camcos and I've used
this model of pedal for decades. When I see a used one in
a garage sale, I snag 'em no matter what condition they're in.
They are GREAT pedals in my opinion.
Yes, I could buy all this stuff new but hey, I don't like waiting
weeks for stuff that music stores should carry, besides, I love
coming up with these crazy things. I don't mind spending the
bucks to get the good stuff believe me. If you've seen my gear
on other posts on this forum, you know I love toys, but it's just about
having fun and seeing if I can actually make this stuff.
glen "the freq"
