Cacophony

After a couple of hours, this…

A couple of close ups of the Cymbal Branches…

The Hi Hat and left Double Bass Pedal…

…and the Main Bass Pedal Contraption…

Note the protective patch stuck to the head.

The Main Bass Pedal Contraption has an issue. It’s a design that’s three decades newer than the Bass Drum, and so doesn’t quite fit. The problem is that it’s too wide to fit nicely between the two tuning rods. This picture highlights the interfering rods…

I tried to make it work, but it sat at an angle (look at the impact marks on the contact patch above) and just doesn’t look or feel right. Naturally, I decided to undertake exceptional measures as a first resort. Drastic surgery.

Here’s the T handles…

First, I cut off the bars…

Then, I filed the truncated blocks roughly cylindrical…

I ended up with a rough result…

…which was then polished by this method…

The result isn’t perfect, but it’ll do…

Using a hacksaw, I cut slots to fit my 5mm screwdriver. These are the finished rods…

Now the pedals fit snugly.

Well, that’s my kit brought back to life. I’m very pleased with the result.

The pictures I took of this process provide a good record of when I started and finished, as the date of capture is recorded. I began mid February, about three weeks after being told off by the Consultant, and finished at the beginning of May. So about 12 weeks.

So how does it sound? Big. Boomy. Bassy. Bouncy. Resonant. Silky. Loud. Deafening.

Now that I’ve been playing it over a month, I’ve been able to adjust the tuning and get a good sound and feel. The bouncy bass drum is taking a while to get used to, but I love the sound of it. With no padding – I hate padded drums – it sounds big, with great tone and sustain. Adjusting the pedal springs is gradually finding a good balance with that. The toms growl.

The only thing I’m not getting on with is this…

That patch in the middle is bugging me. Maybe I’m not tuning it correctly or something, but it feels dead. I’m not able to do good double sticking on it. I’ll persevere with it for a while though, because it has a good loud crack when one hits it hard – which I guess it’s designed for.