Members Pine Apple Slim Posted September 25, 2015 Members Share Posted September 25, 2015 its been15-20 years since I've played. Way back then I had a decent used Pearl Export set with some ok mid level cymbals. Along with the metal Pearl snare I also had an old and decrepit Gretsch snare that I bought at a yard sale for $25, but I think it sounds better than the metal Pearl one. I moved far away and left the kit in a friends jam room. Last year I went to retrieve them but all that was left was the snare, cymbals and stands, and the floor Tom. Seems at some point the bass drum and toms got left somewhere and never retrieved. These guys were mostly bluegrassers and didn't care much for drums anyway. Since I abandoned them for so long I really couldn't complain. So now I'm in the procees of building a jam/practice/studio space so I decided to get a playable set together for my new room I found an 80s Yamaha DP series bass drum, 13" & 12" Tom on ebay and got them for about $150 including shipping. shipping was as much as the drums lol. i realize these are beginner drums but when they arrived they appear to be in great shape other than worn out batter heads. so now I've got this mongrel of a kit waiting to be set up to go in my new music room. Pearl Export metal snare and floor Tom, hi hat stand & 2 cymbal stands, cheap crash/ride of undetermined origin, old Gretsch snare, probably 60s or 70s vintage. mid level Zilzian 20" ride cymbal and hi hats used Tama bass pedal, flimsy throne from Pearl set, and an old heavier duty throne from yard sale, $20. I would appreciate any tips yall experienced drummers may have regarding heads to buy, tuning, reducing overtones, etc, to make this mongrel cheapo collection sound as good as possible. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted September 25, 2015 Members Share Posted September 25, 2015 Welcome back Pineapple!!!!! Man, it is good to see some of the "ole" guys coming back around! Some of the best drums I have ever heard were a heinz 57 blend of drums. The old Gretsch snare is gold! Yamaha BD probably sounds killer. All you really need are those two things and some cymbals to begin your re-aclimation into drum world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted September 25, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 25, 2015 Thanks for the encouragement Mr. D.! the Yamahas were a beginner kit. Philippine mahogany aka Luan.but I'm pretty sure I can tune em up w a little patience. They are in great shape. I love the old snare but it does have issues. A few days ago I re glued the wrap that was coming up at the seam. There's quite a bit of rust and corrosion. I took it all apart and hit the lugs with some gun cleaner and made sure all the lugs turned well. The snare adj knob is rusted tight. I'll keep hitting it with some rust off stuff and hopefully it will free up The snare off/on lever is working tho. The rotten shoestring holding the wires I'll replace(proper piece of kit for this?) but I have the snare attachment stuff de rusted and working. Theres a couple of wierd dips in the lower rim, where the snare wires stretch across. I don't know if this is a disfigurement from the snare assembly or lugs too tight or is actually part of the design. In any case it caused the rim not to seat for about .75 " on each side of the drum. Anyway it's always sounded better than the metal Pearl so I think it's worth keeping. It's always seemed to tune up easier than the Pearl with less overtones. My resonant head looks pretty good but the single ply coated Remo batter head is shot. Thinking I might go to a double ply coated with an underside dot for less ring. I used to nearly always dampen the thing so maybe with a heavier head I won't have to. I want a coated head tho, I like brushes a lot. i will prob go w Pinstripes on the Toms and I have no idea about what resonant head to pair them with. the bass drum resonant has what looks like to be still good black Evans with the mic hole. The batter is a pretty beat clear of some kind. ill try to get up a pic of that rim on the. Gretsch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Whoa, looooooooooooong time, no see! That's a screen name I almost forgot! Welcome back! Regarding the heads on that kit and reducing overtones, I think Remo Pinstripes may be the absolute easiest heads to use to make almost any drum set sound good. I may be an Evans fan nowadays, but Pinstripes, with the built in muffle ring, always seem to do well on any kit to give them a pleasing thud with some tone behind it. They won't "sing," but they'll always sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted September 30, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2015 One of the Toms I got off the Bay is missing the thumbscrew? That holds the Tom onto the arm. So I need to purchase one off eBay, Amazon, or visit a music store. What is the proper drum terminology for those things? are they pretty much all standard sizes / threads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted September 30, 2015 Members Share Posted September 30, 2015 Pine Apple Slim! - The dip in the snare bearing edge is by design. That is called the snare bed. - On the frozen turn knob. I suggest a protective measure so as not to damage the knurled knob, but a lightly tightened pair of vise grips might help. Don't force it as you don't want it to snap, but the extra leverage of the handles might help you get it moving again. - On the missing thumbscrew (which are called many different things by different manufacturers - we drummers call them thumb screws! ), you are probably best off to reach out to a specialty drum shop that has been around for a long time and might have a parts bin of old screws. Tell them what you've got and I feel certain you'll get up and running in no time. The other thing may be to take to an Ace hardware that has a full row dedicated to different nuts, bolts and screws. They may have something which will get you up and running in no time. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted September 30, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2015 <<< - The dip in the snare bearing edge is by design. That is called the snare bed.>>>> thanks D! I was hoping that was the case. It looked like it had a purpose but I was kinda worried about it. No specialty drum shops around, just GC and a couple of smaller Mom & Pops. If none of em have a real replacement I'll prob do as you say and just go to a hardware store and find something in the same thread and size. I can tighten it with a small wrench if I have to. While cleaning up the snare one of the rusted screws holding a lug snapped off. Lucily I had a bolt just the right size and thread to replace it with after drilling the old bolt out of the lug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted October 1, 2015 Members Share Posted October 1, 2015 Last year I treated my whole family to a Yamaha digital drum kit. My wife thought it was a gift from the gods. Nope honey, it came from the Guitar Center. The Yamaha digital acoustic drums are really nice too and the family loves the headphones out input. I have had nothing but complements on how quiet my drumming is these days. I still have a full set of real drums too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted October 1, 2015 Members Share Posted October 1, 2015 [video=youtube;lkDSj1KvVCk] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted October 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 1, 2015 I thought about going the electronic route but decided to hold off on such an expensive purchase. my new room is gonna be a separate detached structure 30' away from the main house, plus I'm insulating and soundproofing as much as practable given the budget. So disturbing the wife shouldn't be an issue. and I had all these discombobulated pieces anyway so I'm just piecing together a decent little music room kit as cheaply as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rayboomboom Posted October 1, 2015 Members Share Posted October 1, 2015 Welcome back to the drumming world. AKA reality! Never been a fan of pinstripes. If you like using brushes you may want to try some coated tom heads. I like Evans also and use the G2's. I can tune them pretty low for nice big sound or up tight for a jazzier thing. You can always add Moon Gels to dampen if you need it. You can't make a dead sounding head sustain more but you can dampen an overly sustaining head. Where do you live, maybe someone can help find a shop nearby for parts. Also, try Ruppsdrums.com in Denver. They've had a good assortment of old/used parts and can maybe help out with that thumbscrew - wingnut thing you're looking for. Another tip might be to take the snare strainer off the drum and soak it in something toxic to get rid of the rust. Hope some of this is helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted October 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 1, 2015 Drum stores: Birmingham80mi Nashville200mi Atlanta300mi doubt I'll be traveling to any of these places for a thumbscrew. Maybe someday when I'm passing thru. Coated toms, 1 ply or 2? Brands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted October 1, 2015 Members Share Posted October 1, 2015 Shoot me a picture of the mount that needs the screws. Let's me see if I can dig something up.D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rayboomboom Posted October 5, 2015 Members Share Posted October 5, 2015 Drum stores: Birmingham80mi Nashville200mi Atlanta300mi doubt I'll be traveling to any of these places for a thumbscrew. Maybe someday when I'm passing thru. Coated toms, 1 ply or 2? Brands? If you like pinstripes I'd go with x ply for sound and durability. Can't go wrong with Evans or Remo. I like the Evans G2 coated on my toms. Nice punch and wide tuning range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rayboomboom Posted October 5, 2015 Members Share Posted October 5, 2015 Drum stores: Birmingham80mi Nashville200mi Atlanta300mi doubt I'll be traveling to any of these places for a thumbscrew. Maybe someday when I'm passing thru. Coated toms, 1 ply or 2? Brands? If you like pinstripes I'd go with x ply for sound and durability. Can't go wrong with Evans or Remo. I like the Evans G2 coated on my toms. Nice punch and wide tuning range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted October 5, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2015 Shoot me a picture of the mount that needs the screws. Let's me see if I can dig something up. D Thanks for the offer, but first let me check with my local GC and a couple of other local stores. if I can't find one I'll post a pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rayboomboom Posted October 6, 2015 Members Share Posted October 6, 2015 Oops, meant 2 ply not x ply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted October 7, 2015 Members Share Posted October 7, 2015 2 ply or not 2 ply - that is the is the reply.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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