Customizing your gear

What do you do to your gear after-market for personal reasons?

Sticks: I sand off the outer laquer of my Silverfox sticks, as it gets slippery when I play. Once the sanding is done, I

I've done marker on stands so they can be set up to the same heights each & every time (and also to speed up set up time). I've also got memory locks in just about every place I can as well, from throne base, to snare stand to hihat to cymbals stands/boom arms & floor tom legs (I sit and set-up pretty high, so it's a built in deterrant for people who ask to use my kit on a multi-band bill: "Sorry, I've got everything locked so unless you can basically play standing up, you'll have to figure something else out").

I guess the big one is something I take for granted since it's ALWAYS there, but ALWAYS out of sight:

Mounted microphone inside my kickdrum: AKG D112 in my previous main kit (now practice space kit), Shure Beta52 in the current primary live kit. This allows me to use an unported resonant head without soundguys giving me grief.

I also use markers where I can't use memory locks. I went out and bought the small peel & stick dots in assorted colors from an office store. I put a dot on each individual part of cymbal stands along with placing a dot under the bell of each cymbal. So green goes with green, red with red etc. This is a great help when one of the guys rarely offers to help me set up.

When I get new sticks in bulk, I will use a sharpie on the very butt end to mark distinct pairs, so I can easily crab a stick of the same type (I have my 5a and 7a in the same pocket of the stick bag). I also mark my stands for quick, accurate set up.

I have everything that can be memory locked, memory locked. The feet of my rack, snare stand, pedals and throne marked out on my capet. I also have old cut out drum heads as cymbal dividers in one of my cymbal bags that didn't come with dividers.

Ah, totally forgot my most recent cutomization:

I made a case for my IEMS (Out of a Stanley tools work-box); custom foam insert section for the transmitter and power supply as well as the mini Pelican case that holds my custom-fit earbuds, plus compartmentalized space for all the associated cords & cables, extra generic earbuds, adaptors, an extension cord and power strip and the like.

First attempt was in one of those cheapie silver briefcase-type tool kits. That split apart after a couple weeks. The new one is perfect and rugged.

I used to sand the neck of sticks when I was playing heavy and creating splinters. I've rivited a few cymbals. I made a suitcase kick that always has a throne and pedal in it.

Perhaps not customizing, but I use a half way zipped padded guitar bag to carry my hardware. It's held up for about 8 years.

I shim the kick pedal so the beaters are centered. Most retarded MFGer oversight candidate. Also use a rack bar clamped to the tom post when I need the whole thing. One bar, everything.

I put JB Weld on the broken things.

Oh man I almost forgot something I did way back in the 80's. OMG I can't believe I remembered this...you guys talking about sanding sticks reminded me.

I had just seen the movie "the Natural". In that movie they made a comment about Roy's bat didn't even show a dent or a ding even after hittng so many balls. Redford says "I boned it so it wouldn't chip". I thought, what the hell does that mean so I looked it up. Here is some info on boning with regards to bats...

http://www.checkswing.com/forum/topics/learn-about-wood-bats-1?commentId=2099111%3AComment%3A101206&xg_source=activity

Well I thought, if it can work on a bat, maybe it can work on sticks, so I tried it. I took an old T-bone steak bone, boiled it and cleaned it, and then rubbed it on a pair of sticks and played with them. I gotta tell ya, they lasted a good long time instead of turning into sawdust by my snare. Was it worth the trouble...no, but it was certainly interesting to try...

I kid you not...I really gave it a whirl even though my girlfriend at the time thought I was a nut!

That's a GREAT idea!

But not cymbals!!!

I always tape my sticks and mallets, regular old fashion medical tape. Been doing it at least 40 years, no reason to stop.

Anything that can't be memory locked is marked.

Stand tops and bottoms are marked with colored tape to make them easy to match up.

Cut down hi-hat rods, cymbal stands and tom arms.

My sticks come without lacquer, so no sanding for me.

Strings maybe. I've used Liquid Steel as a bearing edge fix. Worked.

I'm quite knowledgeable in that area already, thanks Carm

I'm quite knowledgeable in that area already, thanks Carm

Not your head!!!

I used to mark everything, but in the last decade or so, I've had to play so many different kits and setups that now it doesn't matter. Close enough will do the job.

That reminds me. I gotta mark my snares for those cross stick Latin clave thingas. A quarter inch off anywhere can kill the whole feel. Funny that never happened in my garage era.

I always number the lugs with a sharpie on my batter side head of my snare for tuning purposes. I also cut my hi hat stands down.

I forgot that I also cut the rod on my high hat too. My hats are lower than the average bear because I play open handed to they are lower. If I didn't do that the crash above my hats would be too high.

I also taped the cords for my triggers together so they're faster to set up. I did the same thing with the power cords for my drum brain and eq.

I cut my boom arms and vertical tubing on the boom arms and the tom arms so there isn't a bunch of excess hanging down on my rack and save weight & space in the hardware case. THAT case is a little over 100# still. I used to cut the excess hihat rod. Memory locks on everything I can find them for. I used to sharpie number multiple tom arms and boom arms to make setup faster. With 2 sets of floor tom legs, I colored the flat leg tops of one set to clearly mark them. Vater Slicknuts on all the cymbal stands. Permanent mounted Audix D6 in the bass drum with a Kelly Shu and a 6' cable left attached and thrown in the bass for transport. I used to use a Gibraltar rack and clamped cut down mic boom arms to the rack for each drum INCLUDING the bass drum. The round tubing allowed for adjustment. Still did the same for the bass off Pearl rack legs for a while.

I always use clear or white wax/parriffin on wood drum bearing edges as a tuning lubricant. Switched to grosgrain ribbon for snare mounting.

For shorter power cables for electronics with IEC removable cables, try www.monoprice.com or www.stayonline.com. Multiple lengths and gages at decent prices. I cleaned up all my PA racks with these, including power amps.

weps

I shortened the length of the tom mount arms so less is hanging below the clamps on the rack. Used a pipe cutter then re-inserted the plastic ends.