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ok so here is the story.

for many years i wanted to learn to play drums, but acoustic drums is too loud(regardless of 100watt valve heads, they are awesome, just put in ear plugs), so my other alternative was to get an electronic drum kit.

......geuss what it costs money, not wanting to spend any of my guitar money on drum gear, i mean its something you hit anyway.

so being a DIY guy i decided to build one. i got this idea 3 years ago, and i forced myself to to get started now and get it done.

so a while back i picked up an alesis DM5 for a good price, R1000, now i had to solve the problem of pads, they are about R800 - R2000 new per pad.

so i think for myself, is it me or is this some crazy stuff roland and these guys are smoking.

went to the electronic store bought a piezo trigger for R3, put it onto a piece of aluminium with a rubber ontop, wire on a jack, plug it into the alesis drum unit...............turns it out works and triggers more accurately than the roland pads.

i got myself a winning recipe.

EDIT: forgot to add, this is where i got most of my inspiration from:
http://www.edrums.info/

so first up was the kick drum, quickly jotted down some stuff on paper and made some calculations, took it to a friend, welded some offcuts together, and this was the outcome, the most solid electronic kick ever............so far it only cost me a total of R3 to make, cause all the other materials are un-useable offcuts.

the bottle in the middle is filled with water to add weight, but the final one will have velcro or silicon feet or something





the trigger is in the middle behind the 2mm aluminium sheet
    Next up the pads.

    i had to figure this one out.

    i first wanted to use mesh but it didn't seem to work that lekker.
    i cut up an old bucket to make rings, that fits inside the frame to hold it together.

    if you are wondering about the frame, they are small round photo frames.

    i am also going with a sheet of aluminium on the top with a rubber and a trigger in the bottom



    and 4 screws with a T-nut at the bottom to keep things together


    here is the bucket:


    i'll post more pics as i complete them
      plus it would be cool to have a jam with friends at 2 in the morning ?

      i will have to go this route to get better quality wire onto the piezo pickup, i already damaged 2 of them.

      =
        Yeah, awesome thread! Man I'm loving all this DIY. Awesome to see everything you guys get up to. If I wasn't such a lazy-ass, it might even inspire me to give it a go ? But for now I'm (very) happy to just watch ?
          If I wasn't such a lazy-ass, it might even inspire me to give it a go But for now I'm (very) happy to just watch
          norio, you provided us with a pretty cool website, so i think that is your DIY thing ??
            Good stuff Manfred. What sometimes happens from this DIY stuff is that it develops into full time production as all your mates want one, and then Mark II is better than Mark I, and so on... Well done.
              It helps to have a CnC router. We stuck piezo mics to cd's and put them on Dickson practice pads. Worked pretty well.
                CD's ??? awesome ?
                It helps to have a CnC router.
                that is if you want to be fancy, i just used some round photo frames, but its mainly just for the look, the trigger pads can even be square.
                  Awesome dude,
                  please let us know how the rest goes.
                    Awesome Manfred!

                    I always considered making my own triggers, but after a decade of being near the bottom of my (very long) "round tuit" list, I gave in and bought a Roland.
                      yeah alan i can understand that. i nearly gave up on this one.

                      the triggers is easy to make, its just that you need a rack for the pads to clip onto, so you either have to buy one of make one.

                      i'll upload some more pics later the week.


                      i had to plasma cut round aluminium for the pads, works out around R30 per pad.
                        Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Awesome Manfred!

                        I always considered making my own triggers, but after a decade of being near the bottom of my (very long) "round tuit" list, I gave in and bought a Roland.
                        hahaha! 'round tuit'. haven't heard that one in a long time. used to have one on the fridge - didn't have much effect though...

                        manfred - awesome project dude, keep 'em coming!
                          14 days later
                          domhatch wrote:
                          Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Awesome Manfred!

                          I always considered making my own triggers, but after a decade of being near the bottom of my (very long) "round tuit" list, I gave in and bought a Roland.
                          hahaha! 'round tuit'. haven't heard that one in a long time. used to have one on the fridge - didn't have much effect though...

                          manfred - awesome project dude, keep 'em coming!
                          We have a few in our rehearsal room, but they just end up being coasters.
                            2 months later
                            ??? waiting in suspense for this ? ... might even try my own hand at something like this someday then
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