Wednesday, December 28, 2005

the madness continues...

for a moment i forgot that i have this blog...

i've been very beeezy lately from work. thanks for the doood who sent me a PM on yupangco's forum for reminding me that i still have to post the progress of my ever growing and never ending pursuit of perfecting the round things that bring joy and happiness to the high and mighty weirdo that is me.

first up, a belated merry christmas and a happy new year to you.

i'll be posting on how to recut bearing edges on drums soon. how about adjusting pedals to suit your playing? ayt now that i have tinkered with my pedals i think its also time to share how i improved my pedal playing speed by 100%.

i will be resuming work on the 18" shell. it seems my past mistakes is salvageable though it may come out 1/4" short of the target outside diameter. the drum will still be playable but i may have to double the thickness of the gaskets for the lugs just to compensate for the undersized shell.

im will also buy a compressor and gun for real this time. the finish for the small kit will be urethane with sparkles. i havent decided on the color yet. im cutting the 10" and the 14" down to my desired depth and then wait for the 18".

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

happy bday to me

happy indeed!

i got a full set of working drums as my birthday gift from me to me.

i have to resist the urge to start another one right now. i guess i'll just have to finish my small 3-piece kit, i wonder how much more it would cost me to make the 18" shell. i have the 10" and the 14" done.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

1 hour 16 minutes...

i would have played longer but im dead beat tired today, i got little or no sleep for the past 3 days and add the stress of whole day driving around while doing xmas shopping. i spent an hour yesterday by just trying to go around sm makati which made me very late for an appointment (sigh, sorry gabby). the dw pedals are not yet tweaked to perfection. got a new cymbal boom arm and clamp, its a birthday gift from my gf.

hey i havent posted any pics of my complete setup yet. silly me. well here's one of the few i took. the camera is gone again (mental note to self: go buy sony DSC-W7).



see the billy ward influence? actually its really a neil peart tom setup imitation applied to cymbals. check out neil's dw red sparkle kit setup used in his 'a work in progress' dvd. his toms there were setup like a ladder. i still dont get how neil plays his smallest tom way up like that. then i saw the billy ward video 'big time', he explained how he sets up his kit in a very ergonomic way. i give billy the credit as he gave a very believable discussion on why it should be setup like that.

i just got a personal copy (translation: i dont have to borrow anymore!) of the billy ward video but it doesnt work. have to ask for another copy from the seller.

the splash is no longer stacked with the 15" crash. i used the new clamps to position it beside my hihat. the splash over crash stack produces an interesting sound though.

off topic, king kong rules! hehehe

better late than sorry

was that it? or was it better late than forever?

the pedals came in 7:13PM while i was driving to festival mall at alabang. i was at merville at that time trying to avoid the slex traffic jam.

Friday, December 16, 2005

so where is it?

no pedals, na dah, zip, no show. . . and to think i drove from work to home in 10 minutes which is normally 30 minutes.

its been a very busy week at work and i dont have time to post my updates. so here's a little something, i read from the drum doctors that they pack their lugs with cotton to minimize noise. hmmm seems logical but since when did you hear your lugs rattle? its simple enough to do and since i was putting the drums back together so why not.

here are three lugs, you can see the spring that pushes the tension rod inserts. one of them is already packed with cotton.



there are a lot of lugs to put back in, good thing i have a cordless drill with a philips bit. cheating huh...

Monday, December 12, 2005

drilling for new bass spurs

my original bass drum had a flimsy 'disappearing' bass spur installed. i hated it because its very difficult to work with and adjusting it to the correct height is a pain. i bought new heavy duty retractable bass spurs from lazer a few months back to use as a replacement. i had it powder coated too to match the lugs and rims.

i've read about a lot of techniques on how and where to place your bass spur. anyway, i did it my way since the prescribed method of mounting doesnt look as cool as how i wanted it to be. the first thing i did is to grab a glossy piece of paper and put it on a wooden table.



i grabbed a spur and put it on top of the paper with the mounting side on the paper. i scrubbed the spur to mark the mounting screws' position. i marked the positions with circles.



i then used a ruler to draw a line on the middle of the two mounting points. the nearest mounting point from the edge gets a cross mark. it will serve as my reference point for measuring the distance from the edge and lug. to get a really accurate measurement use a caliper meter like the one im using. i taped the paper on to the shell so it stays in place.



i made sure that the reference line runs perpendicular to the edge by using my old trusty square.



before drilling, make some pilot holes first. this is to ensure that your drill bit doesnt wander off on that wonderful finish. use a nail and hammer to make the marks. then use a smaller drill bit to make the pilot holes deeper.



now attach the 5/16" bit for the actual drilling. dont drill all the way. make a shallow hole first and then do a dry fit for the spur.



if all is well, then proceed with drilling. finally screw the spurs on to the shell



here's an inside look of the bass spur. you can also see where the old bass spur was mounted. its now plugged with stock wood.



some key points to remember:
  • measure twice, act once
  • white and pink are awesome
  • dont block the driveway
  • keep off the grass
  • no smoking

Sunday, December 11, 2005

tired as a bee

i have been busy as bee this weekend, yes even bees get tired so here i am showing the fruit of a couple months worth of work. the picture doesnt do justice to this kit. it looks 100 times better in person than in this pic. i just cant capture the bright pink shade on camera.



doesnt look like or sound like the maya that it used to be. after recutting the outside edges with a round over bit, the sound of all the drums have become fuller. you can tune them now lower and they rock!

i think the pedals will get here by friday. saturday morning, i'll drive over to my gf's house and set it up in its full glory and then take some more pictures.

this kit is now my big-little kit. big for drum sizes but little in configuration. i will also have a little-big kit which is composed of little drums but in a big configuration. ooohhh cant wait to play these drums and the new cymbals next week.

hehehe i won a personal refrigerator from a raffle on our xmas party last night. ding ding ding. i'll sell it since its not practical to have two refs running on one house. the proceeds will go to the card companies whom i owe a lot of money to :-(

Saturday, December 10, 2005

its a pimpin good time!

started working later than usual today. i just cut new bearing edges on the drums. sanded the inside too and then applied tung oil to seal the wood. my shoulders are sore from sanding and my hands feel numb.

all that's left for me to do is put the lugs back in and drill the bass drum with new holes for the new bass spurs. refinishing is 95% complete. i wish i dont have anything to do tomorrow but to complete the drums.

about the pics, i borrowed an olympus c-370 and bought fresh eveready batteries for it but doesnt work. it seems the batteries are too weak. i dont have a metal hydride or even energizer available here so i couldnt document my progress. i still have the 13" tom laying around. it'll serve as the guinea pig for the pictorial.

im leaving for the companies paramount/xmas party in 20 minutes.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

early bday gift from me to me

ooooohhhh cant wait. my pedals are going to be at the manila forwarders office today. hope it ships out tomorrow to manila. before friday next week i'll get my hands on them =)

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

new snare stand

dropped by jb at megamall during lunch time. grabbed me a snare stand for my 12" tom. everything's good to go for my refinished and now 4-piece kit except for my pedals. eta for the dw pedals are dec. 16, if it doesnt make it by then, i will be screwed. no drum kit to play with on my bday.

about the stand, its dirt cheap, light weight and double braced. its solid all the way but the only potential problematic area would be the tilter of the snare basket. i think its too small but since im using it as a tom stand, i dont think it will matter. for 1100 pesos its very cheap compared to my last purchase 3 years ago which was 3500.

i didnt think having lots of cymbals would pose a problem. now i need another cymbal stand and an attachment to able to put up my new setup. sigh. more money problems.

Monday, December 05, 2005

pink kit bearing edges

last saturday i got a roll of sand paper which i glued on to a 3/4" plywood board. i did that to level the edges of the drums. i just finished sanding the edges of the 12" tom. when i get home tonight, i'll give the 16" its final coat and then sand the edges too. the 22" gets its final coat tomorrow morning. everything's falling into place now. i just hope my dw pedals get here before the new year.

i also prepared the bearing edge cutting setup. well the maya kit is mediocre so expect mediocre edges. i have a round over chamfer bit which came along with my router. i'll use it to cut the outside profile of the shells. the inner edge cut on all the shell are fine. the outer part sucks. i tried my best to sand and file it 2 years ago but there are still parts that need fixing. the router will surely help me cut bearing edges consistently.

pics of the sanding table, router setup and kit soon. i borrowed my girlfriend's new camera but i forgot to get the usb cable.

usually bored at the office this time of day so im listening to the old faith no more albums and mike bordin is huge!

Saturday, December 03, 2005

gig studio invaded by saluda

i just came from gig studio along ermin garcia, cubao. since i dont have drums or a pedal, i brought the saludas over to break them in. good thing i brought all of my stands too because there was only 2 available there. i played the cymbals for more than an hour and its sickeningly sweet to listen to them. i cant believe i got them so cheap. i didnt have a camera to post the setup but it was a dream to play.

owned by my college classmate ian tan, gig studio is a great hang out. you can contact ian on his mobile 0918-3370763.

Friday, December 02, 2005

the day they finally came

got home earlier than usual from the training and i find an obnoxious box beside the tv. now what? relief goods? WTF, its my cymbals! finally at long last.



i didnt want to open the box at first because i dont have a digital camera. i wanted to document each step of the box opening process but i cant wait till tomorrow. after 5 minutes of trying to not be excited, i jumped at the box and got my first taste of saluda.




the first one i tried is the one on top, the little 7" bell. that little devil is my new bestfriend. i played each cymbal on a stand and did silly solos. immediately, i wrote a review and posted it on the pinoydrums forum.



im waiting for hell to open and unleash its fury on me when zildjian and sabian fanatics read my post. the honest truth is the saludas are way better than my old zildjian/sabian set.

damn where are my drums when i need them. im going to a studio tomorrow to rent drums and play my new cymbals.

so im still bashing away at the 7" bell as i write this.

and they were bashed happily ever after...

Thursday, December 01, 2005

refinishing update

ok back to some sensible posts.

i bought the toa brand of clear coat spray cans, its not as glossy as pylox. i bought it because its 40 pesos cheaper per can than pylox. its good enough for the initial coats but i will stick with pylox when it comes to the final 3 coats.

im going to start sanding the edges of the 12" tom on saturday. by then the 16" and 22" will have dried. then hopefully by sunday i can recut the bearing edges and finish the insides of the shell.

the drum refinishing will be complete by saturday next week. the only problem is that i dont have a pedal at the moment.

i dropped by yupangco's main office earlier since its along my way from hererra going home. i canvassed for a pearl eliminator double peds and the dual-legged hi-hat stand. unfortunately they dont have the hi-hat stand so that blows it. im not gonna buy just a double ped without a matching hi-hat stand. i want a matching set this time, i've spent the rest of my drumming years having an old pearl double pedal and a gibraltar hi-hat stand. no gripes with gibraltar though, in fact i highly recommend it, very stable although feels a bit heavy for me.

dw double pedal update, no fun here. my credit card transaction had some problems with bidpay. i dont know what's the fuss with bidpay. the guy i bought it from could not ship the pedals to me yet because the check from bidpay did not clear the bank. i will remain pedal-less till new year, i seriously hope not.

dvd update, i got a copy of dave matthews band listener supported video from the new land of the dvds - metrowalk - and i keep on watching it every night. carter beauford rawks! hehehe (lame remark from the pearl drummer's forum). i wish i had a drum set right now, i want to try the licks i saw him do. watching him chew his gum is kind of irritating though.