Just wanted to share a little side-project that I've got on the boil. I thought a few of you might be interested. I'll keep it short, since I'm in the middle of an assignment.
This is a set of shells from an old kit that I was given by a local drum dealer.
They're from a Gretsch Blackhawk 5pc kit, which might sound a little classy, but they're towards the bottom of the barrel, around the $1000 mark for a complete kit. The shells are a mix of basswood and poplar, so they're a bit mix-and-match as far as grain goes.
The original kit had a black wrap on it, which hides a multitude of sins. The wrap has been stripped off, and the shells are a bit of a mix. If you look at the kit you can see that the shells have been made of pretty much whatever timber they could find, just slapped on wherever.
The 16" tom and 10" tom actually look quite nice:
16" shell:
10" shell:
The 12" shell is a bit ordinary, but I'll have to use it.
The snare and bass shells are not worth considering...
The plan is to convert the 16" tom into a mini bass drum, the 12" tom into a mini floor tom, and keep the 10" as a rack tom. This will address a few issues.
1. I have a limited amount of Wudtone to use and it wouldn't have covered a whole kit.
2. The grain on the snare and kick looks very ordinary. At least this way I'll have a kit that looks a bit classy
3. The 12" shell will be hidden a bit as the floor tom.
3. It will keep costs down a bit.
I'll update this as progress is made... things will be a little more expensive with this, but I intend to see it out. When I'm finished I'll have a neat 3-piece mini-kit that I can use for jazz and cafe gigs, and possibly jam sessions.
I'm in the sanding phase right now, trying to remove as much of that glue as possible.
Stay tuned!
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