Mike, I just want you to know how much I love watching your project videos. It’s fun being there with you in your garage and seeing a true master perform.❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️
Low tuning sounds MEAN 👿 love it 🙌🏼 Very nice to hear how you approached the snare bed. I had a 12" tom converted and at my first try I cut too deep so had to recut the bottom edge and redo it. It was stressful 😅 next time I may also do by hand and shallower.
Great work as always. I converted a 12x9 rom to a 7.8 deep snare. I didn't have access to a table saw so I used a Japanese hand saw. It actually was quite fast and a lot cleaner that I initially thought.
Do you ever use brad point or Forstner bits when drilling holes? 1/4" brad point bits are really nice for drilling cleanly in wood, and the sharp point of the bit works well to keep the bit centered. It also helps with tear-out: the small point protrudes through before the main body of the bit, so if you're careful, you can drill the final portion from the inside.
Not typically, the forester bits I have fit more in a different category of thicker than standard holes I need for smaller things, and not big enough for the larger holes I need. Brad point bits are great though.
Wow, great job on this Mike! Looks to me like you did a great job on the snare bed, that is the part I would be scared to do for sure. Bet that was pretty nerve wracking.
I built one from an old 80’s 6 ply Ludwig and I couldn’t find the sweet spot either. I ended up loaning it to my buddy’s son. I don’t know if it’s a mental block since I’m not used to playing a 15x8 or if I didn’t cut the bearing edges correctly. It was for sure not my first go around either. Btw, it was a pleasure meeting you at the Chicago drum show this year.
I actually put two different weight, hoops on my newly acquired Pork Pie Little squealer 13x7 and it made a very nice difference and now it sounds even nicer. I went to Sam Ash to see what scraps i could find and I bought what I thought was a 14in 2.3 Gibraltar triple flange for my Ludwig Acrolite Black Galaxy but it turned out to be a 13in but it still worked out and for $8 it wasn't a bad thing. I have a lighter hoop on the bottom of the pork pie amd the thicker 2.3 hoop on the top and it did cut out a lot of overtones and it brought out more of the maple crack sound 👍.
Just wrapped another one today, and still very much feeling in the "no idea if my work is great or absolutely terrible" phase when it comes to snare beds.
I have a 12x15 Tama Imperialstar just waiting for this treatment. I’ll probably cut it down to 8x15 and have a 3 1/2x15 scrap to maybe make another drum out of. Yours turned out nice.
Like to hear a 13” snare. I have a 10” x 6” cheap snare by griffin. I up grade the top hoop to a 2.3 hoop and replaced the cheap wire to 16 wire by pure percussion . And a Remo coated control sound. It sounded great love this snare. I can get 3 different sounds I also try the Remo clear dot it was awesome. But I stayed with the coated dot one. kept my clear dot for back up.🥁
Hey Mike, just wanted to know if you could give me some advice. I have an early 2000s Tama Swingstar kit. It sounds fine and tunes up decent with thicker heads and moongel. The hoops are rusted in spots and every one of them is bent in some place. I live in Pittsburgh so DFD is close by, I was wondering what new hoops you’d recommend from them that aren’t too expensive? I play in a prog/hard rock band and usually like a deep tone with plenty of attack. 13” rack, 16” floor, 22” bass with the Accu-tune hoops. Any advice on new hoops?
@@malonedrum Thanks Mike, will do. Great video as always! As far the 15” snare goes, it might benefit from an Evans Hybrid snare head and tighter tensioning to get a better mid range tone? Or maybe an Aquarian Reflector snare head, so that playing low will give you a fat deep tone and harder hits will give you a mid/high tone. I’ve found that controlled sound black dots on snares are great but only short term, mine kinda gave out on me after 3 months.
Most tunings sounded pretty wobbly pitch-wise. Did you consciously detune the drum, or is the drum perhaps out of round? The high tuning sounded nice though! Edit: I own a 15x8 Tama Steel snare. It doesn’t have the tuning issues your drum has. So I think there is something wrong with your drum technically. But my drum isn’t particularly widely usable either, because it’s just a very tame sound. For ultra low tunings it’s at least somewhat unique. Also, without snares engaged I can get some interesting sounds, but that’s probably not what you want to hear after doing this conversion😅.
I just think it's mostly getting used to tuning a size drum that I have zero prior experience with. 15" drums are outliers, so it's taken some learning to get used to the feel and tonal understanding. I added muffling and it sits nicely now.
I understand some feel gaskets added extra stress on the shell, but in some cases I enjoy the way it tightens up the sustain, and when I add them, I try to make sure I don’t over tighten them to have extra stress on the shell.
Oh, that's really tough to say without tools. It'd take me way too long to watch this again and try to calculate the costs of every tool and piece used along the way. Just start with simple tools and simple projects, buy used.
I shortened a cheap snare ages ago, and totally knew nothing about snare beds 😂 No I wonder, I could never get it sounding like a snare again 🤣 Not to metion the shell cut ans bearing edge were probably terrible.
@@garrettguadiana1327 I understand how a round over edge gives a warmer tone, but in mu opinion, since any sort of straight angle chanfer meets the head at a finite point, I don't really see the 30 degree edge (at least on a mostly interior cut away) having much of a noticeable different sound. Also, to get the most definition and clarity out of a snare, I'd imagine a sharper tone would be ideal, especially on snare side with the head so much thinner.
@@malonedrum but it’s a Gretsch shell!! Kinda sacrilege. But I get were you’re coming Just it’s a Gretsch thing. Broke my heart seeing a 45 edge and not a 30. Is my point.
@@garrettguadiana1327 I don’t think so, Gretsch sells a number of USA/custom snares with 45 degree edges, but if it’s what hangs you up from enjoying the drum, that’s fine.
I did use wood drill bits. I always try to add pressure from the side I’m drilling through to help with tear up, but older shells where the wood moisture has dried out, it can be very hard to get a perfect drill with no tear out.
Your content is always interesting, so I enjoy it. However... this is my opinion, but the wood filler is really... untidy to be used for anything higher than a low-priced, entry level shell. It might be a 6 lug snare, or a low-priced shell snare such as poplar or basswood. That's a disappointing item for the Gretsch shell. 15x12 shell, good size. If it were me, I would not cut it and make it a fat and deep SNOM. Because that is the way to preserve the original appearance of the shell as much as possible. And... this is a personal question of mine, why are all Gretsch rack toms 5 lugs? No matter how good I try to look at it, it's nonsense. The same goes for SONOR's vintage BD Spur, and old drum makers seem to have strange stubbornness... that's my review. There is no need to insist on 5 lugs rather than 6 lugs. There is no need to produce all BD spurs as vintage types. What do you think? All Gretsch rack toms, even USA custom ones, are 5 lugs. There may be an advantage to having fewer rugs, but my position is that there is no need to insist on it. Sonor also does not need to always produce only vintage spurs... It seems to be a tradition of old brands, but... it seems old and unconvincing to me. Mike, I'm curious what your opinion is. Thanks.
@@malonedrum I guess you interpreted what I meant a little differently... see, Gretsch's drums are BD - 10 or 8 lug, floor toms are 8(or 6?) lug, and snares are 10 or 8 lug, similar to other drum makers. But especially... all rack toms use "5" lugs. In the drum market, 5 lugs is a specification that is hard to find except on the lowest priced Chinese made beginner drums. Sonor's vintage spur is old, but even if it's okay in its own way, Gretsch's adoption of a 5 lug rack tom is... difficult to understand. None of the manufacturers - dw, Sonor, Yamaha, Pearl, Tama, Ludwig - use 5 lug toms, right? Don't you agree? I'm not trying to get you into an argument... I'm just asking you, who seems to know a lot about drums, for your opinion on what I've always thought. That's it.
@@laiftaim they believe it creates a bigger sweet spot, never had an issue getting a great sound out of mine, so I don’t spend much time worrying about 5 vs 6 lug layout on a rack tom.
@@malonedrum I think I've heard about the reason Gretsch always maintains a 5 lug tom... I'll have to find out more. I always wondered why they were so different. I was also surprised that there were almost no 15" snares or 16" snares. There is no such thing as a flat crash... I hope you think of these as the questions of a person who has been exposed to and researched drums for a long time. Thanks.
Sounded way better then I thought it was going to. Very deep and full.
15” snare has some seriousnpotrntisl
Oh modern worship drummers would love that low tuned sound with the Snare weight 👍
Agreed!
Some of us modern Worship drummers also like very high tuned open metal snares 😂
@@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power your sound guy doesn’t
@@malonedrum we have an understanding: Make it work.
@@malonedrum He probably rolls of the highs a bit ( which is what I would do ), and a few other things.
I came across your videos randomly and I love them! Greetings from a drummer from Madrid, Spain!
Welcome aboard!
Dude your videos are the highlight of my UA-cam subscriptions!!
That’s super kind of you to say!
Mike, I just want you to know how much I love watching your project videos. It’s fun being there with you in your garage and seeing a true master perform.❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️
Right on
Once again Mike, great video you shared with us all! Your insight and knowledge of drums is amazing to watch on UA-cam! Good health and blessings.
Appreciate the support!
l have a 1930's slingerland brass snare 15"x6.5".... love it
Very cool!
These conversions are easily my favorite series on the channel.
I really enjoy the lower undertones the drum creates!
Not sure I consider the conversion projects a series, but more DIY videos on the way!
Low tuning sounds MEAN 👿 love it 🙌🏼
Very nice to hear how you approached the snare bed. I had a 12" tom converted and at my first try I cut too deep so had to recut the bottom edge and redo it. It was stressful 😅 next time I may also do by hand and shallower.
I think very shallow is fine for modern heads.
I love a good project video. Restoring an old King Beat snare right now, myself.
Nice! King Beats are fantastic drums
Love the walnut gloss kits you have. 👌🏻
Me too! Been a journey acquiring all of those drums.
Doesn’t get much better.
Seeing Jeff in a drumkini was not on my list of things to see today.
Love the vid!!
🤣🤣
Just stumbled on your channel and watched til the end no scrolling on phone. That’s a good sign. Subscribed and looking forward to more. Thank you
Appreciate it!
I love drum factory direct . I’ve been using them for years, their products and services are top notch. Beautiful project! Yo do fantastic work!
Awesome! Thank you!
The low tuning sounded really sweet. Awesome work!
Agreed!
Great work as always. I converted a 12x9 rom to a 7.8 deep snare. I didn't have access to a table saw so I used a Japanese hand saw. It actually was quite fast and a lot cleaner that I initially thought.
I'm blown away you could get a straight cut with one of those pull saws.
Do you ever use brad point or Forstner bits when drilling holes? 1/4" brad point bits are really nice for drilling cleanly in wood, and the sharp point of the bit works well to keep the bit centered. It also helps with tear-out: the small point protrudes through before the main body of the bit, so if you're careful, you can drill the final portion from the inside.
Not typically, the forester bits I have fit more in a different category of thicker than standard holes I need for smaller things, and not big enough for the larger holes I need.
Brad point bits are great though.
A joy to follow your work. Watching from Denmark :)
Appreciate it!
Great job! Cheers from Brazil 🎉
Cheers! Very excited to watch my Green Bay Packers playing in Brazil this September!
Awesome job Mike awesome video as always
Thanks!
Wow, great job on this Mike! Looks to me like you did a great job on the snare bed, that is the part I would be scared to do for sure. Bet that was pretty nerve wracking.
Thank you kindly!
I built one from an old 80’s 6 ply Ludwig and I couldn’t find the sweet spot either. I ended up loaning it to my buddy’s son. I don’t know if it’s a mental block since I’m not used to playing a 15x8 or if I didn’t cut the bearing edges correctly. It was for sure not my first go around either. Btw, it was a pleasure meeting you at the Chicago drum show this year.
Likewise! Always great to meet in person
Very nice work!
I think it sounds awesome.
I have a 15x8, and it took some getting used to.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks!
Gorgeous! Looks sharp Mike.
Thank you!
Loox beautiful; Like the fat sound. Thanx for the 411!
Appreciate it!
I actually put two different weight, hoops on my newly acquired Pork Pie Little squealer 13x7 and it made a very nice difference and now it sounds even nicer. I went to Sam Ash to see what scraps i could find and I bought what I thought was a 14in 2.3 Gibraltar triple flange for my Ludwig Acrolite Black Galaxy but it turned out to be a 13in but it still worked out and for $8 it wasn't a bad thing. I have a lighter hoop on the bottom of the pork pie amd the thicker 2.3 hoop on the top and it did cut out a lot of overtones and it brought out more of the maple crack sound 👍.
It’s a pretty underrated factor in snare sound.
I've built only one snare so far and I agree, cutting the beds was the most stressful part.
Just wrapped another one today, and still very much feeling in the "no idea if my work is great or absolutely terrible" phase when it comes to snare beds.
Amazing job 💪
Thank you! Cheers!
I have a 12x15 Tama Imperialstar just waiting for this treatment. I’ll probably cut it down to 8x15 and have a 3 1/2x15 scrap to maybe make another drum out of. Yours turned out nice.
Very cool! Good luck.
great tones!
Thanks for listening
Like to hear a 13” snare. I have a 10” x 6” cheap snare by griffin. I up grade the top hoop to a 2.3 hoop and replaced the cheap wire to 16 wire by pure percussion . And a Remo coated control sound. It sounded great love this snare. I can get 3 different sounds I also try the Remo clear dot it was awesome. But I stayed with the coated dot one. kept my clear dot for back up.🥁
You can do a lot with those snares by upgrading some components.
Hey Mike, just wanted to know if you could give me some advice. I have an early 2000s Tama Swingstar kit. It sounds fine and tunes up decent with thicker heads and moongel. The hoops are rusted in spots and every one of them is bent in some place. I live in Pittsburgh so DFD is close by, I was wondering what new hoops you’d recommend from them that aren’t too expensive? I play in a prog/hard rock band and usually like a deep tone with plenty of attack. 13” rack, 16” floor, 22” bass with the Accu-tune hoops. Any advice on new hoops?
Sure, new hoops should help.
I’d reach out to them and I’m sure they’ll make solid recommendations on what to purchase.
@@malonedrum Thanks Mike, will do. Great video as always! As far the 15” snare goes, it might benefit from an Evans Hybrid snare head and tighter tensioning to get a better mid range tone? Or maybe an Aquarian Reflector snare head, so that playing low will give you a fat deep tone and harder hits will give you a mid/high tone. I’ve found that controlled sound black dots on snares are great but only short term, mine kinda gave out on me after 3 months.
@@chiefluke210 I think I'd go the opposite with a thinner head actually.
Most tunings sounded pretty wobbly pitch-wise. Did you consciously detune the drum, or is the drum perhaps out of round? The high tuning sounded nice though!
Edit: I own a 15x8 Tama Steel snare. It doesn’t have the tuning issues your drum has. So I think there is something wrong with your drum technically. But my drum isn’t particularly widely usable either, because it’s just a very tame sound. For ultra low tunings it’s at least somewhat unique. Also, without snares engaged I can get some interesting sounds, but that’s probably not what you want to hear after doing this conversion😅.
I just think it's mostly getting used to tuning a size drum that I have zero prior experience with. 15" drums are outliers, so it's taken some learning to get used to the feel and tonal understanding. I added muffling and it sits nicely now.
Tuned high it sounds slightly like a timbale. I like it and it sounded decent on my sound system Thump speakers.
Good to hear!
I love 15 inch snares. The drum sounded good in the middle to me
Yeah, I agree with you
Beautiful work! Don't need those lug gaskets though.
I understand some feel gaskets added extra stress on the shell, but in some cases I enjoy the way it tightens up the sustain, and when I add them, I try to make sure I don’t over tighten them to have extra stress on the shell.
What was the measurements of the snare bed?
A little less than 1/8” deep, and wide enough for 24 strand wires.
How much would roughly cost to get into doing this do you think? Starting from no tools at all
Oh, that's really tough to say without tools. It'd take me way too long to watch this again and try to calculate the costs of every tool and piece used along the way. Just start with simple tools and simple projects, buy used.
I agree, there’s always guys getting rid of nice older tools at garage sales.
l recommend trying die cast hoops and single ply top head.... it sounds good though
I think a single ply top head is for sure my next try with this.
Well done ! You can start a drum company ; ] But really, well done
The world doesn’t need another drum company, especially not run by me
Why didn’t you make a “snom” out of it? Regardless, it looks and sounds cool!
I have a marching snare that works great for that sort of thing.
Fill the lug cavity with Shoe Goo to get rid of the sympathetic ring
I typically like to use cotton balls, not sure about the Shoe Goo, but I guess that could work
I shortened a cheap snare ages ago, and totally knew nothing about snare beds 😂 No I wonder, I could never get it sounding like a snare again 🤣 Not to metion the shell cut ans bearing edge were probably terrible.
I've been able to talk with a lot of great builders about snare beds since, and my opinion has changed even since this project. Definitely learning.
👍👍👍
👍👍👍
good luck finding new heads when those ones break 😭 😭
Yeah, Sweetwater only have 25 different 15" models in stock right now....
@@malonedrum best get like a p77 coated batter or sumn then
Sad part bout this drum it doesn’t have the 30 baring edge like Gretsch.
What difference do you hear between the 30 and 45 degree bearing edge?
@@malonedrum 30 gives more warmth 45 is a sharper direct tone.
@@garrettguadiana1327 I understand how a round over edge gives a warmer tone, but in mu opinion, since any sort of straight angle chanfer meets the head at a finite point, I don't really see the 30 degree edge (at least on a mostly interior cut away) having much of a noticeable different sound.
Also, to get the most definition and clarity out of a snare, I'd imagine a sharper tone would be ideal, especially on snare side with the head so much thinner.
@@malonedrum but it’s a Gretsch shell!! Kinda sacrilege. But I get were you’re coming Just it’s a Gretsch thing. Broke my heart seeing a 45 edge and not a 30. Is my point.
@@garrettguadiana1327 I don’t think so, Gretsch sells a number of USA/custom snares with 45 degree edges, but if it’s what hangs you up from enjoying the drum, that’s fine.
Please use a wood drill bit this tearout is sad
I did use wood drill bits. I always try to add pressure from the side I’m drilling through to help with tear up, but older shells where the wood moisture has dried out, it can be very hard to get a perfect drill with no tear out.
Your content is always interesting, so I enjoy it. However... this is my opinion, but the wood filler is really... untidy to be used for anything higher than a low-priced, entry level shell. It might be a 6 lug snare, or a low-priced shell snare such as poplar or basswood. That's a disappointing item for the Gretsch shell. 15x12 shell, good size. If it were me, I would not cut it and make it a fat and deep SNOM. Because that is the way to preserve the original appearance of the shell as much as possible. And... this is a personal question of mine, why are all Gretsch rack toms 5 lugs? No matter how good I try to look at it, it's nonsense. The same goes for SONOR's vintage BD Spur, and old drum makers seem to have strange stubbornness... that's my review. There is no need to insist on 5 lugs rather than 6 lugs. There is no need to produce all BD spurs as vintage types. What do you think? All Gretsch rack toms, even USA custom ones, are 5 lugs. There may be an advantage to having fewer rugs, but my position is that there is no need to insist on it. Sonor also does not need to always produce only vintage spurs... It seems to be a tradition of old brands, but... it seems old and unconvincing to me. Mike, I'm curious what your opinion is. Thanks.
I enjoy the 5 lug drums fine, but I don't spend too much time worrying about it to the depth you have. Thanks for watching the video!
@@malonedrum I guess you interpreted what I meant a little differently... see, Gretsch's drums are BD - 10 or 8 lug, floor toms are 8(or 6?) lug, and snares are 10 or 8 lug, similar to other drum makers. But especially... all rack toms use "5" lugs. In the drum market, 5 lugs is a specification that is hard to find except on the lowest priced Chinese made beginner drums. Sonor's vintage spur is old, but even if it's okay in its own way, Gretsch's adoption of a 5 lug rack tom is... difficult to understand. None of the manufacturers - dw, Sonor, Yamaha, Pearl, Tama, Ludwig - use 5 lug toms, right? Don't you agree? I'm not trying to get you into an argument... I'm just asking you, who seems to know a lot about drums, for your opinion on what I've always thought. That's it.
@@laiftaim they believe it creates a bigger sweet spot, never had an issue getting a great sound out of mine, so I don’t spend much time worrying about 5 vs 6 lug layout on a rack tom.
@@malonedrum I think I've heard about the reason Gretsch always maintains a 5 lug tom... I'll have to find out more. I always wondered why they were so different. I was also surprised that there were almost no 15" snares or 16" snares. There is no such thing as a flat crash... I hope you think of these as the questions of a person who has been exposed to and researched drums for a long time. Thanks.
Why make an 8 lug? For a 15' snare you got to have at least 10 lugs.
Why does it have to be 10 lug? In fact, on 14” drums, I love 6 lug drums like old Ludwig Pioneers.
Be aware folks, there are examples out there pretending to be genuine vintage snare drums
If I were to ever sell this drum, I’d obviously disclose to process used to augment it from a tom to snare.