I’ve just started building my own suitcase kick drum! Really curious how did you attach the rim to the suitcase? I know you cut that wood ring, but theres more stuff in there that keeps the head tight on the rim. What else it there?
Christian Madsen basically what you would need is something smaller in diameter than the drum rim itself, the smaller ring sits on top of suitcase it’s self with the drum rim on top over the ring, the rim then screws into the wood on the inside, creating tension on the drum head. My rim was 13” so I have a 12” rubber ring that causes the drum head to tension when screwed into the wood inside. I found the hardest part of the build to be finding something of the exact diameter to fit inside the drum rim. I am going to soon make a video sitting down explaining the build. I have read some places online that a standard 5 gallon bucket is 12” diameter if you could somehow modify a piece of wood to fit inside the rim. I’m going to make the video soon, I unfortunately fell quite sidetracked. If you have any other questions on the build, let me know and i will do my best to answer them. Thanks for watching!
Thanks man! I have a 16 inch drum head and rim already ordered and just need that 15 inch rubber thing to tension the head. Thinking of getting remo mufflers to help with the tension. You think 16 inch mufflers would do the trick?
Christian Madsen the Remo mufflers work great to kill the unwanted overtones, I put a 13” into this kit and it works great. I’m sure a 16” muffler would work perfect. Let me know how the process goes, I’m sure it would sound great due to the fact it’s a 16” rim, this on at 13” packs a punch.
Hi. Granted some of these are a little more on the pricey side, but you could definitely get away with doing this with more budget friendly options. Many of the tools show only made the process easier. You could definitely do this project with a basic drill and jigsaw or rotosaw.
Nice build, but if the bass pedal is off center of that gorgeous head mount you've built, why not make the bass hole more to the left, so the pedal can hit center,
Great video! What type of wood do you use for the head side? I’ve just made a suitcase drum but struggling with the wood to create tension. I have made mine a 16” head. What measurements/ wood would you recommend? What was the thickness of your wood for mounting and how did you attach?
Basically all you would need is a ring made of any type of wood (preferably a harder wood to account for the tension of the drum head) as far as the thickness of the wood, make it so that your tension rods can be tightened to tension the head. My head is attached and the tension rods are screwed into self tapping threads. I wish there was a better way to explain, but this project took a lot of trial and error. Look at the up close photos towards the end of the vid for a more detailed look of what i did.
So you only used one ring of wood? That's interesting, most folks put a bumper ring on the front side too. I assumed to help tightening. Did you find any issues tightening the drum skin this way?
Jake Boldt late reply, apologies, but yes. A simple fix. If you take a bandana, or some other basic material and wrap it around the tambourine, it helps suppress the sound of the tambourine while hitting the bass drum, but still makes the tambourine able to be used when hit.
I used a round piece of rubber that would separate the rim from the suitcase itself. This is by far the most difficult part of the build, and due to having no real instruction it took a lot of trial and error to get this to work properly. Essentially my advice would be to find something circular that will fit perfectly into the 13” rim itself. Upon mounting the rim, the inner circular will pull the head to tension. The use of a rubber ring helped also in unwanted overtones and created a deeper bass sound.
Couldnt u use the ring of an old drum head of the same size as the kick head? Since it fits perfectly under the rim. Maybe put sime fabric or tape or whater on it but should work right
Yup it works :) make sure to use like some mdf or multiplex or something on the inside of the case or the nut might dig into the cardboard and it wont tension enough
Finally, I found an instructional video at last. Thank you!
I used door hinges for the pedal mounts, nice and compact
Hey, dude. Nice video. I'm about to start building one. Do you have the part II? Still figuring out how to install the drumhead and the rim.
Very cool.
That is so cool, thanks
I’ve just started building my own suitcase kick drum! Really curious how did you attach the rim to the suitcase? I know you cut that wood ring, but theres more stuff in there that keeps the head tight on the rim. What else it there?
Christian Madsen basically what you would need is something smaller in diameter than the drum rim itself, the smaller ring sits on top of suitcase it’s self with the drum rim on top over the ring, the rim then screws into the wood on the inside, creating tension on the drum head. My rim was 13” so I have a 12” rubber ring that causes the drum head to tension when screwed into the wood inside. I found the hardest part of the build to be finding something of the exact diameter to fit inside the drum rim. I am going to soon make a video sitting down explaining the build. I have read some places online that a standard 5 gallon bucket is 12” diameter if you could somehow modify a piece of wood to fit inside the rim. I’m going to make the video soon, I unfortunately fell quite sidetracked. If you have any other questions on the build, let me know and i will do my best to answer them. Thanks for watching!
Thanks man! I have a 16 inch drum head and rim already ordered and just need that 15 inch rubber thing to tension the head. Thinking of getting remo mufflers to help with the tension. You think 16 inch mufflers would do the trick?
Christian Madsen the Remo mufflers work great to kill the unwanted overtones, I put a 13” into this kit and it works great. I’m sure a 16” muffler would work perfect. Let me know how the process goes, I’m sure it would sound great due to the fact it’s a 16” rim, this on at 13” packs a punch.
I will let you know! Perhaps I will make a demo video as well
This is great, but those are some pretty expensive tools man - how much $ if you include those?
Hi. Granted some of these are a little more on the pricey side, but you could definitely get away with doing this with more budget friendly options. Many of the tools show only made the process easier. You could definitely do this project with a basic drill and jigsaw or rotosaw.
Hi! I was wandering what can I use as a hole port for my suitcase?
Warwick from Wazinator Australia here. I make a suitcase kick drum pickup system. I'm wondering if I could send you one to try out? thanks
Of course, I would love to check such a thing out. Is there any info I can gather from you regarding shipping?
Nice build, but if the bass pedal is off center of that gorgeous head mount you've built, why not make the bass hole more to the left, so the pedal can hit center,
Where is part two :)
Great video! What type of wood do you use for the head side? I’ve just made a suitcase drum but struggling with the wood to create tension. I have made mine a 16” head. What measurements/ wood would you recommend? What was the thickness of your wood for mounting and how did you attach?
Basically all you would need is a ring made of any type of wood (preferably a harder wood to account for the tension of the drum head) as far as the thickness of the wood, make it so that your tension rods can be tightened to tension the head. My head is attached and the tension rods are screwed into self tapping threads. I wish there was a better way to explain, but this project took a lot of trial and error. Look at the up close photos towards the end of the vid for a more detailed look of what i did.
So you only used one ring of wood? That's interesting, most folks put a bumper ring on the front side too. I assumed to help tightening. Did you find any issues tightening the drum skin this way?
Are you still making a part 2?
Great job. It sounds like you always hear the tambourine though. Have you done anything to fix that?
Jake Boldt late reply, apologies, but yes. A simple fix. If you take a bandana, or some other basic material and wrap it around the tambourine, it helps suppress the sound of the tambourine while hitting the bass drum, but still makes the tambourine able to be used when hit.
What attachment is that to cut the circles? is that just a dremel with an attachement. I haven't seen any with a diameter that large. Thanks
On a 10 inch Tom, how do I get a bassy sound? Always seems to not sound like yours.
Also what is the small ring on the back bottom corner??
that is used to mic the kickdrum when playing in a live situation
Would it be possible to commission you for one of these?
What did you use between the drum head and suitcase so you could tension the drum head without it laying flat across the suitcase top?
I used a round piece of rubber that would separate the rim from the suitcase itself. This is by far the most difficult part of the build, and due to having no real instruction it took a lot of trial and error to get this to work properly. Essentially my advice would be to find something circular that will fit perfectly into the 13” rim itself. Upon mounting the rim, the inner circular will pull the head to tension. The use of a rubber ring helped also in unwanted overtones and created a deeper bass sound.
Couldnt u use the ring of an old drum head of the same size as the kick head? Since it fits perfectly under the rim. Maybe put sime fabric or tape or whater on it but should work right
Yup it works :) make sure to use like some mdf or multiplex or something on the inside of the case or the nut might dig into the cardboard and it wont tension enough
But how does it sound…
2:58
How did you mount the foot tambourine?
It’s screwed into the base of the suitcase with a washer and nut. The bolt was put through a small piece of aluminum tubing for aesthetic purposes.
What size muffl ring did you use
13"