DRUMMER CAFE

Handy Hint from Heloise #417:

You can remove pits and dents from most heads by running a hairdryer over the dented area, moving the dryer rapidly back and forth to prevent melting.

It's sort of like how heat-shrink tubing works - the heat pulls the dents out, and the head sounds a lot fresher. I used to do this every now and then to my heads, and extend their life for months.

"...So then we take our 5A drumsticks ...and as you can see they are finely shellaced.....except for this little rim dent on one of my newly purchased 5A's....how'd that little devil get on there.....well we can't have that can we?
So we say goodbye to our sad, little damaged 5A ..and place it into a paper sack .....that is a sack just 1" longer than the stick....don't need to use any of those long and pesky grocery bags... you see I order all my paper bags online and they arrive hermetically sealed in germ free packing plastic ....So now taking care to not tear the bag we place our damaged 5A inside the length of the bag.... Then we carefully fold the top of the bag over 5/8 of an inch....and we staple the bag on the top end... equally on each side of the top of the bag...like so. And as fast as you can say 'Bob's your Uncle' there you have a perfectly disposed of damaged 5A stick. Now How About That, Huh?
...Maybe my cowbell cozy caught your eye...I fashioned this from lambs wool and painted dry macaroni shells..."

***[Sorry guys I just had to....hope you've caught the bit on SNL reruns!! LOL]    

An empty Pringles can makes a nice stick holder.

both  

great idea ... you could use your 14" hat cymbal to cut a ring for a 16" drum ... a 12" splash for a 14" drum etc

the double tom holder that goes into my Ludwig kick is held up by a radiator hose clamp; works perfectly. I once made a set of snare wires for my premier out of weedeater string, and it would rattle your eyeballs. made my own wooden kick beater, and paid five bucks for a trixon snare stand. I subscribe to the jim keltner school of whatever sounds good, use it. besides, coloring outside the box is FUN...

hey, mark, I found a homemade back massager with four wooden balls on it in a thrift store for .99 cents. I took the balls off and I epoxied a steel rod into a hole in the ball. I found my premier crome over brass snare with the slotted tension rods in a thrift store, too. fifteen bucks, case stand and all.

The guy that started Woodstock Chimes built his first few thousand sets of windchimes out of the frames of discarded aluminum patio chairs.

When I need to muffle my snare for a gig, I tape a credit card to the head.

youve got credit? you must not really be a musician

I saw those new Pro-Mark Brooms the other day; the idea intrigued me, but I couldn't see spending $20 some-odd dollars for them.  So, I decided to make my own.  

After an evening of brainstorming, I came up with this solution.  I went to the dollar store up the street and bought a corn broom for 3 dollars.  I then dismantled it very carefully; those whisks can get everywhere, and I was sure to watch for the binding wire.  I then mixed up the outer whisks and the thicker inner whisks evenly in a pile, carefully selecting two even bundles.  

I took some of the red cord that holds the whisks together and tied it through and around the bundle, and then tightly taped it with electrical tape.  From here I taped from this newly created joint to the end of the butt (VERY tightly) about three times; this forms the handle.  On the exposed whisks, I tightly taped two rings to hold them evenly in a rod shape.  

On the actual Broom, there are adjustment rings to vary the spread of the whisks.  This recipe does not allow for any room for adjustment, but my personal taste is to have them bundled up like a Hot Rod.  The sound is considerably softer than a Hot Rod; in fact, it's rather like a stiff brush.  

If you do or don't desire this type of sound, this is a viable alternative for a few cheap pairs (one broom provides enough whisk for a FEW pairs) or at least finding out about this new sound option.