TD-12 Position Sensing and DIY cone trigger

[philfine]

Hello everyone,

I have bought a used TD-12 and accoustic drum, which I am currently converting into electronic, triggering all shells with internal center cone triggers.
My question is, what impacts the TD-12 to do good position sensing?

My setup is:
- 14'' shell for snare, with Remo Silent Stroke head.
- Internal trigger, like PD-100 done with 3d printed parts and a wood cross base (see the pictures).

Does head tension matters?
How precise should the tension be at each lug ?
Could the foam on the cone not be the right type? It is foam from an IKEA pillow. Should this work?

In TD-12 I see settings for position sensing on the HEAD and RIM. What is the position sensing on the RIM?

Looking forward for your replies and help.

[allanjohn]

I'm not sure I understand your design. Where do the cone and head piezo go and what is the upper ring used for. Also, if the rim piezo is positioned on the wooden crossbar, it wouldn't be the best recipient of rim impacts. Maybe you can include pictures of the complete assembly?

[philfine]

I do not have pictures at the moment, but idea is to seat over the ring the following in order:
- a soft foam over the ring,
- aluminium plate,
- soft double side tape,
- piezo
- cone
The screws in the picture adjust the ring up and down allowing to move elements up and down.

I was mounting the rim piezo in the crossbar in order to avoid having hot spots on the shell rim. However I might be wrong and still have hotspots next to the specific lugs.

[allanjohn]

You may want to replace the crossbar with a metal bar if you're hoping to pick up vibrations from the shell. And I wonder if your plastic mounts will be too isolating for rim triggering. And finally, foam density is important and I am not sure pillow foam will be "hard" enough.