Bass Drum decisions...

[afrocleland]

Hey there,
I'm looking to replace my roland KD8. I have the option of a KD85 for a decent price, but another option is a cheap 16" kick which I could stick a mesh head on an use either a premade or DIY trigger. My KD8 is pretty crap for double bass, it always triggers unevenly and sometimes misfires. I could also just cough up the cash and get a KD9. Anyone care to offer an opinion?

[dazjam]

Hey there,
I'm looking to replace my roland KD8. I have the option of a KD85 for a decent price, but another option is a cheap 16" kick which I could stick a mesh head on an use either a premade or DIY trigger. My KD8 is pretty crap for double bass, it always triggers unevenly and sometimes misfires. I could also just cough up the cash and get a KD9. Anyone care to offer an opinion?

KD-85 over the kd-9 any day! Or yes to some DIY jiggery pokery! Plenty of research will yield a ton of info on how to do it and it's pretty straightforward and very fulfilling - if it works!!
Kd-80 is basically the same as an 85 too and can be picked up a little cheaper occasionally. Get the mesh off and check the foam shock pad behind it for wear though. Push the trigger foam cone down and it should spring back. If it stays compressed then it's rotten. If the seller has been using a felt beater there may be lots of white dust inside but not necessarily a terrible thing and easy enough to clear out. Check triggering. Great little units.

[afrocleland]

I like that definitive answer re: KD9/KD85. It's looking like a DIY bass will cost a little more than the KD85... If that's in good nic, I think I might just go with that although I do like the look of a DIY bass.

[robin l]

If you could find a kids/junior set with a 16x12 bass, a Ddrum or Roland hoop mount trigger could be an answer. There are a lot of ways to make a mesh head bass drum. I have found that filling the inside of the drums helps with getting the right feel. I play heel up and tend to bury the beater. Good luck with your project.

[dazjam]

If you could find a kids/junior set with a 16x12 bass, a Ddrum or Roland hoop mount trigger could be an answer. There are a lot of ways to make a mesh head bass drum. I have found that filling the inside of the drums helps with getting the right feel. I play heel up and tend to bury the beater. Good luck with your project.

Good point - adopting the use of some form of shock absorber like the roland units should, in theory, help eliminate retriggering from vibration. Funny enough a friend who also buries the beater is working on his traps bass drum for this very reason. Patience is a virtue when DIY'ing for sure! If it's been several hours and you feel like throwing stuff on the fire, walk away and do something else

[afrocleland]

Thanks for all the input. Would this constitute good condition internally? Looks it to me.

[dazjam]

Yeah, looks really clean and the foam is not crumbly or full of felt crumbs! Good result!

[afrocleland]

Just over a month on... I'm now thinking I might build a DIY one too... The KD85 is really good, triggers excellently, but I'm planning on rewrapping all of my PD100s and PD120s... I recently did some DIY upgrading of my PD100s to make them dual trigger, which was sooooo easy... Now I've got a taste for this DIY stuff, I think I might need to give it a go, just so it matches the rest of the kit!

[KennyinDundee]

Give me DIY anyway! DIY kicks look sooooooo much better in my opinion. I've got a converted kick that uses a crossbar mounted between opposite lugs with a car polishing foam pad where the beater strikes. My trigger is mounted just above the foam pad on the crossbar, works brilliantly.

[dazjam]

Keep us posted if you do and hope you're going for full funky wraps on the shells!

[afrocleland]

Forgot to show this off here. Here we go:

http://imgur.com/a/oNXLQ

[dazjam]

Forgot to show this off here. Here we go:

http://imgur.com/a/oNXLQ

VERY nice! That's a sexy kit mate