Upgrade triggers & heads on Alesis DM 5 Pro Kit?

[Nimbuzz]

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ALEDM5PROKIT

Hi, I have a Roland TD9SX but I also have the DM 5 to move around to jams. This DM 5 kit has the wood drums very much like the Roland vdrums but it has hard plastic heads with a rubber pad, metal plate, glass plate and flat piezo directly under and touching the head. I think it can take 8" vdrum mesh heads. Can I change to vdrum type triggers so I don't have the rubber pad and plates directly under the mesh so I get the great response of the vdrums? What are the vdrum triggers? (I be a newbie obviously)
Thanks,
Al

[seanwhitley2000]

you should just be able to remove the rubber pad, and the plates so the piezo is bare, and get a small piece of foam/a roland cone placed on the the piezo and in contact with a mesh head. theres lots of threads here discussing the basic way to trigger e-drums, so just have a look around and see if those make any more sense. without the rubber it should just be as simple to triggerup as an acoustic kit.

ive been considering doing this with my millenium mps-100 cheapo edrum kit but im just making a complete DIY kit instead

[Nimbuzz]

Thanks a million Sean -- that's just the info I needed. I kinda figured that was the case but needed an experienced opinion.

I'm astonished that it took me this long to get one response to such a baisc DIY question on this forum!!

Thanks again,

Al

[delude]

Very interesting. I am upgrading my pads to the DM5 Pro's so hopefully when they're all done this is something i could look into.

[uglybassplayer]

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ALEDM5PROKIT

Hi, I have a Roland TD9SX but I also have the DM 5 to move around to jams. This DM 5 kit has the wood drums very much like the Roland vdrums but it has hard plastic heads with a rubber pad, metal plate, glass plate and flat piezo directly under and touching the head. I think it can take 8" vdrum mesh heads. Can I change to vdrum type triggers so I don't have the rubber pad and plates directly under the mesh so I get the great response of the vdrums? What are the vdrum triggers? (I be a newbie obviously)
Thanks,
Al

Hi Al,

I have the same pads, some from a Kaysound DD602 set, along with a couple of the Alesis dual piezo pads. These are all essentially the same pad with the same construction as you described. The one exception may be the Hart Acupad IS/IIS 8" pads. While the shell looks pretty much identical (except for the bottom of the base, which sports Hart's octagonal bulge design), I believe they use a center cylinder piezo design with a mesh head similar to the larger Acupad IIST and their Pro series. From the looks of mine, it appears that it would be fairly simple to remove the plates and all of the foam and replace it with a cylinder or cone (ala Roland) mounted over center mounted piezo.

EDIT: You can see the construction of these pads here: http://www.freewebs.com/nuskooltone/

- Ugly.

[Nimbuzz]

Good info guys -- NEW QUESTION -- In that link http://www.freewebs.com/nuskooltone/
if you go to 'wiring' it shows that there are two resister looking things at the 1/4" jack. On this project the guy apparently eliminates them. SUP with that and what is the purpose of these resisters(?) ??

[uglybassplayer]

They are resistors. My guess is that they decrease the sensitivity of the piezo in an effort to increase dynamic range.

- Ugly.

[delude]

Interesting. I think the price of the pads are great, and am currently in the process of upgrading all of my old original Alesis DM5 pads (I have the dual zone snare, and should be buying three toms soon).

Do you think it is worth attempting the DIY stuff to increase sensitivity and performance?
It looks a little tricky for a 15 year old to pull off with no real wiring experience, so could I just replace the head with an 8" Roland V Drum head? (Would it fit and make a difference etc?)

Thanks