Project box for cymbal conversion

[Desmond]

I'm putting together the parts list for my A->E cymbal conversion and the thing that's giving me the most trouble is the plastic box to house the piezo/phone jack. I've been on Ebay and DigiKey looking for the right size project box but they all seem too big. Any leads on a supplier would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[hairmetal-81]

Give a shout out via PM to forum-member 'JmanWord', I could imagine that he has appropriate ones! Jerry builds complete 'stealth' conversion-cymbals, too!


HTH

[JSkater17]

http://www.polycase.com/tf-1218tx Try these and secure them with rivets, they're identical to the boxes Alesis uses on their Surge cymbals.

[Desmond]

Thanks JSkater17, this is exactly what I was looking for!

[PintechUSA]

We also have them in stock if you need them. I would have to check our costs, but we wouldn't charge you much over what we pay. We also have the whole box put together with piezo, nuts, bolts, jack, etc - LINK: http://pintechworld.com/shop/cymbal-repair-kit/

We also include our rubber pad on the bottom of the box as well. It helps prevent false triggering when you are dealing with real brass cymbals and vibrations.

If you are interested in the full box, then send me an email and I will make a deal for a fellow vdrumer

Email: [email protected]

[JSkater17]

Thanks JSkater17, this is exactly what I was looking for!

Happy to help.
Another suggestion: use some KRT to stick your piezos to the inside of the box (open end facing up, stick piezo on the "bottom") rather than to the cymbal. They trigger just as well, and keeps everything in one little package should you need to remove it for maintenance

[Desmond]

Hmm, that's interesting. I assumed that I'd have to cut a hole out of the bottom of the box (or not use the bottom at all) since the piezo would be taped directly to the cymbal. Is KRT better than the 3M double stick tape?

[JSkater17]

It's kind of difficult to describe, so I drew up something in mspaint real quick:



First things first: Don't mount the jack where it is in the picture, use the sides without the flanges (it'll fit, though you may have to get a little creative).

It triggers really well, mounting it to the box makes it a little less "hot" thus a bit easier to dial in settings-wise (in my opinion). Whatever DST you want to use should work fine, I don't know about the foam tape variety though, it may isolate the piezo a little too much.

Then use rivets with rivet washers (coming in from the top so the rounded part is on the striking surface), and you'll end up with something that looks an awful lot like a Surge cymbal

[hairmetal-81]

Thanks you for providing this diagram along with the descriptions, JSkater17!

[Desmond]

JSkater17,

First off, thanks so much for taking the time to diagram this. It's super interesting because the videos/pics I'd seen have the piezo taped directly onto the cymbal surface. I can see how this design would be less "hot" than surface mounting. That said, with the piezo being effectively an electro-mechanical device, it seems that the appropriate amount of "heat" would be a function of the amount of mechanical energy transmitted to the piezo, which would in turn be a function of cymbal size, material and amount of damping.

In my case, I'll be using a 14" hi-hat cymbal (fairly heavy) with an (intended) 27mm piezo. For dampening, I've purchased some 3.6mm rubber foam (exactly what mouse pads are made of) on top of which I intend to glue 1/32" thick santoprene/neoprene for added durability of the striking surface. The question then is how much of the cymbal to cover to balance out the variables. If possible, I'd like to have the brass showing on the bottom. On the top, I think that covering half will give me enough dampening while still letting some brass show, though I can cover the remainder if need be.

It seems like I'm going to need to experiment in incremental steps til I work out the right "recipe". I do have the 2nd (identical) hi-hat cymbal so if I get it really wrong I can get a do-over. However, the dampening materials are somewhat expensive and not so easy to come by, so I want to maximize the likelihood of success the first time.

Thoughts? Am I over-thinking this?

Thanks

[BTW I like your cat!]

[napo7]

Hi There,
Sorry to hijack such an old post, but I'm just about to make my first cymbals.
I was asking myself if I needed to mount the piezzo directly under the cymbal or in a project box, seems I have my answer...

But, I also saw your recipe to cover it with neoprene, and wanted to know how did it go ?
I'm using Stagg 14" plastic training cymbals as a base, and torn between covering them with rubber, neoprene, silicone, or something else ?
The cymbal as is, is really noisy, and I'm feeling the rubber covering (old truck inner tube ?) would silence them...
I also have some EVA foam that I bought for this purpose, but I think it will be better on the underside ?

Thanks for your reply

[Sylv1co]

Hi There,
Sorry to hijack such an old post, but I'm just about to make my first cymbals.
I was asking myself if I needed to mount the piezzo directly under the cymbal or in a project box, seems I have my answer...

But, I also saw your recipe to cover it with neoprene, and wanted to know how did it go ?
I'm using Stagg 14" plastic training cymbals as a base, and torn between covering them with rubber, neoprene, silicone, or something else ?
The cymbal as is, is really noisy, and I'm feeling the rubber covering (old truck inner tube ?) would silence them...
I also have some EVA foam that I bought for this purpose, but I think it will be better on the underside ?

Thanks for your reply

I would advice to cover them with metal (joke), because those plastic cymbals will break soon after you hit them like you hit a crash cymbal... From my experience, they all break.

[ignotus]

I would advice to cover them with metal (joke), because those plastic cymbals will break soon after you hit them like you hit a crash cymbal... From my experience, they all break.

I beg to differ. I've had those Stagg cymbals for about 6 years and you should see the way my daughter punishes them. They are 2 stacked one on another though, which is what I'd recommend doing regardless of whether you want to make them multi-zone or not, as this gives them extra weight to make them feel more natural and probably makes them much more durable.

napo7 I cover mine in EPDM pond liner rubber and use rubber door trim around the edge (see link in my sig for more details), and while not silent, the clackety noise is much reduced. However, I may remove the pond liner in the future as I've found a pretty effective way of reducing stick noise:
silent tip.jpg

It's EVA foam wrapped around the tip and then held in place with heatshrink tube. I've tried other rubber tip solutions and they suck because the rubber grips on to mesh heads and feels really off, but this heatshrink doesn't do that and the feel is virtually undistinguishable from a stick without. I want to find a substitute for the EVA though as it ends up compressing over time and has to be replaced.

[napo7]

Thanks for your answers.
I'm not a big fan on EVA foam on the tip of the sticks... might try it anyways

I own a DM10 module, which supports piezo/piezo cymbals, so not sure I need to use switch on the bell ?
I have a solution for the choke switch laying somewhere in my head, have to try it !

[ignotus]

I don't know what you might need for that module, it depends on how many zones you want/can get out of an input. I was just suggesting ways to remove noise and make those plastic cymbals more durable.