Gonna try the big daddy floor tom

[Steve Turner]

Anybody use an 18" floor tom? I've been wanting to try one for years, and I've
been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for my
mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for something
less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts turned to building
one instead. I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just sure I'd love an 18"
floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to snag a very nice set of 18"
10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price (the whole project was kinda
gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a 18x18 Keller shell from
DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at replicating the famous Gretsch
gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try to replicate the "famous" silver
sealer on the inside as well, if only just to match the rest of my kit. I've
been mixing up various shades of TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and
testing them out on scrap pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I
think I'm almost there. I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way
and post them on flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such
a project. :-)

[Sean Conolly]

Post by Steve Turner
Anybody use an 18" floor tom? I've been wanting to try one for years, and
I've been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for
my mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for
something less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts
turned to building one instead. I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just
sure I'd love an 18" floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to
snag a very nice set of 18" 10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price
(the whole project was kinda gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a
18x18 Keller shell from DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at
replicating the famous Gretsch gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try
to replicate the "famous" silver sealer on the inside as well, if only
just to match the rest of my kit. I've been mixing up various shades of
TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and testing them out on scrap
pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I think I'm almost there.
I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way and post them on
flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such a project.
:-)

I was sooo glad when I found a 16 ft to replace my 18. The 18 may end up on
ebay, since it seems to be a little hard to find in that color (Yamaha Hot
Red).

Hope you like an 18 better than I did :-)

Sean

[Steve Turner]

Post by Sean Conolly

Post by Steve Turner
Anybody use an 18" floor tom? I've been wanting to try one for years, and
I've been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for
my mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for
something less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts
turned to building one instead. I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just
sure I'd love an 18" floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to
snag a very nice set of 18" 10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price
(the whole project was kinda gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a
18x18 Keller shell from DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at
replicating the famous Gretsch gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try
to replicate the "famous" silver sealer on the inside as well, if only
just to match the rest of my kit. I've been mixing up various shades of
TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and testing them out on scrap
pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I think I'm almost there.
I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way and post them on
flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such a project.
:-)

I was sooo glad when I found a 16 ft to replace my 18. The 18 may end up on
ebay, since it seems to be a little hard to find in that color (Yamaha Hot
Red).
Hope you like an 18 better than I did :-)
Sean

I think I actually played an 18" tom *once*, over 30 years ago, on a friend's
brand new clear acrylic Pearl kit, and the thing sounded like CRAP. Of course,
he probably had it tuned way too low (THUD), and I'm sure the black-dot heads
and acrylic shells didn't help matters either. I'm pretty confident none of
that will be true in my case; I hope I'm not wrong. :-)

Can you be more specific as to why you're not happy with yours?

[Sean Conolly]

Post by Steve Turner

Post by Sean Conolly

Post by Steve Turner
Anybody use an 18" floor tom? I've been wanting to try one for years, and
I've been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for
my mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for
something less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts
turned to building one instead. I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just
sure I'd love an 18" floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to
snag a very nice set of 18" 10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price
(the whole project was kinda gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a
18x18 Keller shell from DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at
replicating the famous Gretsch gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try
to replicate the "famous" silver sealer on the inside as well, if only
just to match the rest of my kit. I've been mixing up various shades of
TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and testing them out on scrap
pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I think I'm almost there.
I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way and post them on
flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such a project.
:-)

I was sooo glad when I found a 16 ft to replace my 18. The 18 may end up on
ebay, since it seems to be a little hard to find in that color (Yamaha Hot
Red).
Hope you like an 18 better than I did :-)
Sean

I think I actually played an 18" tom *once*, over 30 years ago, on a
friend's brand new clear acrylic Pearl kit, and the thing sounded like
CRAP. Of course, he probably had it tuned way too low (THUD), and I'm
sure the black-dot heads and acrylic shells didn't help matters either.
I'm pretty confident none of that will be true in my case; I hope I'm not
wrong. :-)
Can you be more specific as to why you're not happy with yours?

Well...

I played a 16x16 (Camco or Rogers) for over 15 years before I moved to the
Yamaha, and I was always able to get it sound like thunder - I use my memory
of Sing Sing Sing as the target sound I want. In the 15 years that I played
the 18 Yamaha I could just never get that sound out of it. I could never
find the right combination of heads and tuning to do the job.

When I picked up the 16 I just slapped some new coated Ambassadors on it and
had the sound in about 10 minutes. Exact same shell, just a different size.
My FT sound went from being 'good enough' to 'frickin cool' - at least to my
ears. The 18 hasn't been at a gig since then.

I this is subjective, sorry, but sometimes the only measure I care about is
whether something tickles my ears or not.

Sean

[Steve Turner]

Post by Sean Conolly

Post by Steve Turner

Post by Sean Conolly

Post by Steve Turner
Anybody use an 18" floor tom? I've been wanting to try one for years, and
I've been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for
my mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for
something less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts
turned to building one instead. I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just
sure I'd love an 18" floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to
snag a very nice set of 18" 10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price
(the whole project was kinda gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a
18x18 Keller shell from DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at
replicating the famous Gretsch gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try
to replicate the "famous" silver sealer on the inside as well, if only
just to match the rest of my kit. I've been mixing up various shades of
TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and testing them out on scrap
pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I think I'm almost there.
I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way and post them on
flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such a project.
:-)

I was sooo glad when I found a 16 ft to replace my 18. The 18 may end up on
ebay, since it seems to be a little hard to find in that color (Yamaha Hot
Red).
Hope you like an 18 better than I did :-)
Sean

I think I actually played an 18" tom *once*, over 30 years ago, on a
friend's brand new clear acrylic Pearl kit, and the thing sounded like
CRAP. Of course, he probably had it tuned way too low (THUD), and I'm
sure the black-dot heads and acrylic shells didn't help matters either.
I'm pretty confident none of that will be true in my case; I hope I'm not
wrong. :-)
Can you be more specific as to why you're not happy with yours?

Well...
I played a 16x16 (Camco or Rogers) for over 15 years before I moved to the
Yamaha, and I was always able to get it sound like thunder - I use my memory
of Sing Sing Sing as the target sound I want. In the 15 years that I played
the 18 Yamaha I could just never get that sound out of it. I could never
find the right combination of heads and tuning to do the job.
When I picked up the 16 I just slapped some new coated Ambassadors on it and
had the sound in about 10 minutes. Exact same shell, just a different size.
My FT sound went from being 'good enough' to 'frickin cool' - at least to my
ears. The 18 hasn't been at a gig since then.
I this is subjective, sorry, but sometimes the only measure I care about is
whether something tickles my ears or not.
Sean

I've heard other people mention not being able to get their 18" toms sounding
good either, and I've often wondered if it had anything at all to do with the
depth-to-diameter ratio. Most 18" floor toms are only 16" deep, which puts
them shy of the magic 1-to-1 ratio that always seems to yield such a great
sound from 14x14 and 16x16 floor toms. Most of the bigger (14", 15", and 16")
toms I've played just don't seem to have "it" unless they have that 1-to-1
"floor tom" configuration. That's why I went with the full 18" depth on this
drum; we shall see if it makes a difference.

[n***@zoomnet.net]

DrumMaker.com.  Now I get to try my hand at replicating the famous Gretsch
gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try to replicate the "famous" silver
sealer on the inside as well,

Does the gloss come from the lacquer or is there a clear coat
also.....
How do you apply?

MN

[Steve Turner]

Post by n***@zoomnet.net

Post by Steve Turner
DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at replicating the famous Gretsch
gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try to replicate the "famous" silver
sealer on the inside as well,

Does the gloss come from the lacquer or is there a clear coat
also.....
How do you apply?
MN

Yes, the gloss comes from many coats of nitrocellulose lacquer, sanded smooth
and buffed. This video gives a bit of an overview of how they actually do it
in the Gretsch factory:

They kinda "gloss" over some of the particulars, but they do give you the
general idea. I've been spraying nitrocellulose lacquer in various capacities
since the late seventies, so I'm in familiar territory. I use a HVLP spray gun
driven by a regular air compressor.

[Steve Turner]

Post by Steve Turner

Post by n***@zoomnet.net

DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at replicating the famous Gretsch
gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try to replicate the "famous" silver
sealer on the inside as well,

Does the gloss come from the lacquer or is there a clear coat
also.....
How do you apply?
MN

Yes, the gloss comes from many coats of nitrocellulose lacquer, sanded smooth
and buffed. This video gives a bit of an overview of how they actually do it in
http://youtu.be/qkGWv2rz5qg
They kinda "gloss" over some of the particulars, but they do give you the
general idea. I've been spraying nitrocellulose lacquer in various capacities
since the late seventies, so I'm in familiar territory. I use a HVLP spray gun
driven by a regular air compressor.

Just an update... the shell has been sanded smooth with 320 grit, the surface
moistened with water to raise the grain, sanded again with 400 grit, stained
with several applications of Transfast water soluable dye, sprayed with two
coats of lacquer-based sanding sealer, lightly sanded again to level the
surface, then sprayed with eight wet coats of nitrocellulose lacquer. After a
week to let the lacquer cure (to a degree), I sanded the surface level with 320
grit, and now I'm in the process of spraying with 7 or 8 more coats of lacquer.
I will let that cure about two weeks (lacquer shrinks a LOT during curing),
then it will be sanded ultra smooth with 600 (or 800) grit wet-or-dry paper,
then progressively up to about 1200 grit, then buffed and polished. So far
it's looking *very* good. :-)

[Benj]

Anybody use an 18" floor tom?  I've been wanting to try one for years, and I've
been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for my
mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for something
less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts turned to building
one instead.  I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just sure I'd love an 18"
floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to snag a very nice set of 18"
10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price (the whole project was kinda
gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a 18x18 Keller shell from
DrumMaker.com.  Now I get to try my hand at replicating the famous Gretsch
gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try to replicate the "famous" silver
sealer on the inside as well, if only just to match the rest of my kit.  I've
been mixing up various shades of TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and
testing them out on scrap pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I
think I'm almost there.  I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way
and post them on flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such
a project.  :-)

I built an 18" FT for my Keller maple kit. I use it a lot but not as a
tom! It really works well when you are in "big kit" mode! Then I use
the 16" tom on the right and the 18" tom on the left. Absolutely
KILLS!

But that is not it's main use. The main use is in my "reduced" kit as
a bass drum. Personally I hate that jazzy "boing" sound of small
basses when you leave the ambassadors on it so I always change the
heads to hydraulics which give a decent thump. And the other thing is
I bought a set of wood hoops and claws and finished them to match so
it gives a really "bassy" drum look instead of the "converted tom"
look of the metal hoops. Note special legs that go in usual leg mounts
to hold up front of drum.

See www.drbengenius.com

Yes, building an 18" tom was a very useful thing to do on many
levels.

Good luck!

[Tom]

Little drums are for pussies and faggots

Anybody use an 18" floor tom? I've been wanting to try one for years, and
I've
been watching eBay for years too, but finding one that's a match for my
mid-eighties Gretsch kit in the right color (walnut lacquer) and for something
less than $600 has been next to impossible, so my thoughts turned to building
one instead. I LOVE my 16x16 floor tom, and I'm just sure I'd love an 18"
floor tom as well, so after I was lucky enough to snag a very nice set of 18"
10-lug Gretsch rims on eBay for a decent price (the whole project was kinda
gated on that) I took the plunge and bought a 18x18 Keller shell from
DrumMaker.com. Now I get to try my hand at replicating the famous Gretsch
gloss lacquer finish, and I guess I'll try to replicate the "famous" silver
sealer on the inside as well, if only just to match the rest of my kit.
I've
been mixing up various shades of TransTint analine dye like a mad scientist and
testing them out on scrap pieces of maple to get the best match I can, and I
think I'm almost there. I'll try to remember to take pictures along the
way
and post them on flickr, if anybody cares about following the progress of such
a project. :-)

I built an 18" FT for my Keller maple kit. I use it a lot but not as a
tom! It really works well when you are in "big kit" mode! Then I use
the 16" tom on the right and the 18" tom on the left. Absolutely
KILLS!

But that is not it's main use. The main use is in my "reduced" kit as
a bass drum. Personally I hate that jazzy "boing" sound of small
basses when you leave the ambassadors on it so I always change the
heads to hydraulics which give a decent thump. And the other thing is
I bought a set of wood hoops and claws and finished them to match so
it gives a really "bassy" drum look instead of the "converted tom"
look of the metal hoops. Note special legs that go in usual leg mounts
to hold up front of drum.

See www.drbengenius.com

Yes, building an 18" tom was a very useful thing to do on many
levels.

Good luck!

[Benj]

Post by Tom
Little drums are for pussies and faggots

An 18" FT is a "little" drum?
You are an idiot.

If you don't like my 18" FT you can suck my dick... oh wait a
minute....