Stick modification: Cherry Hill Drums sticks

Earlier this past spring, three friends polled their money and gifted me with a beautiful set of sticks, made from black walnut by Cherry Hill Drums. The sticks were so beautiful they took my breath away.

1. Beautiful sticks made from black walnut, backweighted with heavy, solid brass ends. I live with these for a few months, playing them periodically to see if I can learn to like them. 
   Nope. The backweighting is far too extreme for the light weight of the sticks. So after checking with my friends to make sure they won’t be offended (they assured me they wouldn’t be as long as I documented my process), I decide to reweight the sticks.
   
   
2. First and hardest part is removing the brass weights. These are made with a solid length of brass and a smaller rod poking out of it into the wood. I cannot remove the extension without destroying the stick, so I saw it off flush with the end of the larger weight itself. This reduces the weight, of course, and also the length (to less than 15”, as these weren’t overly long to begin with).
   
   
3. Then, how to build up and restore length? I try a couple of options, hoping they will fit inside whatever I finally cover my work with. FixitStix, a UK product, fails immediately, as manipulating finely enough to approximate the end of a stick is nearly impossible before it cools and hardens; moreover, it cannot be shaved or sanded easily afterwards.
   Next option is wood putty, but what I have on hand is too soft, even after drying, and I don’t have a ton of cash on hand to throw at this project. In the end, I realize that, to fit inside the cap I’ve chosen, I’ll have to fabricate something wonky and just make it work. So I come up with the sawed-off end of another pair of project sticks, combined with bicycle brake seating washers, a rubber end for improved response/shock absorption and Super Glue gel. It works.
   Interestingly, at this point in rebuilding the sticks already have very nearly the balance I'm seeking. The addition of a thin cover of some kind may shift the balance from "almost there" to "Yup, this is it."
   
   
4. Finally, I cover the whole thing with a shell casing from a .50 caliber bullet. (This decision was inspired by photos of antique drumsticks that had been given the same treatment in the early to mid 20th century, usually by military drummers hoping to preserve a worn stick.) This was the hardest thing to find, as it’s not a commonly used caliber for hunting and craft shops have a hard time finding them legally except through shooting ranges and perhaps military channels. But I sourced and bought eight  casings (four pairs’ worth); and I hope that once I trim off the smaller opening, the remainder will just slide over my rebuild.

 

The shell casings are an education all by themselves. I'm not a shooter, so my knowledge of guns and ammo is severely limited. These casings have two things going against them: first, the walls thickened all the way from the opening to the end. Secondly, they're not going to be a perfect fit, but I had expected that.

I remove the tops, and decide that for these sticks, I'd use only as much of the top half of the brass as necessary to cover the added length and seal everything up. To seal off the open ends after the casings are installed, I make up a mixture of sawdust and glue, and stuff it into the gaps until it was full. After that dries, I seal that end with clear nail polish. The leftover, larger-diameter back third of each casing, I glue onto a pair of marching sticks that I think could be fun to backweight and experiment with. It's a little klunky-looking but I can live with it. (I can always add tape up front if I feel like it.)

Above: Two .50 caliber bullets, complete.
The craft supply company just ships empty shells that have been de-primered.

In the end, it's highly probable that I've re-applying close to the same amount of weight concentrated in the original sold brass caps, and spread it farther out over the last two inches of the stick.
(I tend to be so intent on solutions that I don't weight the bits beforehand. Sorry. I'm more of a mechanic and less of a scientists/researcher with these things.)

The balance does feel different, and better; though if I knew what I was doing I could probably shave a few more ounces off. They play better and that's the primary goal. To be fair, I don't think I did a bad job without precision tools and they still look decent. I MAY apply some wound string up front to better balance things out but there's no rush.

Two years in: A report on life with my RD Chop Pad. (Still my favorite.)

A little product testing with the Rudimental Drummers Chop Pad:

The Chop Pad is marketed as an ideal all-around pad for concert and marching drummers who need something relatively quiet. Since there are NO vents in this pad's design, it's about as quiet an RD pad as you'll find in the lineup.

(I can tell you that my partner really appreciates that.)

Since it's useful for both marching and concert drummers, I've done some testing over the last several months, consisting of swapping in different heads to change the feel and sound of the pad.

The Evans head it came with was a Black Chrome model, a good solid Mylar head for multiple applications. I actually prefer Remo heads so I swapped in a Remo Emperor, to get more of an old-school feel like that from a 15 x 12 marching snare (the kind I played in my youth). The feel was spot-on, though the lack of volume was a nice addition when I started to chop harder. My pad came with a chrome stick-saver rim, making the rim shots feel "safer".

Then, I tried an Ambassador coated head, which tuned up nicely but the 12" surface was a little small to practice brushwork on. (The company IS called "Rudimental" Drummers, so I wasn't counting on brush versatility with this pad, but it was fun to try out.)

From there I swapped in a Remo Pinstripe head, the kind of head I would have marched in high school and community marching bands. It was still nice and quiet, but the response hinted at the fatter feel and sound that comes with Pinstripe heads.

Finally, mostly out of curiosity, I swapped in a FiberSkyn 3 head, the Ambassador weight version of the series. I liked the crisper articulation that came with this head, but it lacked the depth I wanted for rudimental practice. It was also a little louder than the other heads, which was surprising.

My experimenting is largely done, and I've swapped back the Pinstripe head as my preference for old-school feel with a more considerate volume for practicing at home. What I love most about the Chop Pad IS its versatility. Every head I use has its own characteristics and they can be heard and felt on the pad. This pad makes me fall in love with tuneable pads all over again each time I use it. I am winnowing down my stack of rubber-topped pads. 

Since acquiring the Chop Pad just over two years ago, I find I've practiced more often on it than on any other pad I have. That right there is as good an endorsement as any.

ANY tunable practice pad that can take a regular drum head is an ideal practice instrument, because all the experimentation and the tuneability of the head will help clarify your playing and help you clean it efficiently and musically. While I'll hang onto my collection of vintage and antique pads, of course, I will probably look to re-home all but a couple of my rubber-topped pads. After experimenting with my tuneable pads, there's just no comparison for me. 

Final UPDATE: marching pad carrier

Final adjustments made, and now it fits comfortably with just a touch of tilt.
So much cheaper than buying one ready-made.
And now, for a rhythmic stroll to the park.

#physicaltherapy

#musictherapy

#diydrummer

#diddleseveryday

#rudimentaldrumming

#realfeelpad

#coopermandrumsticks

 

WORKS GREAT!

QuietTone UPDATE: making it better and better

Previously, I talked about finding a new Sabian QuietTone pad, one made in Taiwan, and making some changes to improve the pad’s response and sound.

Between the time QuietTone was a small, independent company based in New Jersey and the time Sabian bought the company and moved production overseas, QuietTone pads were made in New Jersey, using up parts from the smaller company. These transitional pads were using most of the older parts, with some replacement plastic inner layers and all new heads that carried the Sabian logo alongside a revised QuietTone logo. 

The quality of the transitional pads lies somewhere between original and imported, with a solid lean towards the original design.

Along with my New-and-improved pad, I’d picked up in recent months an all-original [New Jersey] pad in 14”, and transitional pads in 14” and 12” each. (During the transitional period, Sabian made up as manyPads from remaining stateside parts as possible before moving the operations overseas, which meant making up final, transitional versions of pads in sizes offered by the original company. Going forward, Sabian chose to offer pads in only 14” and 10” sizes, doing a way with pads in 12” and the hard-to-find 16”.)

Once I’d taken the new Sabian pad apart and reassembled it with a new head and a flipped-over inner rubber layer, it was relatively easy to decide to do the same with my transitional pads and see if I could improve them. I’m happy to report that I was successful both times — so much so that I decided to sell my in-the-box original QT pad to a friend who’d been searching for months for one of his own.

I’m quite happy with the sound and feel of my transitional pads, each of which has great response. The 12” pad has a replacement head, a simple Remo Ambassador coated head that fits fine and gives me a response very close to the original pad.

(below: Newer Sabian QT pads have heads with the Sabian logo BELOW the QuietTone logo. Transitional pads have a head with the Sabian logo a little larger and to the right of the QT logo.)

My 14” transitional pad, which so far does not require a replacement head.

(Shown here with the Innovative Percussion CMS-1 sticks I modified/improved upon, and which my blog post about caused a veritable firestorm over at Marching Percussion Marketplace discussion group last week.)

I flipped over the rubber insert.

When I reinstalled the head, I worked to make sure the core platform and rubber remained centered inside the head while I tightened the tension rods.

I’d gotten the 12” pad first of all, last winter, for a really cheap price. The head had some pretty bad dents in it so I’d been looking around for a replacement head to fit it. After trying some old marching heads and finding them too deep, I realized I’d need to find a Remo Ambassador pad to solve the issue. I found one last week, and as I’d guessed it fit and played perfectly. Of the two, this one has become my favorite pad.

 

My advise to the curious? Follow your curiosity. Try new things. Ask good questions.

If your intuition and your skills suggest taking something apart to see how it works, or to make it better suit your needs, do it. 

If it doesn’t work out, can usually put it back the way it was.

And either way, you will have learned something, and fulfilled at least some of your curiosity.

Cheers! And happy drumming.

Stick modification: Innovative Percussion CMS-1

 Innovative Percussion makes a concert multi-use stick, the CMS-1, that is intended to offer some versatility to the concert percussionist. I bought a pair hoping the tips would be truly barrel shaped, but was bothered by  the point on the top, as well as the rubber gasket at the butt end. What was THAT for?

As you can see, the stick is mostly unremarkable as it comes from the factory.in fact, it was a modified version of IO’s Oaul Rennick signature marching tenor sticks. But I’ve really been getting into barrel-tipped sticks, like the Vic Firth “Leggerio” model or the sticks made by Rick Dior. So I decided to modify this stick to see if I could bring it a little closer to that ideal.

Step 1: remove the stupid rubber gaskets, and replace them with thin copper gaskets made from plumbing pipe. I did the same thing that I’d done for the John Crocken sticks, and with thinner, smaller-diameter pipe it worked really well.

Step 2: re-shape the tip to remove the annoying point on top and flatten it to better resemble the barrel tips found on the Leggerio sticks. This took some time and careful filing and sanding, but it did work out well. When I finished I applied a coating of clear nail polish to the tips, and also to the copper to keep it shiny longer.

The end result? A better stick with a little more weight, better fore/aft balance and one that feels more responsive on drum or pad.

The only drawback? IP used pretty basic hickory to make these sticks. I may sand the entire stick more finely  and paint it all over with a thing coat of polyurethane. We’ll see.