From the Trash to the Smash

Check out this Roland SPD-S sampling pad.

With this bad boi you can trigger flash drive stored samples to play over a P.A. Good for a big riff sonic bass dump or between song soundscape. So whats the problem? Well these old units have been discontinued for a while so accessories are scarce and expensive.

  

Enter our issue.

With mounting plates no longer available we needed to find a convenient and durable solution to integrating the sampling pad into the owners drum kit.

Before seeking a permanent solution to this problem the owner had been perching the unit on an old broken crash cymbal mounted upside down, this gave him the idea that perhaps the cymbal could be used as material to create a mount as it already would attach to his cymbal stand. 

This was a solid plan but would require some careful cutting, drilling and sanding.

Lets go.

Whenever you need a template for cutting an object to a specific shape I have a simple solution:

Take some masking tape and put it across the cutting area in a two layer crosshatch. Rub the tape into the area so you can see the outline of the cutting shape and any screw holes for drill points. 

Poke holes in the drill points and use a marker, pencil or scalpel to mark the cut out shape clearly.

Once you have your masking tape template if the media you are working on is flat you can lay it down directly on the surface. However in this case as we are cutting around a 3 dimensional space (the bell) we will instead lay the template on some stiff cardboard so as not to distort the flat cut template.

We can then lay the stiffened template on the area to be cut and mark the outline with a permanent marker. This will give us a fairly accurate dimension. 

Now its cutting time!

Securing the cymbal in a vice i used a Dremel cutting disc to carefully cut on the marked border. Now the rough plate has been liberated from its cracked cymbal sarcophagus it's time to carefully clean up the edges and adjust the dimensions on the belt sander.

Once satisfied with the fit its time to drill. Always start with small drill holes, this serves 2 functions. The first being effective pilot holes for incremental widening and also to check the accuracy of the drill points. If the holes are slightly askew you can correct them with directional widening.

A bit of careful adjustment and checking the finish for burrs or sharp edges later, and Bob's your mothers, cousins, sisters, grandads, uncle on his maiden side.

 

The mount is perfectly fitted ready to attach to it's dedicated cymbal stand, making it more than robust enough for the hammering that awaits. Once more this old flash drive trigger is ready for integration into the drum kit setup, and a broken cymbal gets a second life.

From the out house to the penthouse. 

Till next time stay safe, riff hard and always up-cycle folks

Chris Re-Animator.                    

Does your guitar need a service or repair?

A clean or a refurbish?

Look no further. We have you covered.

 

We are guitar service specialists and can help you bring your guitar back to life.

Click Here to enquire, or visit us in store.