[DESIGN] DIY Mesh Heads for heavy handed drummers (by Xan)

[PFozz]

DIY Mesh Heads for heavy handed drummers
by Xan

I talked with PFozz earlier today (tonite?), and he knows of my experience with mesh heads…an expensive one! I went to a music store to try them out and within seconds, I had to replace the mesh heads on the demo set!

IMO, I think they set these up so they could milk drummers out of their money, as those “mesh heads” looked more like glorified cheesecloth made out of plastic fibers, and ripped after a single hit.

So, I vote that mesh heads SUCK.

I also came up with a neat idea in an email to PFozz, and he suggested that I bring it up here in the forum: MAKE YOUR OWN CUSTOM ‘MESH’ HEADS!

Take the drum shell that you want to make a mesh head for, take off the head and ring and wrap the shell in plastic food cover (saran wrap), and then find or make embroidery hoops (inner hoop is slightly larger in diameter to your drum shell and is solid, outer hoop is slightly larger with a clamping mechanism), and then get some cloth like denim (blue jeans) or canvas (tent or artists’ cloth), and place it loosely in the hoops.

Next, take your hoop with the cloth in it and slip it over your drum shell, and let it slip a tiny bit (similar to a regular drum head), then close the clamp on the hoop.

Then take the cloth and hoops and trim off the excess, leaving at least 1/4 inch (6mm) from the hoop. Your choices here are to wrap it under and tack the cloth with tiny carpet tacks (tiny nails with big flat heads) OR, use a hand-held sewing machine and heavy-duty thread and go around several times to insure the cloth does not slip from the hoops! This second option will allow you to re-use the same hoops again, reloadable mesh heads 🙂

Okay, we have the secured colth and hoop, now to do the doctoring…take it to the bathtub or a large sink, and soak the cloth in diluted (this will take some practice, this is NOT a 10-minute project) laundry starch or spray starch. This will also help the cloth stay in the hoops as well…

Use gravity to help remove any excess liquid and starch, by holding the hoops and doing something similar to a Pete Townshend Windmill move, giving more force and such near the bottom of the windmill to force the starch and liquid into the tub or sink.

Then, before this dries, put the hoop over your plastic protected drum shell (important, you do NOT want to get your shell wet at ALL), and give it a little push on, maybe even setting the mounting ring (without the lugs, of course) to help gravity a wee bit, and then take a heat gun or a hair dryer to help it dry a bit faster, don’t get it TOO hot, and then leave it overnight.

Another suggest is to copy the diameter and leading edge of your drum shells in a 3-inch (72mm) high stack of marine grade plywood or sealed particle board for making extra mesh heads on.

Please let us all know if this is just a stupid idea or if it works, and what cloths make better mesh heads that can take the abuse of the old skool heavy-handed hammer-banger drummers out there 🙂

–Enjoy…

Xan…

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Please visit http://xan.dune.net now 😉
Best.

www.eareckon.com

Topic

[Smile]

This must look like a real drumhead.
 
I’ve made mine just out of a piece of hard cloth (not sure, what it is – a kind of denim anyway). without useing starch – and it works fine, and it stands hard beats.
 
but the thing is, that mesh heads are designed to be as silent as possible, so u caould train at home without bothering ur neighbours. and my cloth-head makes some “boom-boom” sounds…
 
i wonder, if starching will make them less noisy. in fact, i’m not sure it will. did anyone try it?
 
if they are not silent as mesh heads, they are not a replacement… if starch-heads make sound, why not heavy-nanded drummes just use regulat plastic drumheads?

[seanwhitley2000]

Has anyone else tried these yet? I need some better mesh head material because the insect screen stuff I have stretches to easily and when used for a bass drum it gets distorted too much after about 20mins

[bgibson72]

Hello–I’ve made my own heads from old broken heads.  I used the rim only, and window/door screen fabric from a local big box home store in a double layer with the fibers running at 45 degree angles from each other.  I’ve not tried using the “pet proof” fabric, but it may be a wise choice for you heavy hitters due to the increased thickness and durability.  Cutting the screen about 2 inches larger than the hoop, I wrapped the excess over the hoop and then stitched around (loop stitch) the rim with a heavy weight thread (nylon fishing line or similar will do)  Be careful to pull it tight as you work, but loose enough to give when tightened around the drum.  For extra insurance, I used some gaffer tape around the rim in case I lost a stitch or two tightening the drum or when played.  Works a treat!  

[Author]

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