Build a Suitcase Drum Set

I love drumming, but hate transporting my whole set around, so I designed a drum kit using a suitcase as the bass drum. The whole set fits inside the suitcase! My suitcase drum set sounds surprisingly good. Audiences love it.
Click here for a PDF download version for non pro members.

I built my first suitcase set 6 years ago. It was a big hit, and I ended up playing 500+ gigs on it, mostly around the Midwest. Since that first set, I have constantly been figuring out ways to improve it. For example, I've learned how to fix the problems that plague the use of a suitcase as a bass drum. And I'm going to share that knowledge here.

Gig after gig, people asked me how to make their own. This instructable is a culmination of years of development. If you build one, I would love to see a picture or video of your own suitcase, and am glad to answer any questions you have along the way.

This video -- made almost four years ago by Poodus --- jokingly explains my case for the suitcase drum set.

Notice the Cadillac logo on the front. The first one I built was a BMW -- so named after I found a BMW hubcap on the sidewalk while biking the suitcase home from a gig. The logo pulled off the hubcap and had enough stickiness left to hold it on the front of the suitcase.

That started a crazy trend of fans attaching things to the suitcase. People would show up to the gig with stickers, car logos, name tags, women's undergarments, service bells, and many other things. I wish I had a picture of that kit, after a couple years it was chock full of character.

To my surprise, I broke through the suitcase at a gig. I turned it around and beat on the other side for a few more years before it broke, too. The durability of the old Samsonite cases is something to behold. I played 3-4 long gigs every week for almost four years before the suitcase gave up, and I am a hard hitter. The suitcase in the video is the one I built after the BMW went to the junk yard, the pale yellow made me think of an old Cadillac. I told a fan and he brought in a logo, so it became the Caddy. I can't remember who gave it to me, but I thank them. ENOUGH REMINISCING! ON WITH THE INSTRUCTABLE.

Step 1 Parts, tools, and how to find them.

Bare-bones suitcase drum set parts

1. Old plastic suitcase, preferably a Samsonite Heritage or Silhouette model. How to find the perfect suitcase is illustrated in the next step.
2. Hi-hats and lightweight hi-hat stand. (all stands should be lightweight so they can fit in the suitcase)
3. Snare drum and snare stand
4. Bass drum pedal, preferably with a pedal board.
5. Bass drum beater with removable beater (has a locknut holding beater on shaft)
6. Super Pinky high bounce rubber ball, available online for $2. this serves as the new beater.
7. Small piece of rubber, 2"x4" is plenty
8. A 1/4" aluminum plate, 3-4"x4"
9. 6-8 Small machine screws, washers and lock nut
10. 3 Medium size machine screws, washers, and lock nuts
11. Gorilla Glue

Parts list for accessories

1. Splash cymbal
2. Ride Cymbal
3. Floor tom leg mounts
4. 3/8" rod cymbal holders
5. cowbell
6. Anything you else you would want to attach to suitcase. I used to have a BMW logo on the front .

Acquisition of parts
-Selecting the suitcase is perhaps the most crucial step in building a suitcase drumset. I'm working on a video for this, but for now: Thrift stores are the best place to find these old Samsonite plastic suitcases. I have never paid more than $5 for one.

-Suitcase that work the best are full size Samsonite Heritage and Silhouette models.

-The Super Pinky ball has proved to be hard to find at sporting good stores, but is available on Amazon stores for about $2. Click here to buy a Super Pinky.

-Cymbals, snare drum, stands, throne, and bass pedal can be found in many places. Lightweight hardware is undesirable by most drummers and it should be easy to find cheap and used items. Ebay is a good place for cheap cymbals, and a local music store should have some used drums and stands. If you had a friend like me; a drummer, they would most likely have some parts laying around you could easily schmooze. Junk works too, consider using saw-blades or tin pans for cymbals. They don't sound like quality cymbals, but add serious character.

-Floor tom leg mounts for cymbal attachment can be found new, but most drum/music stores have a stash of used drum parts. Usually they are in a dusty corner in a backroom, so make sure to ask. I like to use rusty used mounts so they match the 'decor' of the suitcase.

- Metal plate can be found at any hardware store or metal shop, a scrap that might be considered useless could fit the bill for the suitcase needs perfectly.

Tools
-Drill
-Drill bits
-Craftsman Handi-Cut or razor blade
-Screwdrivers
-Crescent wrench

Comments

[ceet]

Awesome! How much would it cost if u start out with nothing? I would love to give this a try. Don't have a lot of cash to spend though, so approximately how much do u think i would need to spend if i can't find any of the items for free?

[mikereetz]

This question is hard to answer, but I would say between 150 and 500 bucks.
lots of factors to consider.

[WhiteTech]

I think I've found a new way to jam on the street, :D

[mednasrallah]

Couple questions: 1) Does the suitcase move at all when you kick it? I have issues with this on regular kits, so any ideas would be helpful, 2) where would I find a tom small enough to fit in the suitcase that isn't a toy?

[bosniaguy]

COOL! :D

[bertus52x11]

Smart!

[abadfart]

very nice and if you got a real big one you could fit a whole rock kit in

[jwteo]

Great job !
I found similar one with toms, do u know it ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnbTMeJMP10

[mikereetz]

Nice! judging by the date posted, I imagine he utilized some of the ideas found here.

[bfabert]

just got done building my own set, completely inspired from this instructable whilst 'stumbling' the other night.
this set includes vintage green samsonite silhouette bass drum (which I just happened to have lying around in the basement), 13" snare, splash, hi hats, tambourine, crash/ride, woodblock, cowbell, mini timbale... and all the hardware. I can fit a rug in the suitcase too. the throne doesn't fit, but you can carry that in the other hand. cost me around $10. I couldn't find an aluminum plate for the bass drum clamp, so I made one out of steel. if you have the right drill bits, it's pretty easy.
Thanks mikereetz!

by the way, the bass drum beater is made from a cane tip...

[mikereetz]

I love it! Well done, the rug in the suitcase is a great idea.
How are you gonna walk to the gig without your cane!
I would encourage you to get the super pinky for your beater... it will have much more 'woof' than the cane rubber.
Cheers!
Mike

[mmacht1]

i have a saturn II suitcase with seemingly good latches, but I am still getting quite a bit of rattling from the latches themselves. any suggestions?

[mikereetz]

Sometimes the latches are just worn out. A little rattle is inevitable, but they are probably just worn out. I had one like that, to fix it I would carry a roll of duct tape and put some over the closed latches, kind of ugly, but also added some 'character'.
In less words.... tape the latches down.

[blodefood]

This is just too genius!

[akkh]

Nice job man !
There's a guy who mounts bass drum head on the suitcase
and built a full equipped set !
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/ap0/

[bfabert]

I'd also like to point out that taking apart the handle and putting pieces of cotton in there cut down on rattle, as well as shoving a little cotton in where it latches... so did putting a piece of duct tape over the keyholes. wd40 also made the latches easier to close (especially when you stuff everything in there)

[ideofone.ezek]

Thanks for inspiring my own suitcase drumset. I've been working pretty tirelessly on it since late February. I've got a few photos of its development over the past couple of months on my Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/22964889@N00/

Also, you can see V2.2 of my kit in action on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDSRJVNcYiU

I'll probably make a video of V3.1 this week sometime. Maybe a He Is Legend song...I've been dying to do "The Creature Walks".

[mikereetz]

You're welcome! I appreciate the great video and pics, great building and playing.
I like the strap that holds the (rattling) handle down. Was that factory? Could you send a close up or describe how it works?
Thanks, and congrats!
Mike

[orlando33]

Amazing tutorial! Definitely going to build my own over the summer so I don't have to cut my drumming short for college. You sir have some amazing ingenuity about you! Just got a few questions for some advice: What are the dimensions on you snare? How do you keep all the parts, and hardware from shifting too much when you lift the case? How much would you say the project cost you in total? (excluding kit parts you already owned) And where would you suggest looking for cheaper materials, parts, toms or kit parts?
Thanks a lot!

[MarkusGronroos]

do you recomend older suitcases like from the 50's? got to buy some floor-tom legs... cool!

[willdueease]

I've been playing an old plywood suitcase for a few years now. The beater punched a hole in the plywood pretty quickly, but after reinforcing it with a piece of 1/2 plywood and an excessive amount of screws, it holds up pretty well. The plastic is probably a better idea, and I'm going to switch to that kind when this one finally dies. Once thing I did that makes going into a PA easier is drill a hole in the top (but could easily be the side) of the suitcase and hang a crappy kick mic INSIDE of the suitcase. It has about the same sound requirements as yours (drop out all the highs and most of the mids) but it has loads more gain, and I rarely have feedback issues.

[mikereetz]

The plastic has a much better sound... I dig the idea of micing from the inside. Like 'may' mics if you are familiar. I have no good reason for not doing that. I always wanted to make one with a mic permanently mounted inside with an xlr jack on the outside. One thing is for sure, micing the suitcase is the way to go.

[doggypoo]

hey i LOVE the idea, but i can't seem to find a lightweight hi hat stand. what is the one you used, that way i could possibly find it online.

[golfchick005]

We went to guitar center and the guy working at the drums gave us a piece of rubber actually used for a bass drum. We had to cut it down a bit, but it works. The suitcase drum set is up and running as of last night!

[golfchick005]

what kind of rubber did you use? I've been looking at stores like Home Depot and haven't really found anything suitable.

[mikereetz]

It should be easy to find some rubber. I used some from a hardware store that was supposed to be for making stairs not slippery. I got a roll of it for a few bucks. A music store should have bass drum hoop protectors that would do the same thing, but might run you $4. If you seriously have troubles finding one, send me your address in a private message and I'll throw a chunk in an envelope for you. Don't let this hold you back.
Anyone else know of an easy source? needs to be about an 1/8" thick.

[BusyHands]

What a great idea! I had a perfect suitcase gathering dust in the garage, and it's now been tagged as a bass drum!

I am curious how you got your hi-hat stand in there. My old-school (light-weight) Ludwig stand is way too long, and I'm hesitant to cut it down. Do you disassemble it completely?

[mikereetz]

I have an old ludwig stand too. If its like mine, the top tube comes off and the rod has a hinge so it can fold down. Just be careful not to bend the rod when you pack it up. What kind of suitcase are you using?

[BusyHands]

Great tip, Mike, thanks! I pulled off the top tube of my hi-hat stand and ... no hinge. There was a metal sleeve there. But, voila!, the top rod screwed out of the sleeve and now I have a bundle of 18-inch-long stuff that fits nicely into the suitcase. I also had a tom mounting lug from the top of a bass drum I got at a yard sale, which I screwed onto the top of the suitcase. Now, I only have to take the top joint of the cymbal stand and stick it into the mounting lug. The suitcase I'm using is a Samsonite gray ABS item with no lining.  Here's one like it

It's probably not as loud as some of the thinner-walled ones (it's nowhere near as loud as an actual bass drum), but it was in the garage and probably would have been thrown out eventually, so it's now doing something useful. And I've got a portable kit that doesn't take an hour to break down, load, set up, etc.

[mikereetz]

Great cymbal mounting idea! I forgot that many hihat stands have the screw out option... my DW stand has that. That suitcase should work great, I think it is a silhouette II? or maybe a saturn II? No suitcase is as loud as bass drum, if you need more volume and a PA is around there is some posts about creative ways to mic it up. Rock on!

[BusyHands]

I got a Ludwig L315FP pedal on eBay that already has a hard rubber beater head, so no superballs needed!

It doesn't look like your throne fits into the suitcase, does it? I may end up putting the throne in the suitcase and the snare back into the padded backpack. Still, one-handed kit hauling -- that's golden! Thanks again for the great idea.

[Asmodeous]

Does the set-up in your video, w/ the tom and cow-bell fit in the suit-case? Nice job man.

[mikereetz]

It all fit except the throne I used... I have a smaller throne that fits though. Thanks!

[mightywombat]

I've been thinking about making a drum throne / workshop seat out of an old bike saddle. That would fit handily.

[shingonzo]

the biggest suit case i could find was a samsonite sillouite 2 and my ride symbol doesnt fit inside. what size ride are you using?

[mikereetz]

18"

[Foaly7]

Now, I'm trying to get into drumming, and music in general. This set is still pretty good without a tom, right?

[mikereetz]

There's a lot you can do without a tom. When I first started drumming (over 20 years ago) I had to have a set with tons of toms and cymbals... now I use a 4 piece kit or suitcase. It becomes more about what you do with what you got.
An old drum teacher told me... It's not the drums! It's the man who plays them.

[Foaly7]

Thanks for the words of drumming wisdom, I think I might build one like in the video. Since I'm still a little new to drumming and such, I'm gonna ask this dumb question: Is the mini tom in the video mounted on a snare stand?

[mikereetz]

You're welcome. It's mounted on an old snare stand, which I had to bend to hold the lil' drum.