DIY Rock Band Drum kit 8" Mesh Head Mod Tutorial

Step 1:

I cut the 4 drum support out of a piece of paneling using the drum controller as a template and painted it black. I made sure each circle was the same size as the 8" mesh drums I'm using.

Step 2:

I drilled holes all the way through the two upper most holes in the yellow and blue drums.

Step 3:

I used the controller as a template to drill holes in the paneling shown by the arrows. I just drilled holes in these locations. Using the other holes would interfere with the drum shells.

You can see from this image how much bigger the paneling is than the drum controller, to accommodate the 8" mesh drums I will be using.

Step 4:

I used the paneling as a template to drill holes in the bottoms of the drums, shown by the white arrows. Also drilled a hole to run the wires, shown by the blue arrow.

I used this tutorial to build the drums. The only things I will do different is use a 1 1/8" tall bucket shell instead of 2", a shorter foam block, hoop and bottom for an 8" drum and not use the mounting bracket.

Step 5:

I used 3" x 1/4" and 2" x 1/4" to secure the drum bottoms to the paneling. These screws will line up with the holes in the drum controller.

Step 6:

Removed the drum pads and cut the sensor wires close to the sensors.

Step 7:

The one piece 4 drum unit that is now painted black and attached to the drum controller using the 8 perfectly aligned screws. I also pulled the sensor wires through the holes.

Step 8:

I used a nut and washer to secure the 4 drum unit to the Rock Band drum controller.

Step 9:

I have added the 1 1/8" high bucket shells, piezo sensors, terminal strip and double sided tape to the sensor. Now I will cut a foam block so it will be about 1/8" above the rim of the shell.