Overdrive Customized Snares

Gutentag,
I got an interesting email this morning concerning yesterdays blog content. Among other things I mentioned that Overdrive Percussion is considering building a line of custom snares. Perhaps I didn't explain it correctly, or make it clear to what exactly we are attempting to do. So allow me to elaborate a little on it this morning.
One of the issue's I have with the hundreds of Drum Boutique manufacturers that have popped up over the last few years is among other things low resale value. I don't care how " custom" a drum is if it's from a small or unknown company, when you sell it generally your gonna take a bath. That being said it seems to me that many of these companies do little more than assemble a drum. Aside from the finish they all appear pretty much to function the same.
Many use Keller shells which you can purchase from a variety of sources. You can get these shells pre-drilled and the finish already applied some companies just slap on hardware and they're done. I want to emphasise not all boutique companies do this, some make your kit from scratch. They do everything from bending and gluing the ply's to drilling the hardware holes, in short they are true manufactures.
I'm not saying either approach is wrong nor did I mean to imply that yesterday or today. I do feel that many of the smaller companies the main differences between them is in the finishes. As much as I would like to be a Percussion manufacturer at the moment we have our hands full. What I did allude to was in reference to Overdrive Percussion which is already engaged in producing Cymbals that we are also working with a company to produce a line of snare drums for the US market. We are also considering offering our customers a line of customized snare drums, and like everything else we plan to do it a little different. Let me elaborate.
What we plan to offer sometime next year is regular production model snares under the Overdrive brand. We also are planning to offer drummers the opportunity to create their own " customized " snare drums. Here's how we plan to approach it. We are going to have a line or lines of snare drums manufactured, when we receive them we will then strip down the snare to the shell and existing finish. We have decided to forgo the purchasing of shells and hardware and drilling sanding and blah, blah, blah. You get the picture. Instead we have come up with a novel approach to offering drummers the opportunity to customize their snare drums. To create a truly one of a kind instrument.
Cost is always a factor in business, in an undertaking like this it's everything. We are going to have a OEM manufacture a snare drum, we will then strip it bear until only the factory finish is left untouched. This is where we differ greatly with the boutique companies, many their claim to fame is there unlimited choices of finishes. We then plan to retro fit these snares with parts purchased here in the United States from percussion hardware companies. We will do this for 1 or 2 regular lines of snares, these upgraded snares will be our " Top of the Line " snares.
At the same time will offer our customers a chance to order the exact type of hardware he wishes to " Customize" his snare. The choices will be everything from Rims, 1.5 mm, 2.7 mm or 2.7 mm power hoops. To choices in hardware style, coloring, snare throw-offs to tuning rods long, short, medium, coarse thread or fine. even the choice of drum heads will be an option. The choices are limitless and drummers will have an opportunity to create a " Customized " snare drum that won't run them $800 and take 7 months to complete. I hope I have made our idea a little clearer and stated it in a more precise way. That's the plan for now until it changes. and like always till next time. T.

New Products/Brands update

Hello to all,

Good afternoon everyone. I just wanted to shoot out a quick products and brand update from your favorite Percussion retailer. First let me speak about a brand that's near and dear to my heart Overdrive Percussion. On our You Tube channel there's 3 video's of our final Overdrive Cymbal prototypes. If you haven't already checked them out go to www.youtube.com/ilduce61 to see the videos. They are the final models which will go into production sometime in November. Initially we will be offering 8", 10" & 12" splash. a 14", 16" and 18" crashes, they will all be medium weights. Also of medium weights will be a 20" ride and the 14" HH that will comprise of the first release. Like all our other brands of Cymbals we will be putting together Packages, pretty much along the lines of our Wuhan or Silken packages. We will announce pricing very shortly.

Overdrive Percussion is modeled after Meinl . A percussion company not strictly a cymbal company. We have been working with a manufacture to release a line of snare drums. We have whittled the selection down to 6 models, They will include 2 all maple, a poplar walnut hybrid, a steel snare and a piccolo snare. They will be available at first in a limited number of colors. Like our Cymbals based on sales and demand we will expand the colors and selection if need be. We are just waiting for the first prototypes for us to inspect to arrive.

We also have a half dozen snares coming from a small company in Europe. We are having them only partially manufactured. When they arrive we are going to strip them down and upgrade the hardware from a US Drum parts supplier. It's actually more economical to have them manufacture the snares and then us strip them down and re-tool them with US made hardware. We will also be able to offer our customers custom made snare drums. Essentially we will strip the snare down to it's finished shell and refit the drum with a variety of hardware. Different hoops, Lug styles, Tuning rods and head selection. whatever the buyer chooses. It will be a way for any drummer to essentially create his own custom snares, at a fraction of the price boutique drum companies charge. Were very excited about this particular project.

We have alluded to this deal for several months, but not really wanting to let the " Kat von D " out of the bag before we really had things button up. Cymbals & Snares has inked it's second exclusive distributorship, starting sometime between November and the end of the year we will take delivery on our first order of Coreelo drum heads. We have secured the rights to be their sole US distributor. To say were a excited about this deal is an understatement. Coreelo produces excellent quality drum heads easily on par with any of the big name drum heads currently available in the US market. They make everything from Coated snare drums heads to Heads for High school marching bands. We will do an entire blog on the history and products that Coreelo produces and our plans to market them.

Peace Drums will be joining the roster of brands C & S carries. Some of you may be familiar with them. Doug Rezak, Terry Conway & Nick Mason are all Peace endorsers. In my personal opinion Peace drums along with Coreelo drum heads are just perfect examples of the " Other Name Brands" C & S specializes in. Peace Drums is a full service drum company Making everything from excellent entry level kits, Cymbal stands, bass drum pedals, HH stands to their Highly acclaimed top of the line professional " DNA " series drums. Peace is also known especially to industry insiders for their large and varied amount of snare drums they manufacture. We are looking forward to having them join Cannon, TKO, Taye and Howitzer in our Drum offerings to our fellow drummers.

Also look for Aquarian Drum heads and Moongel as new brands to join the C & S team. I love both products myself. Aquarians Super Kick II bass drum heads IMO are the best bass drum head in the business, It delivers a nice low end punch and unmistakable " Thump" drummers have nocturnal emissions over. As far as Moon gel goes I often talk about it in our product demo videos and we have several video's featuring the effects moongel has on Cymbals. I use moongel on almost every ride cymbal in my personal collection . On my drum heads I use zero rings on every head except my snare for that I use a piece of Moongel. For my money it is absolutely the finest sonic resonance dampening device on the market bar none. We are happy to offer this excellent product to our fellow drummers. Well that's a wrap for this blog I hope the 629.5 people ( that's are average) who read this blog enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Till Next time Ciao !! T.

The Holidays are Coming..........Again

Hello subscribers,
T is in the room. Is it just me or does it seem like Christmas was just here ? I suppose as I get older time really does start to fly. I personally look forward to this holiday season with a certain amount of trepidation. I don't mind sharing a little personal info with you guys. My wife and I have ended a 21 year relationship. It was her idea not mine, although I freely admit I was the major cause in the collapse of our relationship, I still love her dearly. Love is not an on/off switch unfortunately mine is still on.
This will be the first holiday season in 21 years I spend without her. No thanksgiving day dinner with her and my family oops her family. See it is so ingrained in me I kinda feel lost. No Christmas and all the trappings that go along with it. The only family I have left is really you guys. My C & S family. So I will pour myself into the company and hopefully that will keep me occupied. I do not mind admitting to you, at this conjuncture in my life I am very sad and very lonely.
Couple that with all the shit that has happened to the company, sometimes I really do feel like shooting myself. However that's just an expression I think the company and it's various websites and interaction I get with all of my customers friends, subscribers and the such really keep me going. Even if it's a self made illusion I keep saying to myself they need me. In the end I know that's not true. If I and C & S were to just drop off the face of the planet today, what real impact have I had on anyone ? You all would simply move on to other drum retailers, other Blogs and other You Tube pages. Up until this moment I think my impact on the drum world and any of you has been negligible at best.
C & S is really all I have, hopefully it will be all I need. I plan on pouring my heart and soul into the company this coming year like never before. I still need to clean up the mess the hacking has caused but once that is cleared up it will be full steam ahead. This morning I'm feeling a little down and overwhelmed. I didn't write this for anyone to feel sorry for me. I made the mess I currently find myself in. I just think writing it down is a little therapeutic for me. I'm so glad I have the company to focus on without it I honestly do not know what I would do. That's all I wanted to say for now. Look for my next blog which will give alot of details of what's coming up site wise and product wise next few months. Till next time. T

Just a qwik Update..........

Greetings and Salutations,
T here, Unfortunately our Silken order which we were originally scheduled to receive in Roctober is now scheduled for a January delivery. This does not make me very happy, But there is little I can do. Wuhan's expanded New Traditional series is also delayed in arriving. Retailers such as ourselves have been told for almost two months now there coming, there coming. When ? I asked inquisitively. Soon very soon , It's really nobodies fault these things just happen. You know what they say " Stuff Happens" that's not exactly what they say, but I think most of you get it. So we'll just bide our time and hope they arrive before Thanksgiving.
Overdrive Cymbals begins it's first production run in November. That is something that should happen on schedule. However I have been in this bidness long enough to know there's no such thing as a sure thing. Our line is secondary to this companies primary line of Cymbals, technically were probably third or fourth string production level. This company also is subcontracted by one of the BIG3 to produce one of their lines of cymbals. So we aren't that high on the totem pole just yet since we are only just beginning our first production run, but if the response in sales is even remotely like the response we received on You Tube we will sell a thousand pies our first year.
We are starting to really crunch the numbers for our line of cymbals as to what they will retail for. These are Pro-level cymbals all the way that we will offer at a price point that will be in the intermediate pricing level. We'd like to offer the best cymbal in it's price range. To do that we will simply have to make less money than competing brands. That presents challenges all it's own. We still need to make enough money to make it worthwhile, which I'm confident we can do. We may look into another manufacture to produce a line of " High-end" entry level cymbals sometime next year if we have any success with Overdrive's initial offerings.
Hopefully if all goes well we should be offering a full line of products under the Overdrive brand within the next year or two. Most wholesale companies offer it's customers a "house brand" the quality can vary widely. We'd like to offer more than just a "house brand" but a True marketable stand alone Destination brand. That's a lofty goal I know and will take sometime to accomplish but with a lot of hard work and a little luck we should carve out a niche for ourselves and our brand. We will be starting to offer Moongel to our customers by mid November, along with some other handy little items. Our long awaited and much anticipated Web site's debut will be delayed yet again do to some personal issue's that need to be sorted out. look for a spring opening. Well that's it Muchacho's and Muchacha's just a qwikee blog this time out. Till next time............. T.

Worlds Fastest Drummer contest, What does it mean to you ?

By This time any drummer who is not aware of " The worlds fastest drummer" contest is living under a rock. Just the fact that your reading this blog at all, indicates to me you are NOT ones of those living in yesterday's world. This Phenomena began probably about 10 years ago, and has gotten bigger every year. I'd like to know what your personal take is on this ? One thing is a indisputable fact there are some Kats out there who can play the drums at supersonic speeds. I mean fast real fast so fast that they have to be recorded so a computer can count how many beats he/she plays on there bass drums. When a computer is needed to count your beats you are really moving.



I personally think the whole thing is just silly. Who cares how fast you can play, what is the point of it ? Simply to go fast for the sake of going fast ? Does it enhance the drumming community as a whole at all ? I really don't think so, again I ask what exactly is the point these super speed demons are trying to prove. I'm not opposed to the contest at all, I'm not opposed to being competitive. I just think the title is about as important as being the 1st man to Kayak from South America to Africa or something along those lines. Yeah you did what ? So what.



There's no doubt in my mind it is an accomplishment, But to what level is this accomplishment and to who is this accomplishment important too ? I don't know, certainly not me. Maybe you ? What exactly the reward is for being the undisputed fastest drummer in the world get you ? Maybe a new kit from a sponsoring drum company ? Perhaps the same from a Cymbal company ? Heads, sticks a life time supply of juicy fruit ? Ya got me. I've never seen an add featuring TWFD so I do not believe endorsement deals are pouring in. I know several drum publications make a big deal out of it. Good I'm glad. But eventually the technology will arrive so a robot will be able to be programed to do this. It may take another 25 or 50 years to accomplish this feat but the day will come.



Will they split the contest into different categories ? Human and android ? Or will the robots start to win every year ? I can just see a Drum magazine of the future featuring a picture of a robot on it's cover. THIS YEARS WFD-- A NOKIA ANDROID SAY HELLO TO THE MODEL XRT 4000. eventually it's going to happen. But I'm dangling dangerously close to my next blog. When will technology replace most if not all musicians. That day is coming to. But back to WFD. I don't know why the drum publications make such a big deal out of it. Probably to sell more magazines. I mean after all that's what they do. So my dear friends and subscribers what is your position on the WFD contest ? Do you aspire to this lofty goal ? I certainly don't. Does it interest you a little, Moderately, or alot ? or is your every waking moment obsessed becoming the next WFD ?



I've seen the video's on You Tube and I usually will watch a small snippet of the video for a bit. I'll make a comment to whoever is watching it with me or just to myself saying something like " Holy shit that guys is moving " and then I'm off to watch something else. Sometimes I'll laugh a bit not at the drummer or in a disrespectful way but because it looks funny someone playing so fast. There's no question it takes loads of practice and discipline to get your playing that fast. Everyone should concede that point. The one fundamental question I still must ask myself is Why ? and what in God's name is the point ? Perhaps it's like Mount McKinley it's not the biggest Mountain in the world. The WFD is not the Best drummer in the world. But people who engage in either activity do it because it's their and they can. That's okay by me. Until next time T.

The Art Of Cymbal Making

Cymbals have been around for centuries. In ancient times they were used in ceramonies, celebrations and war. In many way the prppocess for making cymbals has remained unchanged for centuries. Yet in other ways it has changed considerably. Let's look at the various metals used in Cymbal making.



Copper is the most important metal and makes up the largest portion of most cymbals. Tin is the second most widely used metal in cymbal making. In general student or entry level cymbals contain about 8% tin and 92% copper in it's make up. These are known as B8 cymbals. High end and professional level cymbals are made up of 20% tin and 80% copper. These are known as B20 cymbals and are generally considered the best alloy to use in the creation of cymbals.



Any level or quality cymbals can be made with various amounts of other materials. These can be phosphorus, gold,nickel,zinc,manganese,aluminum and silver. The type of sound required of the cymbalsmith will dictate what types and in what amounts these other metals are used.



A 20% tin and 80% copper alloy is known as Bell Bronze. This formula produces Cymbals that have excellent dynamic range. The 8% and 92% copper formula is reffered to as Malleable Bronze this can be made into sheets and stamped into shape. THis greatly reduced manufacturing costs. Cymbals made in this way are often used in student and entry level set ups. because of their relatively cheap price and they are not as sensative as B20 cymbals making them a little easier to play for the beginner who's hand coordination has yet to develop.



Two-phase or double phase alloy is always B20 bronze or Bell bronze meaning some of the tin is not completely dissolved into the copper grains,but exsistbetween them. This makes the Bronze stronger , harder and more brittle than the malleable single phas bronze. THis is important because it effects how each type of metal is formed into cymbals. There are two basic methods for forming the basic shape of the cymbal.



Let's explore casting first. My personal favorite. First copper and tin are melted together in a furnace. This cannot be done in any old hap hazzard way. The prescious amount of each metal must be mixed in, the furnance must be kept at a certain tempature this is knowledged pass down from generation to generation. The molten liquid is then poured into molds This is the way bell bronze has been made for centuries. Large and small companies still use this technique today. The mold resembles the cymbals final shape and dimensions. But much more work is required before the final product is achieved.



Stamping is the second type of method to produce cymbals. The single phase maleable alloys are rolled into large sheets of bronze. A machine then stamps a " blank" sheet of bronze into a very near likeness of the final cymbal form. B20 or bell bronze cymbals cannot be manufactured this way because of its strenght and hardness it would crack. It can only be produced by casting.



So at this point the two methods of cymbal manufacturing have produced essential;ly two blank sheets of bronze. They were arrived at in very different manners. Now the refining of the cymbals takes place. The methods of shaping are universal but how there applied and done are not the same due to the metal types B8 vs B20 Cast vs sheet stamped.



There are 3 ways in cymbal manufacturing that are used to creat the sound and finish of each model. Hammering, this serves various purposes for the cymbal especially the cymbal. The bell is less formed in the casting process, the shape of the bell is formed litterally by blow anfter blow from a blunt hammer. In sheet bronze hammering has more to do with altering the attack and sustain. The sheet stamp cymbals shap was basically formed when it was stamped out early in the cymbal making process.



Hammering can be done by several different methods. The old fashioned way by hand or a more modern method by machine. machines today can be programmed for repeatable patterns or can be controlled by the cymbal smith. Hand hammered cymbals tend to have a darker lower and richer tones. Also each cymbal is a unique instrument because the hammer blows are applied at will of the cymbal smith. Cymbals hammered by Automated machines tend to sound much more uniformed since the machines are computer controlled and can replicate exactly each hammer blow. there is much less variation between cymbals of the same size in the same series. Machine Hammered cymbals that are controlled by a person naturally fall in the middle of the others when it comes to sound. Be aware that some companies claim their cymbals are " hand Hammered" when in fact they are hammered by a machine and controlled by a person !! That's pretty cheesy in my opinion.

Lathing is where the cymbal is spun on a machine and the metal surface is actualled peeled awayby a chisel. Like Hammering this can be done by the hand of a cymbal smith or machine. For Bell Bronze ( B20) Lathing is essential for creating the shape of a cymbal. Sheet bronze lathing is essential for sound developement.

Once a cymbal is hammered and lathed now comes the final step in cymbal making creating some type of finish. Some cymbals will be allowed to tarnish, The formation of an oxide on the outter layer of a cymbal it's surface tends to give the cymbal a more mellow sound This coating on a cymbal is also known as a patina. A recent development is what is known as a " Brilliant Finish" This is accomplished by using an abrasive polish adding metal plating a laquer or a combo of these to prevent oxidation from forming. Brilliant cymbals are by far my favorites. I hope this has shed some light on the creation of cymbals. T

The Holidays are Coming.

Hey dear friends ,
T here As we approach the upcoming holiday season I cannot feel a little apprehensive. The Hack Attack of September 28th has kinda left me a little unnerved. We are still dealing with the fallout from that. Our tech who has helped repair our system believes we either caught a virus or one was intentionally installed. Suddenly our Ebay store's email is not working. We have not received a single email in 3 days, I thought it was very very odd the other morning when I went to check our overnight emails and we had none. Not a single one, This has never happened. We are way to big a company to not get one email overnight. We get a ton of emails everyday. Not to receive a single one was odd to say the least. I soon realized we had yet another problem. Ebay and our tech are working as I type to correct this situation.

Enough about the hacking I'm sick of talking about it. let talk about what's coming up for the holiday season. We should have a much larger inventory than we did last year. Curently, we stock between 100-120 items at any one time. We should be at at least 150 products for you guys to choose from. We will have Wuhan's entire offerings every China and every New Traditional they are offering. We will have more Diril Cymbals Bringing in Almost the entire D & Ice series. Hopefully we will have our First order of Overdrive cymbals in by then, Our Silken selection may be a little sparse It's looking like Silken won't be able to ship our new order until January. But were gonna make a push for at least a small portion to be delivered to us for Christmas. That's really the only potential bummer for the holidays.

We have just reached a deal with a foreign manufacture of Drum heads to be their exclusive US distributor. We will have them in for the holidays, these are high quality drum heads and we will be offering these with a special introductory price because we want everyone to try these heads. They are easily on par with anything currently on the market. We are very excited to work with this company when we receive in hand our first order we will announce the name of this brand. Along with Silken and Overdrive this makes the third product we are the exclusive US distributors for. We are going to kick our wholesale division into gear after the first of the year.

We will also be bringing in a more extensive line of student products, practice pads, metronomes and various other things the aspiring drummers needs. We will also be expanding our hardware selection for the holidays. We have been working for sometime with a drum manufacture developing a line of snare drums, we are in the final stages of development and will be placing our initial order by the end of the month. They will be marketed under our own " Overdrive" brand. Hopefully they will be ready for the holiday season. I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on the goings on here at C & S. Thanks everyone until next time. T.