Well, it has been quite a few months since my last blog posting. It seems like a common thread - where my blog posts begin with an apology for my lack of blogging! So, in keeping with tradition...I'm sorry for my lack of blogging recently! :)
Honestly, though - there's been a lot going on even if things seem a bit quiet on the Roberts Drums front. So let me bring you all up-to-date on where things are at in Roberts Drums land.
First off, in June of this year, I was able to take the prototype kit up to a recording studio in Redding, CA called The Soundhouse. My good friend Gabriel Wilson used the drums on two songs that he was working on at the time. We also tracked some stand-alone audio samples of the drums - which can be heard very soon...(more on this in a minute).
That same week, another good friend of mine, Jason Miller took some high-quality photos of the drums. I'm not posting them here yet...they will be used for our new website that is currenly under construction. That brings me to...
We have a new website that is under construction! Jason's wife, Amy has been working hard on the new site for the last few months and let me tell you, it is great! It will include the pics that Jay has taken as well as the audio sample from above. There will be more details about the specs of Roberts Drums as well as our vision and mission. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as the site is live - so you can all check it out.
Right after my trip to Redding, I got VERY sick and was in bed for almost a month...so nothing happened - except for in my head. While I was resting and nursing myself slowly back to health, I had an idea...I REALLY wanted to get my kit into the hands of the drummers at a large church in Tulsa, OK called Church On The Move. They seemed to have the same mindset when it came to drum tones and sounds and I felt that my kit would work out great in their auditorioum.
Long story short, due to the power of social networking (thanks Twitter!) I was able to get connected with the church and they asked if I would send the demo kit out to them so they could check it out. I did one better and actually flew out to Tulsa for five days, helped to get the kit set and tuned up. They fell in love with the kit - and at the end of my trip, they ordered a kit of their own! The only catch was thay they wanted to keep the demo kit until their drums were done. I had no problem with that! :) You can check out Church on the Move at http://www.churchonthemove.com/ and you can catch our demo kit in their services on their vimeo page at www.vimeo.com/cotm.
Right after my trip to Tulsa, my church in Folsom, CA (Lakeside Church) decided to purchase the silver sparkle demo kit. So lately, I've been working on building Church On The Move's kit which should be complete around Thanksgiving time. I've also been working on finding a way to build another demo kit to continue to send out to artists/drummers/churches to check out.
I think that's all...for now. Once the kit for COTM is complete, I'll have pics taken for the site so you all can check it out. I'll also try to post some of the pics that I've taken during the production process soon. Thanks for taking the time to visit...and I'll do my best to blog sometime in the next month.
- but don't hold your breath...cuz, really...what's my track record been like?! :)
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The Whole Kit
I just wanted to take a quick second and post a photo of all the drums together for your viewing pleasure. Also, on Monday, I'm having some professional product photos taken of the kit and then on Thursday / Friday I'll be up at The Soundhouse in Redding recording audio samples of the kit for use on our website. I'll be sure to keep you all updated next week as things progress.
And please feel free to follow us on Twitter - just search for @robertsdrums.
You can also check out our website at http://www.robertsdrums.com/ as well as our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roberts-Drum-Company/164912346894265
Enjoy the photo:
And please feel free to follow us on Twitter - just search for @robertsdrums.
You can also check out our website at http://www.robertsdrums.com/ as well as our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roberts-Drum-Company/164912346894265
Enjoy the photo:
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Roberts Drum Company Prototype Drumkit Completed!
Well, it's official. Our Phase 1 Prototype drumkit is finished! It's been an awesome journey building this first kit of ours - and it turned out great, if I do say so myself! I'm hoping to get some photos snapped of the kit as a whole very soon. I'm also taking the kit up to a recording studio in Redding next week to get some audio samples for our website - so you all can hear what these drums sound like! I am so excited that I can barely contain myself. And I'm hoping to have a good buddy of mine take some pro-level pics of the kit very soon for the website as well. Until then, here's a pic of the last piece of the puzzle to be completed - the 14"x24" kick drum:
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The "Hybrid Kit"
One last little noteworthy mention: last week (before I started working on the kick drum), I was able to bring the two toms into our church and use them with our worship leader's vintage 1969 Ludwig kick drum and modern day Ludwig Black Beauty snare drum. I am happy to say that the Roberts toms fit right in with these other vintage drums. They had the same tonality, warmth and darkness that I've been after. The only difference was that my toms had just a touch more punch and presence. Everyone (musicians and non-musicians alike) who heard them were very, very impressed. This, of course, makes me very, very happy!
The Hybrid Kit at Lakeside Church:
Production Update #3: The Kick Drum
The last drum that I began working on was the 14"x24" kick drum. I saved this one for last because it was the largest of the drums and I needed to be able to really focus hard during production due to several extra little production processes (like staining the kick drum hoops).
The process was the same as the other two drums: wrap, layout, check measurements several times, drill, finish the interior and assembly. Wrapping this large of a drum has to be done with two pieces of the wrap material (the wrap manufacturer cannot produce one sheet of the wrap to cover this large of a drum). Overall it turned out well. There are two overlapping seams on this drum instead of one - and one of the two seams is not aligned perfectly - similar to the rack tom. Again this problem was solved with the careful use of my utility knife.
The interior finishing, assembly (including the vintage-style Ludwig gullwing bass drum spurs) and badge installation went off without a hitch.
I am currently not quite finished with the kick drum, however, I'm on the downward side of the hill. I have ordered a custom Roberts Drum Company bass drum logo head - which arrived a few weeks ago. However, the printing quality left a lot to be desired. So I am working on getting the head reprinted.
The very last process that is still in production are the bass drum hoops. These are wooden rims that hold the heads in place. These hoops have a small groove cut out of the middle of them in order to allow an inlay strip of the silver sparkle wrap to be installed. The hoops are standed and ready for staining.
But I was not always going to stain them. Initially, I was going to paint them with satin enamel spraypaint - to match what the old vintage Ludwig drums looked like. However, after many days of testing on scrap shell material, I could not come up with a professional-looking result. So I turned to staining. The hoops will be stained with an oil-based Ebony finish that allows the wood grain to show through. It will have a satin/semi gloss finish to it and should add a nice "hand-crafted" touch to the kit. The hoops will still feature the silver sparkle inlay strip.
I sanded the hoops last night and will begin the staining process later this evening. It should take a few days to complete the staining/finishing of the hoops - which means that the kit (minus the custom bass drum head) will most likely be completed this weekend!
Here are some kick drum production pics:
The process was the same as the other two drums: wrap, layout, check measurements several times, drill, finish the interior and assembly. Wrapping this large of a drum has to be done with two pieces of the wrap material (the wrap manufacturer cannot produce one sheet of the wrap to cover this large of a drum). Overall it turned out well. There are two overlapping seams on this drum instead of one - and one of the two seams is not aligned perfectly - similar to the rack tom. Again this problem was solved with the careful use of my utility knife.
The interior finishing, assembly (including the vintage-style Ludwig gullwing bass drum spurs) and badge installation went off without a hitch.
I am currently not quite finished with the kick drum, however, I'm on the downward side of the hill. I have ordered a custom Roberts Drum Company bass drum logo head - which arrived a few weeks ago. However, the printing quality left a lot to be desired. So I am working on getting the head reprinted.
The very last process that is still in production are the bass drum hoops. These are wooden rims that hold the heads in place. These hoops have a small groove cut out of the middle of them in order to allow an inlay strip of the silver sparkle wrap to be installed. The hoops are standed and ready for staining.
But I was not always going to stain them. Initially, I was going to paint them with satin enamel spraypaint - to match what the old vintage Ludwig drums looked like. However, after many days of testing on scrap shell material, I could not come up with a professional-looking result. So I turned to staining. The hoops will be stained with an oil-based Ebony finish that allows the wood grain to show through. It will have a satin/semi gloss finish to it and should add a nice "hand-crafted" touch to the kit. The hoops will still feature the silver sparkle inlay strip.
I sanded the hoops last night and will begin the staining process later this evening. It should take a few days to complete the staining/finishing of the hoops - which means that the kit (minus the custom bass drum head) will most likely be completed this weekend!
Here are some kick drum production pics:
Kick drum being wrapped.
Wrap process completed.
Kick drum after drilling.
Fully assembled 14"x24" kick drum with no heads.
Ebony stain sample (in the sun).
Ebony stain sample (in the shade).
Production Update #2: The Floor Tom
The second drum that underwent production was the 16"x16" floor tom. It was alread sanded down (see previous post) so I began with the exterior wrapping process. This time around, I got the overlapping wrap seams to line up on the money. The wrapping process for this drum went a little faster than the rack tom - due to the fact that I had one wrapped drum under my belt already and felt more comfortable with the process.
After wrapping the drum, the production process pretty much followed the 9"x13" Rack Tom: layout, check, double-check, triple-check, check against all hardware fittings, drill very carefully, finish interior of the shell, assemble, install badge and heads.
The only difference for this drum is that I had to install 3 extra brackets and legs in order for this drum to stand on its own. This proved to be pretty easy - the most difficult part was deciding exactly where the brackets/legs would be positioned on the drum.
I did have a moment of sheer terror while working on this drum. During the badge installation, somehow the badge spun almost 90 degrees counter clockwise while I was installing the air vent grommet. Luckily, the contact cement had not fully cured and I was able to carefully rotate the badge back into place and tighten the grommet down before the cement hardened. Whew! That was a close one!
Here are the production photos of the 16"x16" floor tom:
After wrapping the drum, the production process pretty much followed the 9"x13" Rack Tom: layout, check, double-check, triple-check, check against all hardware fittings, drill very carefully, finish interior of the shell, assemble, install badge and heads.
The only difference for this drum is that I had to install 3 extra brackets and legs in order for this drum to stand on its own. This proved to be pretty easy - the most difficult part was deciding exactly where the brackets/legs would be positioned on the drum.
I did have a moment of sheer terror while working on this drum. During the badge installation, somehow the badge spun almost 90 degrees counter clockwise while I was installing the air vent grommet. Luckily, the contact cement had not fully cured and I was able to carefully rotate the badge back into place and tighten the grommet down before the cement hardened. Whew! That was a close one!
Here are the production photos of the 16"x16" floor tom:
Wrapped shell.
Drilled shell.
Assembly.
Completed Rack Tom & Floor Tom.
Completed Rack Tom & Floor Tom.
Production Update #1 - Rack Tom
From the beginning, I had decided to produce this kit one drum at a time. Normally, a drum builder would do all the processes for each drum at the same time - like sand all the shells, wrap all the drums, drill all the drums etc. But I wanted to be able to give each individual drum the attention it deserved. This would also allow me to hone my building knowledge as the kit moved through the production process.
I started with the 9"x13" rack tom. It was the smallest drum (read - the least expensive to replace should anything go wrong) and required the least amount of hardware, assembly etc. It seemed like a good place to start. I started by taking stock of all the materials I had rec'd - to ensure that I was not missing any important parts. Turns out that the suppliers I used were on the money - I was not missing a single thing!
The first thing that needs to be done is shell sanding. I took an afternoon and sanded all the shells (the only production process that I performed on all three drums together). The sanding is done to enable the finishing process (wrap on the outside and a satin oil finish on the inside) to be completed later during production. Once I was satisfied with the feel of the shells, I moved on to wrapping the outside of the shell with the Silver Sparkle wrap.
I learned that wrapping the shell(s) is not quite as easy as I anticipated. No matter how much time I spent lining up the wrap, it always ended up just a bit crooked where the two ends of the wrap overlapped. However, I was able to trim up this slight misalignment with my utility knife to make the overlap look more uniform.
After wrapping the shell comes layout for drilling. Here's where all the high school and college math comes in handy. I measured and marked all of my holes to be drilled, then double and triple-checked them. Then checked them again against all of the hardware to be installed.
Once the layout was done, drilling begain. Going slow and steady is the key here. That and starting with a small drill bit and gradually increasing the bit size until you get to the desired sized hole. This took a while - but I ended up with the perfect sized holes for all the hardware.
The result? The drum assembled with no problems what-so-ever! I decided to do a few small things during assembly to make these drums "that much better". Things like using Locktite on the hardware screws so that the hardware fittings wont loosen up over time. And packing the lugs with cotton pieces, to ensure a pure tonality from each drum. The tom took about an hour to assemble. The last part of the assembly process before putting on the drumheads is the badge installation. I affixed the badge to the drum using contact cement - then reinforced it with the air vent grommet - for a very vintage vibe.
Check out these photos for a step-by-step view of the rack tom production:
I started with the 9"x13" rack tom. It was the smallest drum (read - the least expensive to replace should anything go wrong) and required the least amount of hardware, assembly etc. It seemed like a good place to start. I started by taking stock of all the materials I had rec'd - to ensure that I was not missing any important parts. Turns out that the suppliers I used were on the money - I was not missing a single thing!
The first thing that needs to be done is shell sanding. I took an afternoon and sanded all the shells (the only production process that I performed on all three drums together). The sanding is done to enable the finishing process (wrap on the outside and a satin oil finish on the inside) to be completed later during production. Once I was satisfied with the feel of the shells, I moved on to wrapping the outside of the shell with the Silver Sparkle wrap.
I learned that wrapping the shell(s) is not quite as easy as I anticipated. No matter how much time I spent lining up the wrap, it always ended up just a bit crooked where the two ends of the wrap overlapped. However, I was able to trim up this slight misalignment with my utility knife to make the overlap look more uniform.
After wrapping the shell comes layout for drilling. Here's where all the high school and college math comes in handy. I measured and marked all of my holes to be drilled, then double and triple-checked them. Then checked them again against all of the hardware to be installed.
Once the layout was done, drilling begain. Going slow and steady is the key here. That and starting with a small drill bit and gradually increasing the bit size until you get to the desired sized hole. This took a while - but I ended up with the perfect sized holes for all the hardware.
The result? The drum assembled with no problems what-so-ever! I decided to do a few small things during assembly to make these drums "that much better". Things like using Locktite on the hardware screws so that the hardware fittings wont loosen up over time. And packing the lugs with cotton pieces, to ensure a pure tonality from each drum. The tom took about an hour to assemble. The last part of the assembly process before putting on the drumheads is the badge installation. I affixed the badge to the drum using contact cement - then reinforced it with the air vent grommet - for a very vintage vibe.
Check out these photos for a step-by-step view of the rack tom production:
Materials.
Wrapped Rack Tom shell.
Shell after drilling and interior shell finishing.
Assembly.
Installing the contact cement for the badge.
Badge installation.
Completed 9"x13" Rack Tom!
Apologies
So here it is, almost a month after my last blog posting. And I feel bad. I have not posted any updates of the production status of Phase 1's drumkit. The fact is that I've been working part time and building drums part time - so I've been pretty busy. I've taken photos of the progress - but have failed to sit down and take the time to post them for you all to see.
Your wait is over - I will be posting several blogs today with updates and photos - so please be sure to check it out and have your family and friends do the same.
As always, thank you so much for your continued support!
Brian
Your wait is over - I will be posting several blogs today with updates and photos - so please be sure to check it out and have your family and friends do the same.
As always, thank you so much for your continued support!
Brian
Friday, April 29, 2011
Humble Beginnings
Hello to all of you. Its been a few weeks since I've blogged; and I must apologize for my delay. I've been patiently waiting the arrival of all the various parts and materials needed to begin construction of Phase 1's drumkit. I've also been working full-time (on a temp basis) for my previous employer - so I've been keeping pretty busy.
Just yesterday I rec'd the last shipment of materials needed to begin production of our prototype drumset! I must say, I am uber excited to embark on this adventure! Months and months of research, planning and preperation have all culminated to this point! And I can't wait to get started! My plan is to get started with some test drilling and staining this weekend and to begin actual production next week. Don't worry, we'll be sure to post pics for you all to see and enjoy.
And speaking of pics, here are two for your viewing pleasure: the first one is of our new badge; the second is of the raw 9"x13" rack tom shell.
Enjoy! - Brian
Just yesterday I rec'd the last shipment of materials needed to begin production of our prototype drumset! I must say, I am uber excited to embark on this adventure! Months and months of research, planning and preperation have all culminated to this point! And I can't wait to get started! My plan is to get started with some test drilling and staining this weekend and to begin actual production next week. Don't worry, we'll be sure to post pics for you all to see and enjoy.
And speaking of pics, here are two for your viewing pleasure: the first one is of our new badge; the second is of the raw 9"x13" rack tom shell.
Enjoy! - Brian
Friday, April 15, 2011
...and so IT begins...
Forgive me. I have neglected to blog recently. And we have some big news. I mean BIG news. Thanks to some very generous donations last week, we have raised enough support to begin production on Phase 1 of Roberts Drums! Yes, you heard me correctly - Phase 1 begins RIGHT NOW! You have no idea how excited I am. I can barely contatin myself!
So, I did what any self-respecting new drum builder would do - I purchased all the parts and supplies that I need in order to begin construction! The majority of the parts will be here in the next couple of weeks. However, the special Ludwig lug casings that I needed will be arriving today! Drumheads have also been purchased and are in-hand. And just last night, I ordered the special custom Roberts Drum Company logo bass drum head! I must say, it looks pretty sweet! You will all dig it - trust me.
And in case you were wondering, we are still accepting dontations - should anyone feel like they want to help out. Any future dontations will be set aside for Phase 2 of Roberts Drums - which is more of a marketing phase, and will include a second "demo" drumkit, as well as professional audio samples of our drums for your listening pleasure on our website.
To all of you who have given of your time, energy and resources, I can't tell you enough how grateful and humbled I am by your generousity. Thank you so much for helping to shape this vision of mine. I'll be in touch soon...once the woodshavings start flying!
Brian
So, I did what any self-respecting new drum builder would do - I purchased all the parts and supplies that I need in order to begin construction! The majority of the parts will be here in the next couple of weeks. However, the special Ludwig lug casings that I needed will be arriving today! Drumheads have also been purchased and are in-hand. And just last night, I ordered the special custom Roberts Drum Company logo bass drum head! I must say, it looks pretty sweet! You will all dig it - trust me.
And in case you were wondering, we are still accepting dontations - should anyone feel like they want to help out. Any future dontations will be set aside for Phase 2 of Roberts Drums - which is more of a marketing phase, and will include a second "demo" drumkit, as well as professional audio samples of our drums for your listening pleasure on our website.
To all of you who have given of your time, energy and resources, I can't tell you enough how grateful and humbled I am by your generousity. Thank you so much for helping to shape this vision of mine. I'll be in touch soon...once the woodshavings start flying!
Brian
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sparkles, Glitters & other things that are shiny
I've been doing some research recently on drum finishes. Today there are a myriad of finishes that can be applied to the drumset. There is the satin oil finish, the high-gloss lacquer finish and the wrapped finish. These days, it seems that having just a standard finish is not enough...I continue to see more and more finishes that are becoming custom. Things like inlay stripes, custom paint jobs (like bursts, fades, flames etc.), even custom printed drum wraps are becoming very popular in an effort for drummers to create a unique look for themselves.
As I've been thinking about what drum finishes to offer for Roberts Drums, I've felt torn. I want to offer our customers the ability to customize their vintage-style drums as much as possible while trying to stay true to the integrity of what vintage drums are all about. Pure class. Uunderstated elegance.
My feeling is that even though these custom finishes are cool and "in vogue" for the time being, they will soon just be the flavor of the month...and the drumming community will move on to the next "new and improved" finish option. So I've decided to stick with some classic finishes that have stood the text of time for the last 40-50 years and have never gone out of style. Please check out the image below for the list of over 35 sparkle, pearl, glitter and onyx drum wraps that will be available on all Roberts Drums.
Again, thanks for checking out Roberts Drums. We hope you'll take the time to visit http://www.robertsdrums.com/ to see more of what we are all about.
Brian
As I've been thinking about what drum finishes to offer for Roberts Drums, I've felt torn. I want to offer our customers the ability to customize their vintage-style drums as much as possible while trying to stay true to the integrity of what vintage drums are all about. Pure class. Uunderstated elegance.
My feeling is that even though these custom finishes are cool and "in vogue" for the time being, they will soon just be the flavor of the month...and the drumming community will move on to the next "new and improved" finish option. So I've decided to stick with some classic finishes that have stood the text of time for the last 40-50 years and have never gone out of style. Please check out the image below for the list of over 35 sparkle, pearl, glitter and onyx drum wraps that will be available on all Roberts Drums.
Again, thanks for checking out Roberts Drums. We hope you'll take the time to visit http://www.robertsdrums.com/ to see more of what we are all about.
Brian
Monday, March 28, 2011
More Fundraising Updates...
Hello all. I hope you guys are having a nice Monday afternoon. Just last Thursday, I posted a blog on how we had rec'd $600 in actual donations and were expecting another $500 from a buddy of mine and from my drumset rental. That brought the tentative total to $1100 - about one third of our financial goal.
Well, I am happy and very humbled to say that this Saturday, we rec'd another dontation in the amount of $1000. That's right...I said $1000. Yes, you did read that correctly! I feel so very humbled that this person and his wife felt compelled to give this much towards the vision and the future of Roberts Drums. Even now, several days later...words STILL cannot express my extreme gratitude. Somehow, "thank you" just doesn't seem quite good enough. But I'll say it anyway...THANK YOU!!
So this brings our total to $2100...about TWO thirds of our goal. We're almost there! And be on the lookout for some more exciting updates from Roberts Drums on this blog later in the week. Take care!
Brian
Well, I am happy and very humbled to say that this Saturday, we rec'd another dontation in the amount of $1000. That's right...I said $1000. Yes, you did read that correctly! I feel so very humbled that this person and his wife felt compelled to give this much towards the vision and the future of Roberts Drums. Even now, several days later...words STILL cannot express my extreme gratitude. Somehow, "thank you" just doesn't seem quite good enough. But I'll say it anyway...THANK YOU!!
So this brings our total to $2100...about TWO thirds of our goal. We're almost there! And be on the lookout for some more exciting updates from Roberts Drums on this blog later in the week. Take care!
Brian
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Phase 1 Fundraising Update
So I've been asked a lot by you all just how much we've raise so far for Phase 1. (For more information on Phase 1 details, please view some of our earlier blog posts) So this quick post is to update you all to where we stand donation wise.
So far, it has been a slow but steady influx of donations. We've raised a total of $600 up to this point. We've had some donations from close friends, dontations from complete strangers as well as a large anonymous donation. A good friend of mine recently told me that he was planning on donating very soon. And someone also just rented my own personal drumset from me for a few weeks...with the expressed intent that the rental fee go towards Roberts Drums. So when all of that is said and done, we'll have just about $1,100 - approx. one third of our goal!
I feel so humbled that the Lord is moving people's hearts to give of their hard earned finances and entrusting those funds to me to pursue this vision that God has placed in my heart. It excites me and inspires me to no end! And so I say to all of you who have already donated of your finances...and those of you who will in the near future - THANK YOU for your generousity...I will not let you down!
Brian
So far, it has been a slow but steady influx of donations. We've raised a total of $600 up to this point. We've had some donations from close friends, dontations from complete strangers as well as a large anonymous donation. A good friend of mine recently told me that he was planning on donating very soon. And someone also just rented my own personal drumset from me for a few weeks...with the expressed intent that the rental fee go towards Roberts Drums. So when all of that is said and done, we'll have just about $1,100 - approx. one third of our goal!
I feel so humbled that the Lord is moving people's hearts to give of their hard earned finances and entrusting those funds to me to pursue this vision that God has placed in my heart. It excites me and inspires me to no end! And so I say to all of you who have already donated of your finances...and those of you who will in the near future - THANK YOU for your generousity...I will not let you down!
Brian
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Badges...We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges!
Yes, as a matter of fact, we do! :) The drum badge is what helps give each brand of drums its own identity. Every drum manufacturer has a specific badge that is strategically placed on each drum created so that everyone and their mother can instantly recognize what brand of drums they are.
Back in the day, these badges were small, classy and very understated. Everyone was content to just let their drums do the talking. However, over the years, the drum badge has seemingly become larger and larger. It would appear that the major drum manufacturers and most custom shops feel that they have to force feed their "brand" of drums down everyone's throat.
I am happy to report that is not the case with Roberts Drums. We've been working on designing a badge for our drums that is classic, timeless and just downright cool. It's small, will have a classic brass finish, and will have text and some minimal graphical elements with a 2-D relief (embossed) look. And to give it just the right vintage vibe, we've made sure that our air vent grommet holds the badge in place. (most drum fabricators today have separated their badges and air vents)
And so I give you, the Roberts Drum Company badge design...
Back in the day, these badges were small, classy and very understated. Everyone was content to just let their drums do the talking. However, over the years, the drum badge has seemingly become larger and larger. It would appear that the major drum manufacturers and most custom shops feel that they have to force feed their "brand" of drums down everyone's throat.
I am happy to report that is not the case with Roberts Drums. We've been working on designing a badge for our drums that is classic, timeless and just downright cool. It's small, will have a classic brass finish, and will have text and some minimal graphical elements with a 2-D relief (embossed) look. And to give it just the right vintage vibe, we've made sure that our air vent grommet holds the badge in place. (most drum fabricators today have separated their badges and air vents)
And so I give you, the Roberts Drum Company badge design...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Phase 1 Details
So you've heard me talking alot about "Phase 1" - but I'm sure a lot of you are wondering just what that is. So let me enlighten you. Phase 1 is referring to our first prototype drumset that will help launch Roberts Drums. This drumset will be a hand-crafted replica of a set of 1969 Ludwig Super Classics that is owned by a very good friend of mine.
At the heart of the drums will be Keller's Vintage Mahogany drumshells. These shells are comprised of six total plys of mahogany and poplar with 10 ply maple reinforcing rings. The shells will be outfitted with vintage-style hand-contoured roundover bearing edges. The construction, composition and edges of these shells is very similar to the shells used by WFL / Ludwig back in the 1950's. The poplar wood has a very warm tone and works well with the mahogany, which is also warm and very dark sounding. The combanation of these woods is what gives these shells their mellow and aged sound.
This drumset will be finished in a vintage-style and very classic Silver Sparkle wrap. By itself, this finish looks somewhat understated and to some, boring. But under the lights, the silver sparkles reflect whatever color is shining on it, giving the kit an amazing stage presence. The bass drum hoops will be painted in black with a satin lustre finish and an inlay of the silver sparkle wrap in the center.
The drums will be completed with official Ludwig hardware, such as their large classic lugs, classic-style floor tome legs/brackets and gullwing bass drum spurs. As a finishing touch, the drums will sport small vintage-style Roberts Drums badges in an antique brass appearance - to round out the overall classic vibe.
Once we have completed our fundraising and production on this kit begins, we will be posting photos on this blog regularly - so please be sure to check back often for updates! Until next time...
Brian
At the heart of the drums will be Keller's Vintage Mahogany drumshells. These shells are comprised of six total plys of mahogany and poplar with 10 ply maple reinforcing rings. The shells will be outfitted with vintage-style hand-contoured roundover bearing edges. The construction, composition and edges of these shells is very similar to the shells used by WFL / Ludwig back in the 1950's. The poplar wood has a very warm tone and works well with the mahogany, which is also warm and very dark sounding. The combanation of these woods is what gives these shells their mellow and aged sound.
This drumset will be finished in a vintage-style and very classic Silver Sparkle wrap. By itself, this finish looks somewhat understated and to some, boring. But under the lights, the silver sparkles reflect whatever color is shining on it, giving the kit an amazing stage presence. The bass drum hoops will be painted in black with a satin lustre finish and an inlay of the silver sparkle wrap in the center.
The drums will be completed with official Ludwig hardware, such as their large classic lugs, classic-style floor tome legs/brackets and gullwing bass drum spurs. As a finishing touch, the drums will sport small vintage-style Roberts Drums badges in an antique brass appearance - to round out the overall classic vibe.
Once we have completed our fundraising and production on this kit begins, we will be posting photos on this blog regularly - so please be sure to check back often for updates! Until next time...
Brian
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Welcome
Welcome to the official blog of Roberts Drum Company! We are glad that you chose to visit us today. This blog will be dedicated to keeping you informed with up-to-date information on the current happenings at Roberts Drums. We encourage you to come back and visit often as we will be posting weekly updates (including pictures) during the production of our first prototype drumset.
Also, if you have not had an opportunity to check out our website, please do so at http://www.robertsdrums.com/. There, you'll discover the vision of Roberts Drums and how you can help make it a reality.
Lastly, just a quick update on our Phase 1 fundraising: so far, we've collected approx. $600 of our needed $3500. So encourage those you know to visit our website and consider dontating towards our vision of creating Modern Drums With A Vintage Soul!
Brian Roberts
Also, if you have not had an opportunity to check out our website, please do so at http://www.robertsdrums.com/. There, you'll discover the vision of Roberts Drums and how you can help make it a reality.
Lastly, just a quick update on our Phase 1 fundraising: so far, we've collected approx. $600 of our needed $3500. So encourage those you know to visit our website and consider dontating towards our vision of creating Modern Drums With A Vintage Soul!
Brian Roberts
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