"Realistic" Hi Hat idea suggestions invited

[dmitri]

A few notes about piezo/switch dual/tripple zone pads/cymbals:

1. you won't need (in fact must not) "cool" edge or bell zones.
2. Yamaha PCY-135, PCY-155, PD-80S (and probably all Yamaha dual/triple zone piezo/switch pads/cymbals) are known to be "cool" and also have a built-in trimpot.

[ctasker]

If your interested in building your own cables, you could even put a resistor right inside the connector itself... clean work.

I thought there was an issue that you had to have one resistor or trimpot per edge if you have dual zone cymbals for example.
Does your suggestion of wiring inside the jack enclosure overcome this issue?

That's correct. A dual zone pad or cymbal uses both tip and ring to transmit the data, and a resistor would have to be put in line on each. Resistors are small enough to fit inside an enclosure of a 1/4" jack.

I chose to build a 'patchbay' of sorts instead for adjustability.

Basically I/O in the back of a rack and 2 pots, one for bow and one for edge to adjust my resistance accordingly. Everson has also done something similar, you can see in his build photos.

Wow hardcore. So that is a separate rack unit? So you run each cable in the top and out the bottom and then into your Megadrum or how does it work?
That is pretty elaborate.

[ctasker]

Or you could use this approach ...

This looks doable but a bit hard to see the exact connections of what to solder to what to the uninitiated.
A labeling superimposed on the images themselves would have been ideal.

[ctasker]

A few notes about piezo/switch dual/tripple zone pads/cymbals:

1. you won't need (in fact must not) "cool" edge or bell zones.
2. Yamaha PCY-135, PCY-155, PD-80S (and probably all Yamaha dual/triple zone piezo/switch pads/cymbals) are known to be "cool" and also have a built-in trimpot.

Hi Dmitri,
Great forum.
That would seem to make life a bit easier. So I would need a single trimpot/resistor variant to the divider link posted by Everson for all the roland
cymbals (provided I installed it on the correct line) but would be good to go with the yamaha pad.

So I might need the double trimpot cable for the Jobeky snare and toms and maybe for the Roland kick pad too.

Would it be possible to install these inside the Megadrum for the sake of neatness with the cabling?

[dmitri]

That would seem to make life a bit easier. So I would need a single trimpot/resistor variant to the divider link posted by Everson for all the roland
cymbals (provided I installed it on the correct line) but would be good to go with the yamaha pad.

I cannot tell for sure about Roland cymbals. They might be "cool" enough as well. Also, if you have not committed to Roland cymbals yet and you are after 3 zone cymbals, I would suggest to go with Yamaha cymbals. Besides being quite "cool" and having a built-in trimpot, they also use only one stereo cable/jack, whereas Roland 3 zone cymbals use 2 stereo cables/jacks without any extra functionality.

So I might need the double trimpot cable for the Jobeky snare and toms and maybe for the Roland kick pad too.

Would it be possible to install these inside the Megadrum for the sake of neatness with the cabling?

Sorry I don't do it. You'd better go with a MegaDrum kit in this case and use your own enclosure.

[ctasker]

That would seem to make life a bit easier. So I would need a single trimpot/resistor variant to the divider link posted by Everson for all the roland
cymbals (provided I installed it on the correct line) but would be good to go with the yamaha pad.

I cannot tell for sure about Roland cymbals. They might be "cool" enough as well. Also, if you have not committed to Roland cymbals yet and you are after 3 zone cymbals, I would suggest to go with Yamaha cymbals. Besides being quite "cool" and having a built-in trimpot, they also use only one stereo cable/jack, whereas Roland 3 zone cymbals use 2 stereo cables/jacks without any extra functionality.

So I might need the double trimpot cable for the Jobeky snare and toms and maybe for the Roland kick pad too.

Would it be possible to install these inside the Megadrum for the sake of neatness with the cabling?

Sorry I don't do it. You'd better go with a MegaDrum kit in this case and use your own enclosure.

I hear ya regarding the Yamaha's, that is what I would definitely buy for the upgrade pads, probably 2 PCY 155s for Ride and Hi Hat.
I already have 4 roland cymbal pads which came with my original TD-3 kit, probably fine for crashes but I would like to get better
size and feel for the ride and hi hat given they are the most important cymbals.

Hmmm, don't think I'm up for a total Megadrum build, I'm already out of my depth with the mods.
I don't know which end of a soldering iron is which but I guess I'll figure that out soon enough

So I take it the standard Megadrum enclosure is too small to try and fit the trim pots in there? Pity
I was just thinking that the only time you would need to touch them was in the initial setup, after that
you dont even need to see them. Would you consider that as a future add-on component in future versions of Megadrum?
Seems to me if you could have it all inside one case it would be damn near perfect.

[ibanman555]

Wow hardcore. So that is a separate rack unit? So you run each cable in the top and out the bottom and then into your Megadrum or how does it work?
That is pretty elaborate.

That's exactly how it works. It's the easiest way to do it in my opinion, and like I said earlier, keeps things clean. It made more sense to do it this way for the ability to adjust and go back to normal if I needed to. Definitely a test bench type of deal tho, but I like it.

I got the blank 2 space rack and the 100k pots and stereo 1/4" jacks all on Ebay for under $100. Basic electronics for wiring it up.

[everson]

So I take it the standard Megadrum enclosure is too small to try and fit the trim pots in there? Pity
I was just thinking that the only time you would need to touch them was in the initial setup, after that
you dont even need to see them. Would you consider that as a future add-on component in future versions of Megadrum?
Seems to me if you could have it all inside one case it would be damn near perfect.

I`ve done something like that ...

[ctasker]

So I take it the standard Megadrum enclosure is too small to try and fit the trim pots in there? Pity
I was just thinking that the only time you would need to touch them was in the initial setup, after that
you dont even need to see them. Would you consider that as a future add-on component in future versions of Megadrum?
Seems to me if you could have it all inside one case it would be damn near perfect.

I`ve done something like that ...

Just looked at your pics and videos, you don't do half measures do you Very impressive looking setup and excellent
work on design and finish. Sounds great too which I guess It better after all of that effort

I have a question on your hall effect hi-hat controller, how does it perform with foot chicks and splashes
can it handle that too?

[dmitri]

So I take it the standard Megadrum enclosure is too small to try and fit the trim pots in there?Pity
I was just thinking that the only time you would need to touch them was in the initial setup, after that
you dont even need to see them. Would you consider that as a future add-on component in future versions of Megadrum?

Small trimpots can be fitted with access from the bottom but I don't have standard design for it and in many cases they're no needed so I don't do this.

Seems to me if you could have it all inside one case it would be damn near perfect.

I still think it's better to be done pfhor's or Yamaha way, i.e. trimpots external to a module, either in a cable or built into a pad/cymbal.