Major Surgery?

Chapagne · Post by **Chapagne** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:20 am

I've got a set of old quads. They appear to have some kind of fiberglass shell and are the kind where the shell curves out at the bottom in an attempt to send the sound forward. It makes the drums look really clunky, like something out of a Blue Man Group set. Plus, they're heavy.

I want to cut the shells at the point where they start to curve. We can always get those deflectors they sell now, which would provide the same effect, but with much less weight. The cut will be at least an inch below the point where any hardware attaches to the shells.

Thoughts? Can this be safely done? Will I ruin the drums?

thunderdrmz · Post by **thunderdrmz** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:06 am

not sure about the sound quality or value of the drums but you have something fairly rare.

I can only speculate on the age of the drums but if I were you I'd save my pennies and get a real set of tenors. You also don't know how they will sound. You could rack the fibes and put them in the pit.

Good luck

Chapagne · Post by **Chapagne** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:59 am

Hmm...not sure of the manufacturer. There was an "S" sticker with a kind of snake on it on the front. Slingerland?

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Fri May 16, 2008 10:08 am

Sounds more like the North drums, ala Blue Devils in the 70's. I wouldn't try to cut them, but you might sell them on eBay and use the money to buy modern tenors.

drumcoachdan · Post by **drumcoachdan** » Fri May 16, 2008 10:38 am

stingray. I believe the drums are stingray. Sound Machine used to have these drums before they ordered their pearls.

cymtech · Post by **cymtech** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:56 am

cutting fiberglass is kinda dangerous...

BDinkel · Post by **BDinkel** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:52 pm

Not only is it highly likely that you'll crack those fiberglass shells if you attempt to cut them, the improvement in the quality of sound produced by those drums wouldn't be anywhere worth the amount of time and effort you put into doing it.

They belong in a museum, not on the field or street. Show me a marching drum with poorer quality than the old Stingray stuff, and I'll be very surprised.

Chapagne · Post by **Chapagne** » Sat May 17, 2008 9:41 pm

I never intended to do it myself.

What museum might be interested? I'm a sucker for old stuff, so I don't think I'll go through with the planned operation. I don't think we would save that much weight anyway. The rims and hardware are all metal and pretty beefy.

Found lots of info on Stingray here. These drums aren't that old:
http://edrumline.com/articles/drumline- ... percussion

SkyDog · Post by **SkyDog** » Sun May 18, 2008 8:44 pm

BDinkel wrote:Show me a marching drum with poorer quality than the old Stingray stuff, and I'll be very surprised.

Early Stingray stuff was actually pretty sturdy. I didn't care for the sound and the drums were way too damn heavy, but the build quality actually wasn't bad. Later versions of their drums had some really poorly redesigned components, though. Their revised lug casing design was particularly bad and failed often under typical marching drum tuning.

You can tell whether you've got older or newer Stringray tenors by looking at the lug casings. If they're all metal, you've probably got the old (better) version. If the lug casings have plastic covers or inserts, you've got the newer (#$%&) version.

Personally, I'd probably put 'em on a stand and use them as a practice set.

Post by **Bandmaster** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:39 pm

If it looks like the old gelcoat was red then they might be the Sound Machine's old drums. I sold them to the Home School Patriots who were based up in the high desert back in 1997. Yes, they were a little on the heavy side but our tenors players liked them. Ike Jackson, instructor at Ayala HS used to play them, ask him about it. I liked their sound projection off the field and the fact they were tuned slightly lower than standard tenors. I got tired of tenors sounding high like snares without the buzz. We had very few problems with the tenors, but the snares were another story... But hey, how can you turn down free drums?

Sound Machine promo shot for StringRay back in 1992

Chapagne · Post by **Chapagne** » Mon May 19, 2008 3:29 pm

I think you nailed it. We bought the quad (plus a matching snare and bass) from a group that was folding up in Barstow. They weren't free, but they were reaaaaaally cheap.