Stone Custom Drum L.L.C.

01/07/2024

https://gofund.me/cac5aa6f

08/22/2020

So, here is some of my shop - two shots one way, one the other. My racks of veneer and ready-to-go shells aren't visible. There is also an office plus storage and assembly space where I add the hardware and heads once the shells are finished.
This is where I get to do what I love to do. The only drag is having to keep it clean.

07/14/2020

Whew! The past few days have been busy ones.
Today I started at 6:45 in the morning and have done everything from making and sanding shells to steam bending eight solid maple reinforcing rings. I even did some welding and sheet metal fabrication. But that’s just a bit of the cool stuff. The uncool stuff is that I had to take wood scraps to the dumpster and also sweep the floor…. 😁 Cheers from sunny Fort Wayne, Indiana.

05/08/2020

Hi everybody. Just a quick note to thank you all for your clicks and comments on my most previous post telling you I was alive and on my way to normal (almost) after a serious fall requiring corrective surgeries some time ago. All those comments really mean a lot to me. Seriously! Today I'm posting photos of some of my original 1950s Slingerland shell-shaping moulds. When I got these they didn't look like this - they were just a pile of pieces; I had to go find out how to assemble and use them. They look funky, huh? When I first saw them I thought I'd bought a disaster. But they work like a dream.

04/01/2020

Just a quick post to let everyone know that despite my silence on this page I am alive and well...and making drums. In fact, I've just had an inquiry from someone in Germany....

As some of you might know, I had a mishap a couple years ago - serious damage to my shoulder requiring operations, and some spinal injury - that put me out of action for a while and slowed me down for some time. But now I'm back. The photo is me a couple years ago...I still look the same today.

I thank Bill Ray very much for his videos keeping this page alive. And to the many of you who comment or Like the page I also send a big thanks. Drums are my life and livelihood, so your support means a lot.

I also remind everyone anywhere in the world that if you want a Stone Custom snare or set of drums, contact me direct - [email protected]

07/23/2018

The real nuts 'n' bolts of making drums have very little to do with wood, tone and finish color. This photo doesn't even begin to reveal the reality! But hey, when we make drums, we make them in a serious way. There is no cookie-cutter anything here at Stone Custom - every drum is assembled by hand from consecutive plies of seasoned wood that is then shaped in our vintage molds using minimal temporary heat (we use a vintage-style radio frequency system to do that). But really, not much would happen without all the stuff you see here. It may look like a load of junk, but without it we'd be lost. 😄

07/03/2018

For Stone drums we use consecutive layers of veneers from the same tree - we number them in sequence, then apply them in sequence. This means there is no need for timbre matching because a set of our drums is made from the same piece of timber. This 'Nature Matched' technique is just one method we use to optimize the resonance of every shell, while also ensuring all our kits contain drums that are naturally matched. We've been doing this for years. The concept was inspired by early stringed instrument makers who matched veneers on various instruments to ensure they sounded compatible with each other when played in ensembles. It's a rather cool idea that really makes a difference.

12/15/2017

JFLY putting the whip on his 14x 3 5/8" Koa / Cherry 🍒 with Ken Ford .

Solo from a Ken Ford show at Centerstage in Atl.

10/28/2017

https://youtu.be/vmlXZG0HmaA

Max Roach Art Blakey Elvin Jones For over 2500 great jazz videos go to: http://www.JazzontheTube.com