Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "epvk_jahoe" <yahoo@e...> wrote:
The question is whether someone 
> somewhere did the same sort of dissection of the pads as OGD did 
for the Yamaha pads. 
> Does anyone know where to find it on the web, or does anyone know 
what the right 
> combination (including layer thicknes, best kind of foam) should 
be? I've also been looking 
> on the Pintech groups, but couldn't find anything. If all else 
fails, I'll buy a new one to find 
> out. 
> 
> Another point is how to assemble it to the Yamaha rack. I can 
figure out something, but if 
> anyone has experience it will help. 
> 
> Final point is the potmeter that Ed has been mentioning for using 
Pintech pads with the 
> DTXPress brain. What are the specs of such a pot and where do I 
need to solder it. (Ed?)

Hi Erik Paul,

The interior of the Pintech CCs is extremely simple as shipped from 
the factory. There were basically two types--one with a bottom metal 
plate with a slit configuration and one with a slender metal rail 
across the bottom diameter. In each case, a piezo sat at center 
bottom with foam on top of it to make contact with the center of a 
tightened mesh head at the top.  If the foam is inserted properly and 
the head tightened sufficiently, the top of the foam should be 
inconspicuous to the touch--creating a uniformly flat, taut surface 
that allows strikes anywhere on the head to be propagated effectively 
through the foam to the piezo below.  This Roland-type design is 
famous for its "hot spot" at the center, compared to triggering on 
the periphery. To some extent, this is unavoidable; it plays a part 
in positional sensing. But adjustments in playing technique and 
attention to trigger set-up can render it only mildly annoying. 

Pintech has used three different foam shapes to straddle piezo and 
head: the tapered cone, a trapezoid, and the more recent cylindrical 
design. I did a review of the new Pintech trigger assembly, with this 
latest foam, sometime last year, and posted a preliminary report on 
its installation and performance in message # 8347. It might be 
helpful to read. When this new assembly first came out, Pintech was 
willing to send it out to people to install by themselves. Roland, 
however, objected to this tactic (Pintech is a licensee of Roland). 
Now if you want to get upgraded, or repaired, interiors for Pintech 
meshes, you have to either piece them together yourself or send your 
drums to the factory. Obviously, letting Pintech do the work would be 
an option for you, though DIY is much less expensive. I know that 
there was a site that showed the interior of both earlier Pintech 
models, but I can't remember where. I'll work on it.

As you might imagine, e-drum companies are guarded about the specific 
industrial foam that they use. But you might give Pintech a call to 
see whether they'd send you a few columns of it, or at least give you 
a price on the complete factory upgrade. I can't remember the cost. 
In general, the foam should be of the firm, closed-cell variety. Open 
cell foam is too spongy to send a signal and to hold up under the  
battering of drumsticks. One site that I noted at one time for such 
foam is efoamstore.com/default.asp. I know that people have had 
success more recently at www.foamonline.com. 

The Pintech CCs will fit on the Yamaha rack as toms with a simple 
adjustment of the standard-issue clamp's orientation, no?  The snare 
is better-mounted on a separate stand, both to cut down on crosstalk 
from the other pads on the rack and to allow for better positioning. 

I suggest that you get your pads in good working order and test them 
through the module before trying to alter their response.  The pot 
would be a 250k audio taper pot. Looking at the pot from the top, the 
mid-terminal would usually be the one soldered to the incoming plus 
wire and the left terminal to the ground. The right terminal would 
connect to the hot output of the spliced cable. That's how I see it.

Ed