Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

On Fri, 8 Nov 2002 01:20:10 -0500, you wrote:


>I didn't have the manuals or anything to go on either, so I just put it
>together by looking at pictures at places like the Yamaha website, and
>online stores (musiciansfriend.com and such)... It's really not
>difficult to put together if you see a picture of it assembled. And
>besides, you don't even have to put it together how they want you to.
>It's your drum set, so you get to customize it for however it works best
>for you :).

Only thing I'll add to that...

Tear the rack down to the legs, and start over.  Measure the distances
between fittings on one side and duplicate them at the other side.
This will save you from looking at it later and realizing it's
crooked, and readjusting it.  Mine was a floor model.  The guy that
put it together must have been stoned.

Make sure that your 45 degree supports are supporting the main upright
legs, and the tubes that supports your snare and floor tom.

The other thing I found was that in all the pictures you see, they
have the two main uprights tee'd into the support feet right to the
front most end.  I moved that tee back about 7 inches and I feel it
gives the rack a little more stability front to back.  This also
allows you more room for pedals because less of the feet are in the
way.

As the original poster said, you can customize it however you see fit.
I must have moved things around 20 times before I got just right.  I
also cut the length of the tubes that support the snare and floor
toms, to their shortest possible length.  The snare tube kept hitting
my left knee.  You can also eliminate the small vertical tubes that
the toms are mounted on.  All three of mine are mounted straight from
a tee to the main tube.  This allows you to have your toms set flatter
(if you prefer them that way) and gives you a few extra short tubes
and tee fittings to play with.

TP60 pads can be had pretty cheap on ebay, I got one for $30 after
shipping.  They make great ride cymbals.  If you set the toms up the
way I described, you'll have everything you need to mount the extra
pad as a ride, except the CLHex rod, witch you can get from Drumbalaya
for $10 shipped.  I use the ride cymbal pad (PCY60) for a crash now,
so I have two crashes (one stereo) and a ride.  Eventually I'll add a
bell trigger and that will use up all of the trigger inputs.

Good luck, and be creative.



Jim Tonak
ratzo@...