Building a jungle kit

Do you hate lugging a full-sizekit around to band practiceor small venue gigs? Theanswer may be a jungle kit –and you probably haveeverything you need.This DIY project used a bunchof second-hand, mismatcheddrums, but you can just aseasily use your existing kit.What I used:For this project, I used someGretsch Blackhawk toms: a16”floor tom, a 14” floor tomand a 10” rack tom.The first step for me wascreating a “set” from

mismatched shells and, for that,I turned to Bum Wrap DrumCompany. I have used BumWraps before, but, this time,had a whole new experiencewith their e-commerceplatform. It’s really easy to use.You select a wrap (or createone, as I did), and select the

Building ajungle kit

By Allan Leibowitz

sizes of each drum. There is asubstantial collection ofdesigns, ranging from naturalwood finishes to abalones andpsychedelic designs. In my case,I recreated the finish of my firstdrum kit in Photoshop, workingfrom an original image andcloning the design. I thenemailed that to Bum Wraps andthey worked their magic tocreate the wraps.In the online store, you aregiven the option of slightlysmaller wraps for drums withhoops on both ends, or deeperwraps for single-headed drums.You simply go through, orderingthe sizes you need and then goto your cart and settle up aswith all online purchases.Shipping is cheap andlightening fast, with delivery toAustralia in under two weeks.The wrap is very easy to fit –and it gets easier with practice.You start by removing thehardware. You can take off theold wrap or go over it (which Ichose to do as it’s quicker andeasier). There are detailedinstructions on the website, andall I can add is that you really doneed a decent pair of clamps tohold the wrap in place whileattaching the adhesive-strip

end to the rest of the wrap. Thewrap is held even more snuglyin place by the hardware whenyou reinstall it. The secret hereis to use something sharp topierce the wrap from the insideand then widen the hole using aPhilips head screwdriver fromthe outside. (You can find myreview of the installationprocess here).The hardware:The key to a jungle kit isconverting a floor tom to a kickdrum. You can use any size tom(Sonor makes a kit with a 14”kick), but 16” is the mostcommon. The easiest way toperform the transformation isusing a Pearl Jungle ConversionKit (JG16).

These are available at mostdrum stores or on eBay andcost around $70. For that, youget two legs and a riser. You’llalso need something to mountit on, like a Pearl Omnimountwhich retails for around $40.I found the Pearl mount difficultto attach to some 16” tom rims,

especially when the drum isbeing moved around a lot, andopted instead for a morepermanent solution, attaching atom block to the shell. That’smore stable and half the priceof a removable mount.

I also found the Pearl legs a bittoo small for the Gibraltar floortom mounts, so I changed themounts. Luckily, most tomblocks have thesamedimensionsand I was ableto replace themountswithout drillingnew holes.Obviously, with a jungle kit, theaim is to reduce the number ofpieces you lug around, so Iattached my snare (in this casea 10” Pearl Firecracker –rewrapped with the same

design) to a hi-hat stand andthe hanging tom to a ridecymbal stand.

There are plenty of attachmentsthat one can use, but I chose acouple from myhardware casewith lots offlexibility toallow foraccuratepositioning andangling of thedrums.Heads:One can, of course, use theexisting heads on all the drums,but to get a beefy bass sound, itdoes make sense to replace thebatter head on the 16” tom.After some experimentationwith a cocktail kit, I settled onan Aquarian SuperKick II whichcombines a decent low-endthump with sufficient mufflingto avoid nasty overtones. WhileI had the drum open, I alsoplaced a small towel inside foradditional overtone control.For the other toms, I used dual-

ply clears on the batter sidesand the stock heads on resosides.The snare sports an AquarianModern Vintage coated headwhich really sings on theFirecracker and sounds huge.The results:The jungle kit is certainlycompact and can be carried intwo trips (the floor tom,hanging tom, snare and kickpedal fit into a large bag; whilethe floor tom and two standsare carried in the second trip,along with a cymbal bag).Tuning is obviously important,

and I’ve got the hanging tomand floor tom tuned lower thanusual. With two 10” drums – thesnare and the tom - it’s alsoimportant to tune out anysympathetic resonance. The 16”tom is tuned just past fingertight to get some real low-endthump out of the bass.Obviously, the ultimate sound isdetermined by the quality of theshells and heads – and thetuning. But there’s no doubtthis kit sounds way bigger thanit appears, and with its newBumWraps finish, it certainlylooks the part.Allan Leibowitz is the editor ofdigitalDrummer and his reviews haveappeared in drum magazines globally.