DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

[nemo]

Good to know

[nemo]

Regarding pots and cones: the responsiveness/strength of signal depends so much on different factors, that I recommend use of three pots. This should give you best possible flexibility. In my case I was able to reduce the pots to two only, but it may not work for every build...
And I know the feeling of disappointment, so three pots are the best way to avoid it.

[stringerbell]

Yeah, I remember when I first read AKA Wayne's thread and you started to try and reproduce his build, I shared your disappointment when reading the posts where you (temporarily) gave up after trying so many things and not getting it right. So I will definitely do this then. I will draw a schema for it later and share it here, for reference for others as well as to double check with you that I'm doing it right.

Regarding the pots, I have a few follow up questions for reference on your fine tuning process (all regarding the mesh head):
- do you feel like adjusting the pots has better potential for getting it right than adjusting the cone height? In other words, was your final adjustments when getting to the successful result mostly in changing the pots, or the cone height? (I'm guessing you change one thing at a a time?)
- how small are the margins when adjusting the pots?
-- if you talk about the full pot meter range as 100%, how small of % adjustments were you making during testing?
-- now that you have it set right, how much % can you adjust it + or - while still getting a good result? (I can imagine that you don't want to touch it at all if the margins are small)
- what settings did your pots end up at now roughly? (where 100% is the maximum resistance)
- and what gain in edrumin?

Thanks again for all the feedback, I'm still researching and preparing to do a build, but with more understanding my confidence is growing to the point where I think I'm up for it. I made my very first proof of concept trigger 2 days ago in a PD-100 shell, where i built a simple adjustable platform, connected a single sensor piezo with some foam on it, all from stuff that I had laying around the house, and it worked first time! giant hotspot etc, but it was something

[nemo]

- do you feel like adjusting the pots has better potential for getting it right than adjusting the cone height? In other words, was your final adjustments when getting to the successful result mostly in changing the pots, or the cone height? (I'm guessing you change one thing at a a time?)

Absolutely. I started with cone height, but it was not easy, at some point the cones were dampening the piezos, etc.
So my advice is to follow the general rules: stick only the ceramic part of piezo, so brass can vibrate; make sure the cone is 1-2 mm above the shell, and just stop here. Pots will do the rest.

- how small are the margins when adjusting the pots?
-- if you talk about the full pot meter range as 100%, how small of % adjustments were you making during testing?

That's the point - you don't have to worry about it so much. It's so much easier with pots.
What I did:
First the center - following Rob's recommendations, to make sure it's not too hot and not too cool. Don't worry about hotspot here.
Then the rest of the head piezos with the second pot: you try to get rid of hotspot and keep ps. The additional benefit will be better sensitivity close to the rim
If not satisfied, try to change the tension and start again.

-- now that you have it set right, how much % can you adjust it + or - while still getting a good result? (I can imagine that you don't want to touch it at all if the margins are small)

I'd say about 10%...

- what settings did your pots end up at now roughly? (where 100% is the maximum resistance)
- and what gain in edrumin?

Can't say right now, I'm on vacation (New Zealand) as far from my drumset as possible on this planet (I live in Poland)

But gain, as I mentioned above (center head, first step) , is more or less as Rob recommends, either in user guide or somewhere here in forum.
I guess comparing to my current settings won't help you anyway, because of different tension, piezos, cones, etc.
In case you feel/see the piezos are too hot, you can always use "bigger" pots.

One important thing: make sure you buy linear pots, not logarithmic ones.

[stringerbell]

awesome, I'll definitely follow these guidelines. In the meantime i'm browsing online to buy a nice looking used snare drum, so hard to choose

[stringerbell]

ok after learning more about how 3 terminal pot meters work I now understand how 1 pot meter can balance out different 2 groups, as the potmeter itself effectively also has 2 "groups". It all makes sense now! Still I think I will start with two of them like you suggested.

[stringerbell]

First the center - following Rob's recommendations, to make sure it's not too hot and not too cool. Don't worry about hotspot here.
Then the rest of the head piezos with the second pot: you try to get rid of hotspot and keep ps.

I'm quite surprised that adjusting the pot of the side sensors influences the hotspotting of the middle sensors. Are you sure this is the case when using separate pot meters for these groups?

[nemo]

Yes, I'm pretty sure. Both head groups are connected to the tip of the plug (via pots).

[stringerbell]

First the center - following Rob's recommendations, to make sure it's not too hot and not too cool.

What gain level range would you consider this is in the edrumin? Something like gain = 5 where you have to really hit hard to get a 127?

[stringerbell]

For future reference, I've ordered the following parts to start my attempt on this build with:

- 27mm Piezo's https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CRZ6K69Z
- 20mm adhesive dots for the piezo's: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0BRSY7QR3
- 100k 3 terminal pot meters: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0734N8CMJ
- EVA foam cones: https://www.foamatelier.nl/nl/foam-en-f ... 4-20000978
- Spare drum 3ply mesh head: https://vybedrums.nl/products/sparedrum ... lent-white

I came to the choice of EVA foam cones after consulting ChatGPT about the drum conversion, and since they were fairly cheap I'll see how that turns out. They're too pointy it looks like, so I'll be probably trimming down the tops a bit.
The safer option would probably be to use the same trigmann.de cones as you have, but as it's unclear how much of a factor that plays, and a part of me finds it ridiculous to pay 30,- for a few small pieces of what looks to be recycled foam, I'm giving this a try first.

Initially I'll probably just use a PD-120 shell that I already have, and when I find a nice looking 14 x 6,5 snare that I like I'll probably redo the process.