A RETREAT TO THE FORTRESS

It may be unclear as to why this blog is called "The Percussion Fortress Pages" instead of something more appropriate like "The misplacedmtnman's Magnificent M.I.J. Museum."  This post will give me an opportunity to explain.  The real reason I started this blog way back in.....2012?.....was not to showcase my restorations of vintage drums but to document the accumulation of drums, cymbals and percussion items that I was assembling to build "The Fortress," my dream drumset.

I had always wanted to build a big kit with lots of "stuff" like Neil Peart used to have back in the day: one with lots of toms, cymbals, cowbells, blocks, bells and whistles.  You know, "the whole shebang."  Well, when I was younger I had all the energy and ambition but none of the money, so all I could manage was just "some of the shebang."  Now that I am old and fat and have no life, I have been able to collect some of the toys I always wanted, even if I don't play them as often.

Along the way I started accumulating other used drums and learning how to clean them up, so after "The Fortress" got to a certain point I started focusing more on my restorations.  In order to keep track of all these projects, I continued to use this blog to document my progress and things I learned in the process.  And now I am finished documenting the changes to my documentation here.

Today I decided to undertake the massive mission of maneuvering "The Fortress" back out of storage and into the daylight for a photo session.  It occurred to me recently that I never did get a good clear photograph of the set-up back when it was inside my house, and lugging it all outside was a daunting task.  But having loads of free time on my hands at present, I figured it was high time I got this done.

"The Fortress" is a Dark Red Tama Swingstar kit to which I added several Imperialstar pieces to flush it out.  What started out as a basic five-drum set-up grew to a grand nine-piece mega-kit.  Here are the general specs:

ORIGINAL SWINGSTAR 5-PC.

5 x 14" Wood Snare
16 x 22" Bass Drum
9 x 12" Tom
10 x 13" Tom
16 x 16" Floor Tom

IMPERIALSTAR ADD-ONS

7 x 8" Tom
7 x 10" Tom
14 x 14" Floor Tom
16 x 18" Floor Tom

My "Spiral Staircase" arrangement may look a little odd here, but when I start adding cymbals it makes more sense.  I am very right-handed, so I like a lot of cymbals on my right side.

Now if I were to drag out all the bells and blocks and whatnot, things would get really elaborate and complicated.  That, by the way, is why the sub-title at the top of this blog jokes about "Perfectly Placed Percussion Products."  A lot of my focus in the beginning was figuring out how to arrange my set-up to incorporate bar chimes, cowbells, wood blocks, bell trees, triangles and stuff like that.

But after spending several hours lugging this monstrosity out of storage, setting it up in the backyard and then packing it all up again, I realize restoring and playing around with little lightweight Japanese drums is much easier.

I AM EXHAUSTED!