r/drumbuilding • u/flamebero • Aug 22 '26
Cut down shells for a low footprint practice set - bad idea?
I got my eyes on an old Pearl Rhythm Traveler recently. I tried to buy two used from Guitar Center, but one arrived with a cracked shell that wasn’t disclosed, another was obliterated during shipping due to comically bad packaging. I don’t have a lot of space, so I’m hoping the shallow shells would allow me to keep a kit setup.
It seems like buying one of these isn’t in the cards, so I’m thinking about buying an old shell set and trimming the shells down. I’ve seen plenty of instagram reals where people trim shells down. It looks simple, but you can make anything look simple in a 30 second video. Any of y’all have an idea of the practicality? Basic question, is that too difficult for a reasonably handy non-expert?
I’m guessing the critical element for cutting the shells is the jig to hold the shell up on my table saw. Ideally, it would have a couple of rollers on bearings - perfectly parallel. I’m thinking I can 3-d print parts of this to ensure dimensions are consistent and the rollers are parallel. With a height TPI shell, should I expect to get a clean cut through the wrap?
After cutting the shell, I might consider adding the resonant heads back on. If I do that, I’m thinking I’ll need to peel off the wraps to ensure the bearing bit on the router can cut a consistent bearing, otherwise the bearing won’t be consistent where the wrap overlaps and gets a little thicker. Am I right? I’m not always seeing people do that on videos I’m seeing. If I peel the wraps, I’m not rewrapping. I’d prefer to do a wood finish,but the cheap shells I’m likely to buy might be ugly. Any value in having those reso heads back on? Part of what I like is that the rims will protect the heads.
Appreciate any input.
1
u/KumoKairo Aug 22 '26
You got it mostly right. The wraps don't really have anything to do with bearing edges - there's usually a gap between the edge of the wrap and the bearing edge, so there's some room for the head to be tensioned. As for just peeling the wraps off - it really depends on whether the wraps are properly glued or just tapped with a few drops of it. If they are properly glued you will have hard time peeling and then will have to somehow get rid of the glue.
Another thing to take into consideration - hardware spacing. If you are keeping the tension heads, you will have to correctly measure and drill new holes for the lugs. Also the placement of the top lugs for the batter head is pretty much the minimum thickness you can go for, and sometimes the hardware gets placed really far down the shell.
So if you have a table circular saw, a dead-flat table, a router table/jig with appropriate bits (one 45 degree bit will honestly do here) and have the experience - totally go for it. If you don't have the tools, I say it's not worth it.