Thank you for the purchase of an eBridge internal drum trigger assembly.
What you will need available for installation
Lug wrench
Phillips screwdriver – various lengths could be helpful
Small Needle Nose Plier – needed for careful tightening of the wire-end Quick Connects
Small Flat Screwdriver – small enough to slide into and loosen the wire-end Quick Connects
Straight edge ruler, level, etc. that is very straight and longer than your largest diameter drum
Other tools as needed for your drums’ specific hardware
Decisions to-be-determined before Starting
There are a couple of decision points to be made along the way, so we’ll cover them now for you to decide or ponder.
Panel-mount 1/4” Jack Placement - your conversion can take a couple different approaches with respects to the female/male 1/4” jack connection. Ideally, you are planning to install the jack as a shell mount so you can “plug-in” on the external side of the shell. If you prefer not to install any jacks on the shell, then an inline 36” cabled female jack is available to avoid a shell-mounted jack.
Rim Trigger Option - either you have purchased the optional Rim Trigger A/O or you may have plans to add it later - if you don’t care about it then skip the balance of this paragraph. The significance of adding it now or later is in the placement of the Rim Trigger L-bracket near your “primary rim-shot zone.” This zone is simply the area of the rim where you will want a more sensitive (accented) rim-shot to take place. The rim trigger will pick-up a rim shot all around the rim but is more effective & sensitive closer to the actual strike zone. Place the rim trigger L- bracket between both hands rim shot zones and 1-inch below the bearing edge. As a reminder, the rim trigger a/o option comes with a 14” wire lead, so the 1/4” jack location needs to be within reach.
Post Conversion Head Usage – since an acoustic-to-electronic conversion normally involves the switch to a mesh head (in place of the top batter Mylar head), but is not always the case (some stay with their Mylar heads), I am not going to distinguish between Mylar or mesh in these installation instructions – a head is a head. Please read about the merits of using a mesh head near the end of this document.
First things First
- ALL eBridge lengths are cut 2” shorter/drum diameter
- ALL Piezo’s are adhered to surface with solder points facing up; small dia. adhesive is bottom; 3M adhesive is top surface to adhere OctaCone to after removing 3M & OctaCone adhesive protections.
- Don’t ask for ideal module settings or the like – no such thing exists as your DIY conversion is unique to your project and will require you to test and adjust module parameter settings to find your ideal settings. Preset selection should be a Roland PD-1XX (ie. 100, 105, 120, 125, 128, etc), an industry standard.
The Piezo wires are soldered with the “white highlighted” wire (very subtle marking) to the Ceramic Center and the “non-marked” wire to the Brass Ring of the piezo. See wiring diagram at end of instructions – two polarity options to test per your module’s polarity preference – test both and go with the option that delivers best trigger performance while testing. Match white highlighted wire on piezo(s) with red wire in the diagram. Note the Rim Trigger connects the same in both diagram option A & B – only the Head Piezo switches polarity.
Rule #1 ~ Patience, reading install instructions or watching a video first. You should set aside enough time to comfortably proceed on the installation of these internal trigger assemblies so it is done right, with no errors, and you enjoy yourself along the way – after all, you are about to altar your acoustic “pride and joy.” These eBridge assemblies enable a much easier, quicker, convenient acoustic drum conversion, eliminating dozens of hours if not days of personal R&D work, not to mention the countless trips and time spent sourcing the parts in hardware stores and on the internet.
With nearly 15-years of development, innovations and refinement through thousands of installer- feedbacks, you have purchased the most durable and dynamic after-market A2E conversion trigger assembly. You will need to have the appropriate amount of patience (based on your handyman skill level and aptitude for projects such as this) to complete the installation per drum, put the kit back together with electronic percussion module hook-up, AND fine-tuning the “physical and software” trigger performance on each drum and within your modules parameter settings.
Let’s get started...
The first drum will take the longest and you’ll become more proficient with each drum. Converting multiple drums? - convert your snare last as you will want the most precision on that drum.
Remove top hoop and head on your drum. Remove bottom if you’ll be drilling the shell for any reason.
Orient the drum in front of you as though it was mounted on your kit and you are seated at your throne. Depending on how you want the patch cable to connect to the drum, address TBD #1 above now. If adding the Rim Trigger option, address TBD #2 above now. Ultimately, consider these points on all of your drums, especially the toms where you may want a uniform orientation of the eBridge inside each drum. Do you want them all to be oriented in the same direction? Is it possible for uniform orientation based upon your 1/4” jack decision and the lug hardware characteristics of each drum?
The eBridge comes with the L-brackets pre-installed; they are adjustable and can easily be moved outward on both ends to match the inner-diameter of the drum. Loosen the hardware where the L-brackets connect to the U-channel Rubber Isolation Dampener so the assembly will match the diameter of your drum when screwed onto the shell via the lug bolts. With your decided orientation in mind, remove the appropriate lug bolt on each side and then place the eBridge into the shell and reinstall the lug bolts to about 80% tightness (tight enough to hold the eBridge in place, but loose enough that you can still make vertical adjustments). Most standard lugs and the two bolts center-to-center are spaced wider than the L-bracket slot width so you’ll only be able to use one bolt per lug. Or if both bolts just fit, you may not have the needed vertical height adjustment to best position the OctaCone tip slightly above the bearing edge. Shallow shell piccolo snares may have lugs with both lug bolts much closer to each other than traditional lugs. These narrow center-to-center lugs may require both bolts to be removed and reinstalled on the L-bracket in order to get the proper height placement out of the eBridge assembly.
Place the foam Piezo/OctaCone on top of the height-adjustable elevator platform (eBridge sticker can be left in place) - DON’T remove the foam tape backing on the adhesives/OctaCone just yet. Please note that the Piezo/OctaCone is situated on an elevator platform that will allow for vertical micro adjustments. The wing nut under the platform tightens and secures the elevator bolt platform to the U-channel. Loosen the wing nut a little when raising OR lowering the elevator platform, OR if you desire to reposition the platform laterally. Centered in the drum is best! Tighten up the wing nut when the vertical height adjustment is ideal to lock it into place.
Place your straight edge across the shells bearing edge, roughly parallel to the eBridge, verify and adjust (macro) the eBridge up/down so the cone tip is above the plane of the head by about 1/16” (2-3mm). Double check the levelness of the eBridge, the L-bracket positions are below the top beveled edge and the cone tip height still exceeds the head plane by about 1/16” (2-3mm). Once all is good, tighten up the lug bolts to secure the vertical height of the assembly and then the L-bracket/U-channel interface hardware. Ensure the eBridge is level on all measures and the Piezo/OctaCone tip is ideal, and then double-check all the hardware to ensure it is all secure. Don’t over-tighten the L-bracket wing-nut connection to the Rubber Isolation Dampener - snug, but not so tight as to damage the rubber dampener.
Time to connect - See wiring diagram at end of instructions and start with Option A. If using the Rim Trigger A/O, I may have installed a Piggyback Quick Connect on the “non-marked” wire that can accept the Quick Connect of the Head Piezo – this Piggyback Quick Connect is only installed if “Not” ordering the 1/4” Long Stem Jack, otherwise see 1/4” jack images at end of instructions. Time to remove the foam tape backing from the bottom of the Head Piezo, center it over the elevator platform and stick it onto that platform. Finally, place/center the OctaCone onto the 3M adhesive topside after removing both adhesive backings.
Now is a good time for a head and optional rim trigger check on both polarity connections, Option A & B. With your module, plug it into the appropriate module input and give it a finger-tip tap test. Test the head trigger and optional rim trigger for triggering consistency at different levels of tap velocity on Option A – you can use a stick to the side of the shell to test Rim Trigger. Reminder – YOUR module’s performance settings may need software customization. This Option A TEST is to determine if, A) the head is triggering when tapped, and B) the optional rim trigger is triggering when shell is struck. Repeat this test after switching the head trigger polarity to Option B (Rim connections don’t change between A & B). Ultimately settle on the Option best suited for your module.
Remember – there are a couple variables at play to further finetune a drums trigger performance. The eBridge electronic trigger is being “Physically” finetuned AND your module will need “Software” finetuning as well. Please rely on your module’s operations manual for any & all module software finetuning efforts. The job of the eBridge (or any electronic trigger assembly for that matter) is to pick-up a head strike and send a signal of varied strength to the module – what happens next, is in the programming (and parameter settings) of the module. The head Piezo/OctaCone should only trigger from a strike to the head, since that piezo picks up the energy wave only through the foam OctaCone and generally doesn’t cross-trigger on the eBridge because of the Rubber Isolation Dampener and the fact that the head piezo is controlled by the OctaCone’s 100% adhesion to its top surface.
As you begin to reinstall the top head and hoop, ensure you have an OctaCone tip slightly protruding into the head as the head seats onto the beveled edge. As a reminder, the assembly & Piezo/OctaCone can be adjusted vertically in either a macro or micro manner, if the OctaCone tip-to-head contact is not adequate. Reinstall the head and hoop and finetune the tension.
Once all drums have completed steps 1-7, you are essentially done with this phase of your conversion. The adjustment variables on the eBridge installation are OctaCone tip pressure AND head tension – finetune them both to your liking. However, “extreme head tension looseness or tightness” can have a negative trigger impact.
For your bass drum, this special eBridge assembly comes with a 5” diameter beater pillow installed on it and this assembly is best installed in a near-vertical orientation with Piezo/OctaCone above the beater pillow. The beater pillow should set about 1/32” (1mm) below the cone tip and it should be fairly flush with the head plane height. In other words, the beater pillow will lightly contact the head and the OctaCone tip will be slightly compressed into the head. You can raise or lower the beater pillow height by rotating the pillow plate. The purpose of the beater pillow is to dampen/soften the bass drum residual sounds of the head and improve impact/rebound feel of the beater – adjust accordingly. The position of the Piezo/OctaCone riser platform is often ideal at “half the distance” between the beater pillow and the shell, however some like it much closer to the beater pillow and this dynamic will vary from conversion to conversion. Experimentation is always encouraged and you decide what is best for your conversion project and playing style/preference.
Merits of Mesh Heads & Rim Condom’s
One of the primary reasons for converting an acoustic drum to electronic is to eliminate acoustic sound, in addition to adding a limitless world of digital sounds with analog/digital projection, mixing and recording capabilities to your acoustic kit. While all acoustic sounds cannot be eliminated 100%, let’s just say a full conversion gets you 80+% there. Pure electronic kits still produce a level of sound that cannot be entirely eliminated. The use of mesh heads do eliminate most resonant head sounds, yet provide the “feel” you expect out of a drumhead. There are single-ply, 2-ply (2 layers) and more recently, 3-ply (3 layers) mesh heads available. The mesh filament material, thickness, weave and other proprietary traits all produce a different feel, trigger performance and level of durability. If you have completed your conversion without plans for converting your Mylar heads to mesh, you might consider buying one mesh head for testing on one drum (probably your snare) and see what you think. The newest 3-ply mesh heads sold at ufodrums.com is the closest thing to playing on a Mylar head.
Rim Condom is a fun name for the boring rubber rim protector that protects your sticks, your hoop/rim and eliminates most of the acoustic rim shot sounds – It completes the electronic conversion and is a nice finish to Silence and Protect your Rim & Sticks!
Please leave a review of my products – eBridge; Rim Condom; 3-ply Mesh Head – on the product pages at UFODrums.com.
Appendix:
Images included in email after purchase
