How to fix electronic drum triggers

I talk about how to fix the triggers and piezo/contact mics for your electronic drum triggers. This is quite old, now. I will do an update soon, although there has been a lot of progression in drum triggering in the past few years. I appreciate everyone who's watched this video!

#drums #electronicdrums #piezoelectric #drumtrigger

[IreadTheWord]

I fixed my Roland V-Drum kick pad PD-80 with this radio shack part.
Amazing! Thank you. The sensor is very delicate. I had to gently re-solder one of the connections as it's easy to break loose.
Thank you Brian. I really appreciate it.

[PanchoMusicMinion]

Man! ..YOU!...YOU! ..You are the man, I've just bought this audio transducer, and I fixed my problem for just one dollar, but even better, of the wonderful of a "1 buck repair", is the happiness that brings to you, to get your drums back. I'm already start following you on your Youtube channel and also on Instagram. thanks! thanks! thanks so much!, really, for this, and just for this kind of info is why I love internet. And let me tell you what kind of electronic drumset I fixed. I have a Yamaha DTXtreme Drum Wooden pads for the toms and snare, but I don't have the bass drum yet, so I've been playing with a regular bass drum but, with foam inside and the Pearl mesh drumheads, and man!, you don't have and Idea how it feels, like a real drum head, great response, natural rebound and the "trigger" (now the audio transducer) an incredible sensitivity, I can play so soft and it sounds even softly, something that I can't with the regular electronic bass drum( in the past, it was the same, audio transducer, just the same, only that came with the female plug, I bought it as a trigger. And now, for 1 buck, I have superb bassdrum triggered, actually I didn't removed the plastic black cover, because the past it was wearing it, and I wanted to make a test, and it's awesome, so if someone wish to build a kind of electronic drums you just gave the great tip. thanks again!

[Zundaaa]

Great video - thanks!
For Stripping the wires, my father (he is an electrician) showed me to use a lighter to heat up the part you want to strip of for a second. It makes it much easier to remove without causing any damage to the things connected. :)

[brianbotkiller]

Hey Chris, thanks! I'm glad that it helped. Yeah, it's a silly thing. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of new tech for this kind of stuff, I replace my snare one usually every month and a half or so.

[ogredad]

brian botkiller (Interesting moniker!) I really appreciate the video. The TP 120 3 zone snare on my 13 year old Yamaha DTXpress III started acting weird. The head and rim started sounding alike. When I reset the rim sound, the head changed to the same sound, and vice-versa. I thought it was the module and got one cheap on eBay ($52 - Great Deal!) I discovered that the snare was bad after connecting the original 8" 3 zone snare to the module snare input on both modules. The eBay seller of the module stated that he didn't know if it worked. If I decide to unload it I should at least double my money since I know it works, whew! Excuse me while I take a breath, lol. Thanks again bro! Great video. - Bob

[donniecanup]

Thanks for the video man. I fixed my Alesis Surge kick pedal with the help of your video. I bought this set used, but only a few months old, from a guy for pretty cheap. I felt like the kick drum was quiet despite adjustments...finally it just quit...which is probably why he was selling it. Ugh. I took it apart, re-soldered the original red and black wires to the disc...they are tiny and had broken. Easy peezy. Thanks man!

[jc]

Thanks bro..headed to RadioShack right now..you just made my electronic drum kit experience much easier and less damage on my wallet..thumbs up!

[MikeBerbano]

My piezo's in my Hart Acupads lasted 15 years before I needed to replace them due to oxidation and hence faulty solder connections on the ceramic side of the piezo. If you mount piezo's directly to the under side of the batter mesh head, the piezo's will take maximum impact from the stick thereby greatly shortening the lifespan of the piezo. In my Acupads, I modified with adding some extra layer of foam disc padding (from arts and crafts store) in between the mesh head and the trigger, for less impact to the piezo and still has sensitivity, with replacement piezo's at 35mm vs the existing 30 mm.

[briandavid]

I bought a Alesis Command Mesh kit 25 and last week my snare is very low sounding even when i hit it with normal force.

[RTSFromHell]

For anyone wondering the piece is called: Piezo Transducer 273-073

[wtjoker]

I just finished doing this on the kickpad of my DM10X- piece of cake. Thanks!

[brianbotkiller]

I'm glad to hear it helps! Let me know how it goes; it's much easier than it seems!

[DrummerCAS]

Thank you. Collecting information on piezos atm. Gonna build cymbal triggers that can be choked + hi hat control all on silence cymbals. This sure helps the project ;)

[voiceofconscious]

YOU ARE MY HERO BROTHER! I THINK YOU MAY HAVE SAVED ME 200$

[tegra]

Hi Brian - great stuff, thank you!
What's surprised me is that you are having such regular problems with your piezo discs. Used these since the 1970s, and I still have my 1975 home-brew hex piezo guitar bridge that works now about as well as it ever did, despite having had to cut down the discs to fit.
And 'somewhere' in our attic there's a Maplin Hexadrum (1982 kit-built) with six piezos, six foam pads and a CD4069 hex CMOS invertor in linear mode providing amplification and bongo-like resonances. It had a _lot_ of use, trust me!
But last time I dusted it off (2016?) it was still working fine.
Any ideas what the piezo failure mode is?
FYI, I hardly ever got my piezos from TRS buzzers, bought from Maplin in UK, and now get them mail order from China via eBay, BangGood, Amazon etc. Usually work fine.
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

[williamkillingsworth]

The radio shack piezo transducer seems to work, just replaced one of my toms today. Thank you for the information on where to source parts. Two suggestions. Solder the wires after you twist and get a decent pair of strippers, while stripping hold the wire being stripped with pliers. Save you teeth and nails. Awesome video and thank you. Just saved me mucho dinero.

[bioplasti]

Hey thanks Brian, that worked great. I wish they would tell you a cheap little piece of crap like that will need to be replaced now and then but I'm not surprised they don't. GREAT ADVICE!!! ;-)

[daljinder]

Thanks👍This is informative. Can u suggest how to fix my crash cymbal which fails to trigger the signal after a hit?

[duff]

Great video! I'll hopefully be building my own Mesh head snare soon.

[eelhen]

Hi Brian, thanks for the video, it's very well explained.
Maybe you can help on the issue I currently have. I have a cheap Yamaha electronic drum kit (DD 65). The snare MIDI signal used to be very weak and now it doesn't seem to work anymore (the rest of the kit does). However, when I just play drums on the integrated speakers (not via the computer), the signal is totally normal, everything works well...
Does it have to do with the trigger or is it more complicated when it comes to midi?
Merci