Guitar Hero World Tour Homemade Cymbals

I bought Guitar Hero World Tour mostly to play the drums- the kit has three drums, two cymbals, and the kick drum pedal. A lot of people had trouble with their drums not working; mine were fine, but the cymbals weren't great. Sometimes they wouldn't register a hit and sometimes they'd register two hits.

There are several sets of instructions for making your own cymbals, so I figured why not. It was a good excuse to buy a soldering iron.

I made my own mounting too, which I like a lot better than the original kit because the cymbals don't wobble when you hit the drum pads and vice-versa:

Materials

Piezo electric benders from Mouser (665-AB2040B and 665-AB2746B both work; the latter is bigger and easier to solder wires to)
1/8in audio jacks. Mono or stereo work. I used 161-3300-EX (just be careful to solder to the tip and either the ring or sleeve connectors; don't solder to ring and sleeve or it won't work)
A few feet of 24awg wire
Some heavy plastic plates from Goodwill. These are particularly nice because they don't have any rims or ridges on the bottom.
1/4in threaded rod from Home Depot (two one foot pieces, though I could have used less)
Nuts, washers, lock washers, and rubber washers to fit the rod.
L-bracket with pre-drilled holes. I used two one foot pieces.
Two C-clamps

You also need a drill, a soldering iron, and solder.

Construction

Drill holes in the plates. I started with a small bit and worked my way up to the quarter inch bit to reduce the chances of cracking the plate. For one cymbal I drilled the hole straight through; the other I drilled at an angle so the cymbal would sit at an angle

Cut the L-bracket to a suitable length and clamp it to the table. Attach the threaded rod with a pair of nuts, a pair of washers, and a pair of lock washers. From top to bottom, it's nut, washer, lock washer, bracket, washer, lock washer, nut.

Attach the cymbal. This is the same setup as the bracket except I put rubber washers between the plate and the metal washers.

Solder wires onto the piezo electrics. One wire goes in the center part and the other around the outside. Solder the jack on the other end. Make sure you use enough wire to reach the drum set from wherever you want to mount your cymbal- I used about one foot on each.

Attach the sensor to the under side of the plate. Eventually I'll probably glue mine on, but they're taped for the moment with electrical tape. I have a small piece of tape stuck to the sensor (between the plate and the sensor) and the plate and a larger piece attaching the sensor to the plate. You'll want to tape the wires to the plate to keep the weight of the wires off the solder joint.

Calibration

I didn't use the calibration software because I don't have the USB-midi cable. The cymbals worked well from the start and I made a few tweaks by adjusting the position of the sensor under the plate. The sensor will be more sensitive if it's facing you and less sensitive if it's further away. These new cymbals are definitely more sensitive than the originals; it only takes a light tap to register a hit. I didn't cover these with rubber or neoprene, unlike other people. They're a bit noisy, but not too bad. Depending on the length of the threaded rod and where you place the cymbal, the plate may vibrate a little bit after you hit it. I haven't noticed this causing problems with the sensor but it can make the plate bounce back into the drum stick (causing a second hit) if I'm sloppy.

arolfe@mit.edu
10/3/09