Towards the start of the year we had a chat to to our good friend Rhys, who is co-owner of the cool Beef Riff Brewing in Swansea Marina, with the idea of making a snare in the same colours as his Beer Riff logo.
Ideas were thrown around and we settled on a hybrid shell so we could light it up from the inside to glow green. I can't recall the exact conversation but something along the lines of 'make it awesome' was thrown out there so with that in mind we went for a 30ply maple shell, why not?!
Without thinking too much more about it, we got the shell built and it turned out as awesome as expected. Heavy too! The first challenge was fitting the acrylic centre piece into a shell this thick. Usually the acrylic is the same thickness as the shell and with a rebate cut into each section it fits together nicely. However, as the shell was now 3 times as thick as the acrylic this method wasn't really an option.
A bit of brainstorming and a new router jig built up and we cut a channel into the maple so the rebated acrylic would sit inside the channel but the outside would still be flush with the shell. TL;DR - now even awesomer
Things took a turn for the worse with Covid happening and pretty much everything grinding to a halt. This put delays on everything, especially some of the deliveries we were expecting from Europe, but the priority was keeping everyone safe.
Next up was the colour. Black stain is always a popular finish here at RTCustoms and coupled with a satin finish, it really bangs! Rhys suggested the white wash interior to help reflect the LEDs and show off the green, which turned out to be a great shout! Edges and drilling up next.
The super beefy edges turned out really nice with a super smooth finish, waxed for extra protection.
We went for the double ended spiky tube lugs which are a favourite here at RTCustoms. They add an extra bit of aggression to the design over the more classy rounded tubes. Also we like to add a bit of colour to our strainers to tie in with the theme. Here we went for Alien Green with a hint of sparkle.
The badge is obviously an important part of the build and we went full custom with this one. Rear engraved acrylic in the shape of the Beer Riff logo which will allow the RTCustoms logo to light up in green.
(acrylic needs a dusting)
Eagle eyed readers will have noticed we changed out the black lug washers for green ones. All about the details...
Now things start to get exciting as we edge closer to buttoning it all up and getting to hear it for the first time. As always, we finish off with Evans heads and Puresound wires - another RTCustoms snare complete. Almost forgot to mention the custom frosted graphics. These are subtle enough to not stand out too much but glow when the lights are on. Sick!
Thanks for your patience Rhys, we thoroughly enjoyed the Beer Riff collaboration.
Rich RTC
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