Bass drums anyone?

[alexevans917]

Hey all,

First off, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it doesn't seem to fit in any of the general sections, so I'll post it here, and see if it gets moved or whatever.

I've been thinking of adding some percussion to my shows- I play with a drummer for larger shows, but for small but not too small shows, I'd really like to get some foot-operated percussion to play along with my guitar, the upright bass, and the banjo. Sort of like the guy in Mumford and Sons, if you've seen any of their live videos.

So, to that end, I've been trying to find an affordable, small bass drum (probably something jazz sized, ish? 18x14 or similar?). Finding any bass drums available for sale without an accompanying set is hard enough, but trying to find an affordable one (spending $600 on a kick drum for midsized acoustic shows is not at all in the band budget at this point....) is near impossible. Does anyone have a recommendation of a good, portable bass drum? I'd prefer not to go for an electronic kick or one of those pickup hooked to piece of wood type deals- we play a fair number of totally acoustic gigs and gigs with very limited PA, so no bass in the PA would be great.

I was also thinking that I could maybe take a cheapish floor tom and make it into a mini kick drum... is this more feasible? I'm definitely a bit out of my depth here, so anyone with any advice is more than welcome!

Thanks,

Alex