New acoustic instrument makes world debut in McCook

Jason Van Pelt demonstrates his VBox Acoustic Stompbox at a recent unveiling at the Bieroc Cafe in McCook. (Bruce Crosby/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- Stomping never sounded so good.

Take an African drum, a snare drum, a pair of hands or a foot, and you have the VBox Acoustic Stompbox, the brainchild of Jason Van Pelt of McCook.

A percussion instrument that can be plugged into an amplifier or played acoustically, guitarists can tap out a snare or kick drum sound underfoot, or use it with their hands like a drum. It's designed for solo guitarists, a small group of musicians or for a drummer in a small venue.

Van Pelt first got the idea to create one after seeing a musician use a porch board, a device on the floor that folk and blues musicians press with their foot for a bass beat. But he wanted one that could be played acoustically and with different sounds.

"I remember thinking, I'd like to do that, only better," he said. "You can do more with an acoustic instrument and I wanted something that had the versatility and sounds that other instruments can make."

VanPelt, an associate pastor and youth and worship leader at McCook Christian Church, knows a little about sound. He's surrounded himself with music for much of his life, playing the drums for 35 years, the guitar for 25, performing with various bands and working in a studio in Nashville for a while, recording contemporary Christian artists such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and DC Talk.

So he came up with a design that incorporated three different ideas: a porch board, a cajon box drum, a six-sided box drum that can be played with hands or fingers and a djembe, an African drum played with the hands, that has a wide drum head fitted over a body that tapers downward.

Made with three different types of wood, the shape of his stompbox uses the V-shape of the African djembe, giving it a large "kick" chamber and a smaller "snare" chamber, so players have versatile sounds. He also makes it in two sizes, 23 and 27 inches.

He's gotten a good reception for the device so far. After urging from his wife, he demonstrated it at a craft fair in Colorado to rave reviews.

"I must have had about 100 people tell me to go on 'Shark Tank,'" he laughed, referring to the reality television series where entrepreneurs try to convince multi-millionaire "sharks" to invest in their product.

Instead, he put up a website, vppercussion.com, where the stompboxes can be sold and is working on a video he will post that shows how the device sounds.

But he's not looking to make a million bucks. This is still a hobby for him, VanPelt said, where he can mesh together his love of woodworking and music.

And get people stomping a little.