Piccolo From Space...

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

A long time ago a friend gave me a 14x3.5 Pulse piccolo snare for free. Despite it being cheaply built it had a real nice crack to it. Recently I decided to try a refinish idea on it. I printed up some of my favorite photos of nebula and assorted stars from the Hubble Telescope and adhered them to the shell. Then I clear coated over, and polished up the hardware. Yesterday offered a bit of sunshine to finish up the work so I'm ready to show it off. I learned a couple things from this project that will help me when I have a higher quality shell to work on. I'm pretty happy with the results and my youngest son (almost 1yr) is absolutely in love with it.

I have a Evans G1 clear head on top, Ludwig res on bottom. Sort of a loose tuning right now so it has a lot of twang that is out of this world. hahah

Here is a before pic:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0002F5IVO.01-AIMZUKBRH6H15._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The after pics are below. The Pulse badge is hiding behind the Crab Nebula. The adhesive I used for the photos should allow easy removal later on if I so decide.

[wy yung]

What a great idea! The effect is just wonderful. It's one of the most unique looking snares I've ever seen.

I wish I'd thought of it first! :-)

[khanedeliac]

Hah!

That is a sick finish man! Very cleanly done

I have a baby floor tom that I want to do something similar to....Its got a cheapo silver wrap on it that I want to remove and then paint white. any suggestions on what tools I need and how much time?

Thanks, and way to customize :)

Saif

[Salicete]

That really is a great looking snare! I would love to see an entire kit finished the same way,

[timebandit]

Hey Sleepy,

we share the same passion for the universe! i'm some what of an amatuer astronomer myself.

do you have a decent scope?

or do you just check stuff out on line?

i also frequent the hubble website among others.

anyway awsome snare, can I buy it from you or could youmake me one?

[Exportdrummer]

Thats a good idea to do with a cheap snare

[Darmikalus]

awesome job! it look beautiful i always thought nebulae were some of the most incredible looking things id ever seen...

[Darmikalus]

awesome job! it look beautiful i always thought nebulae were some of the most incredible looking things id ever seen...

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

Thanks everyone for the nice replies! It's currently my new main snare while I work on my CB700.

Its got a cheapo silver wrap on it that I want to remove and then paint white. any suggestions on what tools I need and how much time?

My next project (CB700) will involve painting a shell so I will have to get back to you after I finish it (probably a month- weather depending). I bought all of my materials today, but may need to go back for an extra can of clear or something. I'm going to paint the inner ripple band of my CB700 a hunter green, while the top and bottom bands will be black. I got this glow in the dark star gloss paint that I'm going to try over the black bands and then clear coat the whole thing.

I would love to see an entire kit finished the same way,

That would be really cool. This was an experiment for an idea I have of doing decoupage work over a stained surface. I'm interested in finding other mediums to use for the prints, like having custom decals made, etc. I was also wondering how one would go about creating custom wraps.


do you have a decent scope?

anyway awsome snare, can I buy it from you or could youmake me one?

Unfortunately we do not have a scope yet. My wife and I have been wanting one for a couple of years now. I think next Christmas we will try to make that happen. We will be looking in the $200 - $300 range probably. I want something about mid level, and something that will allow me to attach my Nikon DSLR to.

This snare isn't for sale, but it was an experiment towards a goal of mine to create custom snares. I want to focus on snares because I figure drummers tend to collect more snares than full kits. Ideally I would be using something like Keller shells to do my work on, but I think it would be a lot of fun to have a cheaper alternative by doing this kind of work to cheap snares. Honestly, a cheap drum can sound pretty good with some good heads and a little love. The only thing is that with a cheap snare, the labor of my work may cost equal or a little more than the snare itself. hah!

This year I'm going to try to experiment with this stuff as much as I can. I'd be willing to do a couple custom jobs initially if anyone was willing to front for a prototype. I'm pretty confident with my staining abilities (have a drum to show off soon for this) since I do it routinely at work. The decoupage can use some improvements, and I'm about to try out painting the shells. I'm seriously considering an air brush purchase this year too. It would be so awesome to put two of my loves together (art - drums) and make some side money.

We'll have to see what the year brings. I've been scanning eBay lately and have seen some real good canvases for cheap. hahah

[bonzo49]

Very nice, great result. How did you get them on is it stuck on paper, then coated with something. Otherwise will the paper not peal, or the photos run, if water gets on them.

[Lightbulb Sun]

Whoa, that's cool. Nice job!

And I've heard the pulse piccolo snares do sound pretty decent.

[Tuxido]

Looks great !

Does it ring less now ?

[ellenvannin105]

The creativity of the people on this forum never cease to amaze me. Good show,mate! I have a Pacific piccolo with the same specs that I would like to "psychedelicise." My wife is very good and exacting at these sorts of crafts and she is willing to re-finish my snare in the same sort of style as yours. We would like to know what kind glue did you use to put the pictures on the drum and what brand of clear coat did you use? I like the way you took ordinary,everyday things and turned them into something extraordinary...My compliments to the Chef,so to speak...

[indiadrummer]

MY GOD, what are you some kind of magician !!!! :0
you like made the ugliest snare into a true piece of art
I applaud your mad skills sleepy man

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

Thanks again!

I used rubber cement believe or not to get the pictures to stick to the shell. It took a little trial and error before I found a technique that worked well though. It's important to use an acid free glue or it will damage the prints. I used an acrylic clear coat over the top for protection. It's important to use acrylic clear over photos. Oil based clears will make the ink run from what I've read. The brand of clear coat I used is JW Right-Step. I brushed but I would suggest spraying. I also put a coat of Turtle Wax over the clear coat.

The ring is the same I believe.

And I was a cook for ten years so that statement kind of applies. heheh

In the future I want to use illustrations/graphics I create myself. I'd really love to do one with a panoramic photo montage of one of the rivers here (over hanging cyprus trees) similar to the other panoramic photo montages I've done. That's what I want to do over a stained shell, and how cool would it be if I could hollow out an old cyprus log to make the shell. I've been meaning to call around to see who could create that shell for me locally.

[Almuric]

DUDE!!! That is one of the COOLEST snare projects I've seen. A George Jetson origional! Who says you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! Slap a couple of die-cast hoops on it and you got a spacy screamer! Great job.

[ellenvannin105]

SLEEPY: Thanks for the swift answers. My wife and I shall get cracking and I'll post the result. Thanks,mate...

[d.c.drummer]

wow that is a really nice re-finishing job. it really is "out of this world"

[kartikaysrivastava]

Nice finish. I have never seen anything like it. How much did it cost you??

[Wegadrummer]

Yeah Sleepy.. That is really a piccolo from space! Love it! How is the sound?

[Solaris]

Man that looks awesome and totally unique. A pity my piccolo has 12 lugs on it haha.

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

The drum sounds pretty good for such a cheap snare. There are a ton of reviews on this Pulse snare on Musician's Friend and pretty much everyone says the same thing. It's a great sounding snare but the hardware is lacking a little in quality control. Most people change the heads right away (like I did). Some people have put die cast hoops on it- something I'd really like to do. Some people complain about the strainer breaking but I haven't had any problems with it. I've probably had this drum for a couple years. I had one tension rod break on me but that was a real easy replacement. For $30 you can put a little extra money in it to swap heads, snares, and whatever else you want and you have a pretty good extra snare. If it's tuned low it sounds like any other bigger metal snare, but tuned real tight you get a great crack out of it.

This project actually didn't cost much of anything. The drum was given to me for free a while back. The heads were extra ones I had here. I printed the photos up on my Canon printer, so whatever the cost of paper and ink for those 10 photos. I already owned an Exacto knife and straight edge to cut the photos to size. I had to buy the rubber cement. The clear coat was something I already had. I bought a real nice brush to put the clear coat on- probably the most expensive tool for the project and almost cost as much as the drum itself. I bought the Turtle Wax. The metal polish I already had. Everything I bought can be reused for other projects.

[DreamTheater4life]

awesome job! it look beautiful i always thought nebulae were some of the most incredible looking things id ever seen...
awesome job! it look beautiful i always thought nebulae were some of the most incredible looking things id ever seen...

ahh!!! the dreaded double post!!!!

very nice snare. i wish i could do that.

[Mapex589]

Nice job on the snare, that thing is really cool. Congrats on a job well done!!

[Fatticus]

that is so completely rad

[parser]

Ahhh, now I remember that you do photo-collage as well (right?). Endless possibilities. Killer job man!

[Tama Player]

Wow! Awesome paint finish! I am so jealous!! That is one of the best detailed paint jobs on a snare I have ever seen!!

Peace
AGR

[parser]

Wow! Awesome paint finish! I am so jealous!! That is one of the best detailed paint jobs on a snare I have ever seen!!

Peace
AGR

Hmm...its photos, not paint. Not trying to be rude, but read how he did it a couple posts back. You can do it too.

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

Ahhh, now I remember that you do photo-collage as well (right?). Endless possibilities. Killer job man!

Ya, I've done a few panoramic photo montages. I actually managed to sell the Track Hoe one last December to a friend who's dad works for Caterpillar. I really need to get on it and do some more.

Wow! Awesome paint finish! I am so jealous!! That is one of the best detailed paint jobs on a snare I have ever seen!!

Like Parser said, just photos. :)

I do want to pick up an air brush set up this year though so I can do detailed work like this by hand.

[radiofriendlyunitshifter]

that's actually pretty awesome. a little nerdy, but hey i subscribe to popular science. : )

[Deathmetalconga]

Very cool idea and well executed! It's not often someone does something truly out-of-the-ordinary and this is it. The finish looks great and I'd love to have a drum like that. You should get a job refinishing drums. I'm sure you could get a good price for that on eBay if you ever wanted. Excellent attention to detail, like putting the air vent hole at the center of the nebula.

This reminds me of the snare someone refinished to look like a predatory animal.

www.terrasonus.com

[Tama Player]

Hmm...its photos, not paint. Not trying to be rude, but read how he did it a couple posts back. You can do it too.

I know, Hahaha! It still looks really good! That took longer than I thought...


Peace
AGR

[Jay.B.]

Nice job dude :-) looks really classy, tops marks for that one...