Bigdumbdrums
Senior Member
So I recently took a damaged 14x10" Yamaha RC (early '80s) and cut it down to 4.5" and turned it into a killer snare drum. I cut my own bearing edges, inlay, snare beds and installed all new hardware. I stripped the shell to bare wood and dyed it black and finished it in a tung oil stain and wax coating. I think it looks amazing. Judge for yourself:
http://bigdumbdrums.com/custom-snare-complete/
It sounds as good as any snare I've played. Very sensitive.
But the rest of the kit (22, 12, 15) needs some love. The finish is scuffed up in some areas and I've been thinking about possibly refinishing it. The kit was almost tossed into a dumpster a few years ago before cooler heads prevailed and donated them to me. I've been gigging with them since and they are great sound drums.
The bearing edges are all rounded over vintage style, including the toms. I'm contemplating stripping/sanding the shells down to the birch wood veneer, dying them black as I did the snare and applying the same tung oil/wax finish. The grain is super nice to see (as opposed to the piano black lacquer).
Question is - would you consider this refinishing drum sacrilege or should I just leave them as is (piano black with scratches and scuffs and road rash)?
http://bigdumbdrums.com/custom-snare-complete/
It sounds as good as any snare I've played. Very sensitive.
But the rest of the kit (22, 12, 15) needs some love. The finish is scuffed up in some areas and I've been thinking about possibly refinishing it. The kit was almost tossed into a dumpster a few years ago before cooler heads prevailed and donated them to me. I've been gigging with them since and they are great sound drums.
The bearing edges are all rounded over vintage style, including the toms. I'm contemplating stripping/sanding the shells down to the birch wood veneer, dying them black as I did the snare and applying the same tung oil/wax finish. The grain is super nice to see (as opposed to the piano black lacquer).
Question is - would you consider this refinishing drum sacrilege or should I just leave them as is (piano black with scratches and scuffs and road rash)?