Wood stain on a Fiberskyn !

evilg99

Platinum Member
Always wanted to have a 'dark fiberskyn' resonant head on certain drum kits...for example, I have a Yamaha Club Custom bop kit in Dark Wood.

So I found an old 14" Fiberskyn as a test subject (don't want to ruin a $50 bass drum head in case this doesn't work out.

Found this tube of Varathane Premium Wood Stain (pictured below).
Apparently this is thicker than normal stain, dries fast and covers in one coat. Ish.

Have a look at the before and after, I am quite pleased with the result so far.
Applied one coat with a foam roller and then quickly another 'pass' with a paper towel to even it out and kind of 'work it into' the head.

Decent!

I'm going to go and dig out a 18" Fiberskyn now.
Will post finished pictures!
 

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I dunno... I ain't digging' it. Sorry. Looks like faux leather, or naugahyde.

Or this:
 

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Quite interesting!!!

I've been kinda underwhelmed with my Fiberskyn kick head looks-wise and have been entertaining some ideas like this. Yours looks nice - I might try a tad lighter stain.

Cool!
 
Cool idea-does it go on clean enough you could lay a stencil with some graphic art and then stain overlay it?
 
Looks interesting.... Do me a favor...

Put on a white T-Shirt.

Do 3 reps of 30 push-ups, 3 reps of 30 sit-ups intermixed.... Get good and sweaty.

Grab the bass drum, and carry it up and down the stairs with the head rubbing up against your sweaty white T-Shirt.

Now look in a full length mirror and take a picture.
 
Mmmmmm... I'd go ahead and carry it another way, myself.

But I will look in a mirror every chance I get!
 
I'm liking it. Sounds like something nutty I would do.
 
Cool idea-does it go on clean enough you could lay a stencil with some graphic art and then stain overlay it?

Hmm....a stencil might work well with this. Yes, it goes on pretty clean and easy. You should try it!

I’d like to see what it looks like after a week or two of playing on it.

Nope, not going to be played on, this is for a resonant head only.

There is a thread on here about this. I thought about using tea iirc to darken the hue. I'll look for it.

Found it. It's your thread haha.
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113255&highlight=Fiberskyn

Yup, it has taken me that long to do this this. I have so many stupid ideas, it takes a while to get around to doing them all.

Looks interesting.... Do me a favor...

Put on a white T-Shirt.

Do 3 reps of 30 push-ups, 3 reps of 30 sit-ups intermixed.... Get good and sweaty.

Grab the bass drum, and carry it up and down the stairs with the head rubbing up against your sweaty white T-Shirt.

Now look in a full length mirror and take a picture.

So....
- either you're thinking the stain won't fully dry on the head
Or
- you've just come up with a new fashion trend : Fiberskyn T-Shirts! Sign me up!


I think you may be right...I am waiting a night to see how dry the stain can get. The substrate is plastic after all....
I could try to lock it in with a spray clear coat.

So, waiting on this till tomorrow.
 
In a somewhat related experiment, I have had good results spray painting resonant heads with Rustoleum Hammered finish spray. It has a subtle hammered texture and as such is very easy to apply, very forgiving.

I start with either a clear Ambassaodr or a Coated Ambassador - do 3-4 coats, and it turns out pretty good.

Here's the Club Custom kit with 'Hammered Bronze' finish. Crappy picture.
I'll try to get a better one soon
 

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I think you may be right...I am waiting a night to see how dry the stain can get. The substrate is plastic after all....
I could try to lock it in with a spray clear coat.

So, waiting on this till tomorrow.

My concern was twofold:
1: You ruin your shirts.
2: You put some light streaks in the face of the BD and ruin the new appearance.

On the flip side, it makes a great practical joke for unsuspecting helpers on load-in/out.

But yeah... Make sure it doesn't rub off (when wet). Clearcoat will definitely fix any issues you encounter.
 
I like the way you think. But on my computer, it looks like someone used a drumhead to clean up a pool of blood lol.
 
I like the way you think. But on my computer, it looks like someone used a drumhead to clean up a pool of blood lol.

Haha, you know thats funny cause I thought the same thing.


It's not completely dry but it's a little lighter now and the 'fiber grain' variations seem to be more pronounced now.
Will add the clear coat tomorrow; I am liking this more and more.
 

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I like it! I can't stand the look of white drumheads, so maybe I'm a bit biased, but matching the bass reso to the color of the shells is a cool idea. The selection of different colors of wood stain available is nearly endless.
 
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