13X7 Walnut snare

13" & walnut = great combination, & a really nice shell finishing & accenting job! :) Although I'm a fan of your work, I must admit, I'm not a fan of the lugs - ether form (chunky) or finish (better in chrome IMHO) - sorry :(
 
I love honest feedback Andy, Thank You. This drum build has been a long journey for a number of reasons, and I half agree with you. I am not done with the colour coordination, however I am liking to install some satin brushed hoops, rather than polishing the lugs. Not sure what I can or will do with the chrome on the DW throw off. My last attempt to self brush finish didn't come out all that great.
 
Yeah, I have the same thoughts as Andy. With all satin hardware I think it would look quite nice (or perhaps a smaller footprint). DW does make a satin chrome MAG, but it's a premium price over the chrome.

The shell looks immaculate. Very nice "border" around the center stripe. That's a showpiece for sure.
 
That sounds like a good option for me Porter. I need to buy another throw for a Birdseye shell that is up next on the workbench. It is getting black hardware, so I can take the chrome throw off and powder coat it black, and buy one of those satin units.

This is the shell:



Also have a true solid shell on the lathe which I am attempting to rescue. It was headed for the firepit, was over 13" outside diameter and pretty crooked. Here it is now, routed first so I could spin it safely, and now lathed down to 12".

 
I love honest feedback Andy, Thank You.
I know you're a "keep it real" guy, but I'm still always nervous when presenting a negative opinion on a drum that someone's put a lot of personal energy into, no matter how constructive I think I'm being. Mixed metal finishes can work in some circumstances, but not often IMO. Good plan with the maple shell :)

routed first so I could spin it safely
Yes, spinning a lump like that can be risky. Imagine a 24" bass drum!
 
I don't consider that negative, rather it is more positive. I got unfairly blasted on Ghostnote one time. A seasoned builder posted up a mismatched monstrosity, spiked and smoke black lugs, brass hoops, chrome throw.
I told him it looks like a dog threw up its breakfast. I got a whole bunch of offended posters criticizing me. Then the builder chimes in and says, I know, I could not talk the customer out of the colour combo.

If you want to learn, you better listen to criticism instead of firing back and get offended by it.
 
this might be pushing it too far, but you might also pursue the idea of staining your drum something other than "brown"

a local builder put up a few nicely made stave snares, but mentioned his lack of response for actual buyers, and i couldn't help but notice the lack of imagination with regards to his finishes

too many blase brown drums out there lacking any visual appeal, although i'm sure they're well built
 
Well, it is not stained, that is the colour of Walnut. If you want festive colours, there are lots of wraps on the market.

As far as a lack of sales, well, the market is getting a little saturated, there are quite a few people churning out shells, some who have no clue what they are actually doing. There is one seller on fleabay who doesn't understand that a 14" drum cannot actually be 14" in diameter.

I don't actively sell, I learned pretty quick there is no money to be made, the customer demographic is mostly made up of broke musicians and kids who live at home and don't have a job. I do custom orders from local professionals that I know, otherwise, I keep and play a lot of my product.
 
i don't disagree, but if ply shells can look like these, there has to be a reason why a glut exists if 98.5% of all stave shells... are brown

maybe "the color of the wood" has reached its saturation point, and people aren't willing to spend premium money for the "grandma's kitchen table" look anymore

if anything, that area seems to be untapped
 

Attachments

  • Tama Coral6.jpg
    Tama Coral6.jpg
    727 KB · Views: 449
  • coll-ls-cherrystain-lrg.jpg
    coll-ls-cherrystain-lrg.jpg
    85.4 KB · Views: 459
  • Yamaha Beech Custom green1.jpg
    Yamaha Beech Custom green1.jpg
    803.5 KB · Views: 463
  • purple Ludwigs.JPG
    purple Ludwigs.JPG
    893.9 KB · Views: 451
Nice. Reminded me of the DW Exotic Okoumé Feather:
bbe66018c7825ea97af7cbde83882879.jpg
 
maybe "the color of the wood" has reached its saturation point, and people aren't willing to spend premium money for the "grandma's kitchen table" look anymore
Of course, each to his own, & sorry for the thread hijack, but I just thought I'd post a few pictures of natural solid shells in all their "grandma's kitchen table" splendour :)
 

Attachments

  • tom front crisp 900 947KB.jpg
    tom front crisp 900 947KB.jpg
    925.1 KB · Views: 441
  • padfinished kit2900.jpg
    padfinished kit2900.jpg
    529.7 KB · Views: 437
  • 14 x 7 angle front x 900.jpg
    14 x 7 angle front x 900.jpg
    439.8 KB · Views: 430
excellent examples... of a pro finishing job where the choice of stain/color was used to enhance the grain of the existing pieces of wood

the "grandma's" term comes from the use of premixed formulas applied with no regard to the final outcome; the final result ends up with green, blue or yellow overtones that weren't accounted for that the base wood accentuated

wipe on poly and tung oil would be the main culprits, as i guess they're easy to do

if you're gonna do brown, bring the bling!

sorry OP, no bling
 

Attachments

  • sonorguy.jpg
    sonorguy.jpg
    473.8 KB · Views: 429
Sorry Dave, I find those kit colours to be pretty fugly, except the purple Ludwigs at the end. I have done drums like that over the years and I quickly got sick of the colours, took off the finish and went back to natural.
But to each his own, if someone wants a coloured drum like you posted, I have the equipment know how and experience to do them, but like I stated, most of my drums are for me, and I have been there done that.
 
excellent examples... of a pro finishing job where the choice of stain/color was used to enhance the grain of the existing pieces of wood
Dave, if your comment quoted relates to the three examples I posted, there was no stain / colour applied whatsoever. That's the natural colour of the wood, simply French polished (natural / bleached shellac) & waxed. The reason I posted them was to show that natural unstained wood can deliver on aesthetic.

I must be honest & say that the stained examples you posted are boring & one dimentional to my eye. Of course, this is all personal preference stuff, & I appreciate your point of view.
 
i can appreciate that you both think colored stains are boring, but if you flip it around a little...

a guy like Taylor Hawkins or Stewart Copeland or Matt Cameron or Larry Mullen Jr can get a factory to make them any color of kit they desire, and have access to be able to pick from 16,000 variations of off-brown, yet none of them do

is it because their sponsoring companies don't make stave shells, which only come in brown, or because they are unable to produce off-brown colors on ply shells? are brown shells subject to strict world touring guidelines and are not allowed to cross borders into certain countries?

yet somehow, stave shells only come in brown... except the purpleheart ones : )

seems like a lost market if you're only targeting Mumford and Sons... heck even Levon Helm's last touring set wasn't brown, and he along with Don Henley practically own the color
 
Dave, you obviously are obsessed with "teaching" us guys something. So maybe I can teach you something.
1. Anyone and everyone has the exact same opportunity and choices to buy whichever combo they want, not just the stadium touring guys.

2. If you want a colour stained drum, you are then limited to a select few wood choices. You have to start with a light wood, such as Birch, Poplar or Maple. You see, you cannot colour a dark wood back to a lighter shade. So if you are wanting the sound of darker wood, such as Walnut, Rosewood, Bubinga, then you are stuck with a deep brown or if you want to stain it, you will have a charcoal or black.

3. There are plenty of touring pro's who use "brown" stave drums. The stave construction is not heard with your eyes. They sound unique, far different, I will say superior, to a ply shelled snare. More tone, more body, more character. And no, the major manufacturers usually do not make stave shells, they are too time consuming and no has automated the hand build process yet. Gretsch, and maybe a couple others have started offering some stave shells in order to grab up that piece of the market, but from what I can tell, they get some little shop in the Phillipines to do the wood work and the masses can now have a factory direct import.

4. Without going through my library, I build plenty of variety in my drums, this one just so happens to be a dark walnut wood, which I accented with a light shade of Olive Ash Burl inlay to offset the dark brown. So if you really believe you have to convince me of something, because, hmmmm, I have only been building and playing drums a couple months now, here is one of my kits with and assortment of drums most of which I have built.

And if you look down at the far right, just happens to be a white washed Cherry stave kit. You can see the grain through the wood. I actually got a lot of negative comments because I covered up the nice cherrywood.

 
Last edited:
And further to my above post, I bet Andy has similar experience. There are times when I want more options, colour in the darker stave drums, and do no want to sacrifice the darker sounding tones I am searching for, and I paint or cover a wood, I get a far larger amount of critical posts from people calling me insane for covering up such a beautiful piece of wood.
So often you can't win no matter what you do.

And colouring staining is nothing new, I did a blue tinted finish on my maple hybrid that looked identical to that Starclassic finish, I did that in 1984.
 
I like stained wood finishes as much as the next guy but why would you want to color over the natural beauty of certain woods?

Natural lacquer over Birdseye Maple and Cherry.

Beautiful drum, Uniongoon.
 

Attachments

  • birdlegs bd copy.jpg
    birdlegs bd copy.jpg
    661.7 KB · Views: 393
  • DW Collectors Cherry BD.jpg
    DW Collectors Cherry BD.jpg
    466.4 KB · Views: 401
Back
Top