Changing The Color of a Tom?

Lovetadraw

Lovetadraw

Senior Member
I hope I don't get ran out of the forum for asking this, but....

Has anyone had any experience changing the color on their drums? In my case I'm looking for a 10" tom to add to my kit and found one, only my kit is shiny black (no sparkles) and this tom is dark green. Should I buy it, is it a good idea to maybe try and spray paint the green tom black? I understand that I wound have to cover the chrome and stuff, but is this considered a major no-no? Should I just try to find a black one?
 
rather than covering the hardware and painting, you should remove all of the hardware and re-wrap the shell if you want it to match. search le googles for tips on wrapping drum shells.
 
I am assuming the old wrap is plastic. Krylon makes a spray paint called Fusion that is designed to be sprayed on to plastic. That only means it is design to stick when sprayed but will still chip and scratch. If you are sure you want to go this route, make sure the drum shell is very clean maybe using alcohol or such to get any grease off of it. Take off any and all hardware, its easy, and put masking tape on the inside of the holes for any hardware. this will keep the spray from making a mess on the inside of the drum. I would use one of those 3M green pads and lightly rub the entire surface before spraying. Good luck.
 
Forgive me for my ignorance, but could you enlighten me on "Re wrapping"? I always thought it was just spray paint on the outside to begin with -_-'
 
The drums are made of plies of wood and the wrap is the plastic layer on the outside . Not all drums have wraps, some have lacquered finishes and some have stain with clear coats over them. Of course there are the ones made of metals. Without seeing the drum you are talking about I don't know if it is a wrap or not. If it is lacquer all you need to do is scuff up the outside a bit and spray it.
 
They are black Pacific EZ's (please don't mock it, it may not be "the best" but it's mine). The one I'm looking at is a z5...


Is there any clear give away to find out?
 
If they are a wrap you can see a seam where the ends of the wrap overlap
 
It's "wrapped in a laminate finish", would that work?

Sorry I'm so ignorant -_-'
 
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Lovetadraw said:
... Should I just try to find a black one?
Click to expand...


Sounds like that's your best bet. Whether the drum you're looking at is wrapped, stained, painted, or whatever, it's going to require some work, unless you're willing to use it 'as-is' and have a mis-matched set.

If you want to practice on one, get the cheapest one you can find from a pawn shop or somewhere. Then you'll have some idea of what you're getting into.

You can also do an internet search to get some info on the topic.
 
I'm thinking of painting it. It sounds fun... Now just to hope no one else buys it before I have a chance to get it.

Even should I not get *this* tom, I know what my options are in the future. Thanks.

I feel bad because I want a 10" and this ones been sitting there all the while, not selling. I feel pity for it, and I kinda feel that maybe *my* 10" has been there all along, and I've just been too narrow minded. XD
 
If you buy and paint it - do what gruntersdad said in post #3.

Take the heads, rims, lugs, and mounting hardware off. It's easy, and all you need in most cases is a drum key and a screwdriver, and maybe a small wrench for the mounting bolts/screws.
If you just try to tape it up, it might look OK from a distance, but probably not close up.
 
Once you remove all of the hardware (including the lugs), take a look at the wrap before you do anything or buy anything. Some wrap is fully glued to the shell. Other wrap may only be sealed at the seam. If the wrap looks kind of funky or loose, you may be able to remove the wrap entirely, and be down to the bare wood.

If you want to go that route, your approach would be a bit different. In that case, you would make sure the surface is sound (no holes or chips). You could fill-in small imperfections with wood filler and sand smooth. Then tape the inside of the holes with blue painters tape, as GD stated. Then get some gray wood primer and spray the shell with 2-3 coats of the primer, allowing it to dry between coats. I would let that fully dry for 12-24 hours before using your black paint. You may want to use a black 'high gloss lacquer' rather than an enamel type paint. Valspar and others make this type of lacquer in spray cans.

As others have stated, there are resources on the web about drum wrap removal and refinishing shells. Good luck with it.

EDIT: Make sure you spray out doors or in an area with plenty of ventilation, like an open garage. Don't paint inside your home. And the air temperature needs to be 60 degrees F or above.
 
if you are going to paint it, be prepared to do a pile of wet sanding to get that professional look... unless you have some fairly sophisticated spray equipment
 
Here are before and after pics of some Yamaha Recording drums that I refinished in Valspar black lacquer. I sprayed all 3 rack toms with black lacquer to match the others. It turned out pretty well, although I've replaced the 10" and 12" with actual Piano Black drums that I found on the cheap. I'm still using the 8" painted tom. Had I not found good deals on actual black toms, I would have been more that happy to still be using the ones I painted.
 

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Wow you guys are so much help.

The one I was looking at seems to have gone off bidding ( also had a buy-it-now option), so I guess I'll have to wait for another. But none the less, I'm glad to know all this stuff now.

I hate using ebay, but it's sometimes the only way to find individual pieces like this... Once I'm 18 I can make my own account and not have to worry about bothering the parents for their card... It's embarrassing... And time consuming.
 
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