The Drum Modification Thread

altered_beast said:
Hi there. Having read all of the above, I'm not really all that confident about stripping my kit down myself etc (I've been playing for 9 years and I've never come across the terms "wrap" and "bearing edges" but then I don't know much about the technicalities of the drums, more just playing them lol... what are "wrap" and "bearing edges"?). I'm due to have an operation in August so won't be able to play for a couple of months, this will be an ideal time for me to have these done as it'll take away the temptation to play when I'm not supposed to, plus I'll get an awesome looking kit.

Al
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Best of luck w/ that operation. Bearing edges are where the head meets te shell. The wrap is the material put on a non-stained drum. If you touch your wood drum and your not toucing colored wood there is a wrap on your drum. If you aren't confident, go to your local music sHop and post and add or ask one of the guys behind the counter if they know anyone.. I would do it for $150- U.S.
 
gaspesien said:
Rendezvous, no it shouldn't cause any problems, the edge is still the same.

Im looking for a way to burn a graphic on mine, anybody has done this before. My drum is a pearl export made of ugly looking poplar.
I want to keep the natural finish with a clear and a burnt drawing on the wood, should be nice.
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Can use hot wire but it is tedios and very dangerous. Andby the way, how did you get the wrap from around the sound hole?
 
PdoubleE said:
I just striped down my Older pearl export select snare......and i want to do somthing with it.. I have a good friend that is into woodworking...and i am thinking about getting an exotic burl veneer to put on it. Then i want to get my edges all redone and that good stuff..all new hardware. My main concern is the veneer. Dose anyone have experence with this stuff?i know its really thin and brittle....but they make stuff to soften it up. Any input would be greatly appreaciated.
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If your really serious take it to an antique shop. (may cost more than you paid for the kit) and ask if the they know a veneerist.
 
...I have used a hardwood flooring paste wax as a finish over raw wood shells, and have been very pleased with the results.

It takes a lot of elbow grease, but it is well worth it.

A great place to find odds and ends for drum modification, and repair is at your local Home Depot, or some other large home improvement center. You can find wood plugs to fill in holes, screws, washers, tools, stain, wax, laquer, and even some exotic veneers.

Barry
 
Could somebody with a Pearl masters custom or similar, preferably a recent kit, tell me the lug bolt centre spacing so I can see if they will fit my BLX as I would like to customise my kit by putting the latest design bridge lugs on all of my shells, but don't want to re-drill them.

Thank you in advance,

Jay
 
heres the situation: i am a college freshman currently helping out a local marching band drum line. my eventual plan is establish a marching band at my old high school or reestablish the marching band of the school across town (still havent decided if giving up navy blue for purple in the uniform is worth a nearby football field and the history). anyway, they have decent bass drums and tenors kicking around the music department, but the snares are the old style marching drums with the high tension lugs that run the length of the shell. when i get around to this little project, i want to refinish the drums and grab a few of the new style high tension drums. when going about this, i figured buying some keller tom shells and pearl hardware (less drilling than dynasty or yamaha) and just assembling the drums myself would probably be cheaper and more time effective than buying preassembled drums and refinishing them.

the question: how exactly do you go about getting those ultra shallow snare beds in the shells?
 
Hey guys I was thinking I would take off this wrap I have on my old kit and just put a stain or something like that on it. I'm not to sure how to go about this so I was hoping I could get some advice or ideas because I really need it. The wrap has actually split on one of the toms which has tempted me to try this. Any help would be appreciated.
 

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Where can you send your snare away to get it rechromed. I have a old ludwig chrome snare and the chrome is peeling a bit. Can it be fixed? And where? Please help.
 
I need to know asap if applying wood putty to a shell wood effect the sound. Heres the situation I took off the wrap off my drum and found that the shell had like a split. It apparently was made like this. The shell is not cracked, don't get me wrong but there is a crevase. So is applying wood putty a good idea or not? Thanks
 
So I'm saving up for a new kit right now to replace my begginer but it will take a while. I like the shallow toms and have some pretty non-shallow ones right now. Does any one know if it's safe to cut out like a few inches from the middle of your tom and somehow get them back together?
thanks:
Sean A.
 
Well ive started, taking the hardware off now, just picked up the stain. Ive been taking photos, when im done ill post a thread, but man am i excited!...
 
It turned out ok i got the wraps off quite well. I just pried the staples from underneath when i had some room to get under there. Now im off to sanding. If anyone else is having trouble with their wraps or they are just bringing to much wood of with the glue, HEATING. Heating from above with a hairdryer worked absolute wonders. I started heating the glue but that just made it looser it would still bring some splinters off with it, but if you heat the wrap, not the glue directly, not one bit of wood(not even a splinter) came off. Pity it was only when i was up to my 13"tom that i fugured this out. Do them in order of biggest to smallest. Start with the bass drum cause the wrap is underneath which is impossable to see so start there.
 
I have a small, good sounding Remo Quadura kit (8", 10" and 12" toms & 18" bass drum) which is made from Acousticon. I've considered refinishing them and cutting new bearing edges for them. However, I'm not quite sure whether the material is durable enough to be cut to a new shape. It almost seems the bearing edges were pressed into the drums. Have you had any experience on the subject?

I also noticed that the insides of the two smaller toms are covered with a thin layer of black, soft, paperlike material. How will removing this layer affect their sound? I'd imagine it would make the sound a bit more resonant and brighter.
 
Well ill tell you my drumset stays free of dust 98%, its covered unless im playing it and after i play i dust it. There is no real shine from transperent or laquer paint on there to wax so...yea. Maybe ill wax the bottom of the bass and see what happens, if it shines then thats awesome, if it doesnt, well its not like anyones gonna see it anyway.
Any specific wax or polish i should use?
 
my refinishing job: an old pacific snare from my first drumset (the set was a 5 piece for 550 dollars.. so this snare is basically worthless). so far i have stripped the plastic stuff off, and now im beginning to sand, although the wood keeps graining up and little pieces fall off.. not to mention i hardly have any sand paper and hvae been working witht he same piece this whole time, BUT its coming together and hopefully it will sound good, and look good

x)
 
holy





CRAP!

this thing is beautiful!!! i have this whole set in this black wrap, i think im going to refinish the whole thing then sell it as a 4 piece!!!


yummy.
 
hmmm, just stripped the midnight blue off my swingstar snare drum.

wood looked alright but a bit to pale for my taste.

sanded and put on jarrah wood stain, 1 coat of laquer (half mineral turps half estapol) then 3 coats of tung oil. looks pretty sweet.


p.s - if your hardware needs powdercoating take it to the powdercoaters!! ask them when they will be doing a set of whatever colour aand theyll gladly do it. cost me $15 AUS for all snare drum hardware except tension rods.



may the forks be with you
 
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