We dive into refinishing on part 3 of our series on drum kit makeovers!!

Opening Detritus

Dave’s Soundcloud Page

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Rich:

Thank you Dave and Troy!

I’m totally geeking out on the refinishing series. I’ve been contemplating building an exotic wood kit from Keller shells so can’t wait for the show on veneering. Recovering my current (cheap Guitar Center Sound Percussion) kit, however, may be more realistic. I’ve replaced everything but the hardware, tung oiled the interior, and cleaned up the bearing edges. While not as punchy as I would like, my drum teacher is amazed at the sound quality. Dave jokes about Wal-mart contact paper, but before these shows I actually considered putting 3M carbon fiber automotive vinyl over the existing wrap. After listening to the re-wrapping show, I found that Bum Wrap Drum Company has some beautiful exotic wood wraps. Re-wrapping my current kit would certainly be easier than veneering new shells, but I don’t think I could ever get over the psychological hurdle of knowing that I’m playing crappy shells. I’d love your thoughts.

Rich

From Chris:

Dave and Troy, I love the podcast. It helps get me through the work week. In the past, Troy has mentioned music companies are always looking for technology specialists. Can you touch on ways to seek out these opportunities and maybe list off top music companies that are out there? From what I have seen, many companies are held by larger organizations and jobs may be posted under a different company than expected. I’d love to do something involving music, but have not been able to find anything in the Missouri area. Any ideas? Thanks! Chris

From Dan:

Greetings gentlemen. First off, if this podcast ever went off the air there’d be a void in my life that would, sadly, remain unfulfilled. So, do me (and drummers worldwide) the favour of keeping on doing what you’re doing! OK, enough butt-kissing… I just finished listening to and thoroughly enjoying episode 252. One thing that made me go “what the heck…” was the comment about how Ludwig replacement parts are so ubiquitous. This may be true with the exception of the P-85 strainer. I’ve called/emailed every drum part company I can find and no one makes a 2.5″ hole spaced aftermarket strainer. All of the P-85 style options won’t fit Ludwig’s spacing. I have an LM402 and an Acrolite and it drives me nuts that it’s not drum key operable. When you said they’ve been using this design for 60 years I believe it. If they would only get with the program every other drum company figured out 30+ years ago I (and many others) quit b****ing about it. I love Ludwig snares, but for the price they charge it’s frankly idiotic that they continue to use Phillips head screws instead of drum key screws. Rant over, thanks for reading.

News

B.B. King’s Drummer Remembers The Legend

Topic Notes

Places To buy Materials

220 and 320 grit sand paper

Flexible Sanding Sponge or –3M Stikit 6″ Disc Hand Pad

Transtint Dyes

Cheap Sponge Applicator

Water or Denatured Alcohol

3M Blue Painters Tape LOW ADHESIVE

#0000 Steel Wool

Tung Oil

Preval Spray Unit (Spraying Alcohol Based Dyes)

Pre production – Remove all hardware, badges and vent holes

Staining your Drums

2 easy types of stain

WATER OR ALCOHOL? -Water based dyes are best when used over a raw shell.. like a keller shell for example. If you are staining a drum shell with an exotic veneer over it… you do not want to use water. Alcohol based dyes work great on unfinished, raw drum shells however they also work great on sealed drum shells and veneered drum shells.

3 stages of staining

1. Prepare the wood

2. Mix the stain

3. Stain the wood

4. Optional seal in the wood

Water based stain – Very easy to mix and apply – Long work time

Alcohol based stain – Very easy to mix and apply- slightly shorter [...]