I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
Hey guys, first off I must say it feels good to finally be back and have a couple drum kits in the house again. It's been a while since I sold off my kit. Had to be a responsible parent/adult at the time, now my daughter is 7, wow, I cant believe its been gone that long. My son is 5 now and I got him a killer little Ludwig kit for Christmas! He loves it, I love it lol, I have been playing guitar a bit also. I got my daughter a little fender strat for Christmas and a nice little tube amp. Now I have a full band in the house! Best part is my wife has always been great and doesn't care how loud we play. My son likes his drum playing time at 6:30am when he wakes up though for some odd reason. Lol, I dont care as long as he keeps playing!
So I had aquired more than 1 guitar, found a deal and worked out a trade for a Ludwig 3 ply kit from 1976 for myself. Totally not a color I would have chosen, so I am in the process of stripping everything down, filling some holes and rewrapping in Teal Sparkle. Its a great kit, 24x14, 13x9, 14x10, 16x16 and 18x16, to top it off he gave me a 70's 14x6.5 super sensitive snare. I know, I know, I am taking away the value of the vintage kit, but the way I see it is if I wanted the equivalent from Ludwig, I would have to buy a new Legacy kit in teal sparkle. Same sizes I would be in 5x more money than I am now. Rewrap fits my budget. It's taking a while, a few hours here and there after work. Cortex is a nightmare to get off. Then the old glue is taking twice as long, but it is coming along.
I'm getting ready here in a couple weeks to place an order for all new hardware, heads and cymbals. Since I don't plan on gigging anytime soon, I am going to make it volume friendly and go for all remo silent stroke heads for now and Zildjian low volume cymbals. But I am debating if I should just get a single pedal, or a double. I know some crazy beats can be played on a single, but the day I want to play some things that requires a double it would be nice to just have it there ready to go.
Does anyone have any experience with a single and a double of the same brand? Say Tama Iron cobra, would the single version feel just as balanced as the double or would the right pedal on a double feel a little heavier due to extra linkage and hardware on it? Or ludwig Atlas pro pedals for that matter. I hope that made sense.
Also has anyone that has wrapped drums had any problems with using hi bond tape method for the seams? The tape came installed on my wrap and I am wondering if I should use contact cement with it. I bought a couple cans of 3m spray 90 high strength contact cement if I decide to go that route.
I will get some photos up asap, hopefully I won't get too much flak from the vintage gurus for rewrapping these drums. Again, its good to post here again and hopefully I can start getting involved in a few more of the threads!
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
I think I know the dealer that you got your wrap from and I don't like the tape idea. I wrapped my DW about a year ago and I went with a complete glue down. I recommend that, but don't use the spray. Get the 3M NF30. The Del Mar sparkle and glitter wraps are expensive, so you want to do this right. My results were nothing less than professional. Welcome back and good luck. If you have more questions about the wrap job please feel free to ask.
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
I did my Ludwigs over with the wrap and just used the tape strip. It's almost 2 years now and they are exactly the same as when they were 1st wrapped.
Remember that the lugs are going to hold it in place and it's not going anywhere.
You can see the before and after in my videos from about May or June of 2015.
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SunDog
I think I know the dealer that you got your wrap from and I don't like the tape idea. I wrapped my DW about a year ago and I went with a complete glue down. I recommend that, but don't use the spray. Get the 3M NF30. The Del Mar sparkle and glitter wraps are expensive, so you want to do this right. My results were nothing less than professional. Welcome back and good luck. If you have more questions about the wrap job please feel free to ask.
Yes, I'm fairly certian everyone knows the dealer I got my wrap from. I'm not too thrilled with the tape idea either, but at least I can use the low bond part to get it lined up on the shell before I put the cement on. Hoping it will make it less of a chance to screw it up. I have read pretty positive reviews of using the spray, but I would still like to only have to do this one time. Thanks!
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rickthedrummer
I did my Ludwigs over with the wrap and just used the tape strip. It's almost 2 years now and they are exactly the same as when they were 1st wrapped.
Remember that the lugs are going to hold it in place and it's not going anywhere.
You can see the before and after in my videos from about May or June of 2015.
Thats good to hear, basically everything I have been reading is that the seams will start lifting shortly after and/or the wrap will start to bubble. After all of the prep work I have been going through plus the cost of the wrap, it would drive me nuts to have to do this again.
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
Welcome back. Good luck with that Cortex...you are way braver than I am! I have the same basic shells in a standard wrap that I'm stripping, but the 16x14 shell has walnut cortex. I've been dreading that one, LOL. The thought of doing a full Cortex kit is very daunting! I'm going to vote for the spray contact adhesive and seam tape route. It makes it easy to install and is more forgiving. Especially if your shells have a Mahogany outer ply like mine. I have an old Pearl Export kit with the original wrap which is only held on by seam tape. After 25yrs, it's still wrinkle & bubble free and the seams are tight. I think if you install it well and avoid exposing the kit to direct sun and extreme temp changes, it will last a long time. If you have a high quality wrap and are confident that you will 1) do a good job, and 2) never plan on doing it again, then the full glue would be best.
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
I wrapped my PDP popcorn snare and it has the tape strip. I swear I did everything right but the seam did pop up. Luckily I put the seam right after a lug so it doesn't have much to any room to move or lift. But sometimes drives me nuts and I keep pushing it back down lol But I did another wrap on a different drum and had no issues.
As far as your pedal question goes I own several sets of DW9000 pedals and the singles feel just like the doubles.
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
It's important to use non-flammable contact cement or you risk warping and bubbling of the wrap. That's the NF in 3M NF30. You apply it to both the shell and the back of the wrap then allow it to dry completely. When you touch the two glued surfaces together the bond is instantaneous. It is critical to have the wrap lined up straight and even because the bond is utterly unforgiving and sparkle or glitter wraps are thick and brittle. Attempting to reposition the wrap after contact will cause it to snap. At $100 bucks a sheet plus having to re-strip the shell and wait for a second delivery you must be methodical (can you tell I'm speaking from experience here). The final result is permanent and truly professional. I just feel like if it's worth doing then it should be the best.
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
N2Bluz
Welcome back. Good luck with that Cortex...you are way braver than I am! I have the same basic shells in a standard wrap that I'm stripping, but the 16x14 shell has walnut cortex. I've been dreading that one, LOL. The thought of doing a full Cortex kit is very daunting! I'm going to vote for the spray contact adhesive and seam tape route. It makes it easy to install and is more forgiving. Especially if your shells have a Mahogany outer ply like mine. I have an old Pearl Export kit with the original wrap which is only held on by seam tape. After 25yrs, it's still wrinkle & bubble free and the seams are tight. I think if you install it well and avoid exposing the kit to direct sun and extreme temp changes, it will last a long time. If you have a high quality wrap and are confident that you will 1) do a good job, and 2) never plan on doing it again, then the full glue would be best.
I did the 14x10 shell first, the cortex came off basically in huge chunks the legnth of the shell and as deep at my putty knife would go and a heat gun. Its definitely a mahogany outer ply. The remaining glue was the hardest part, however the second shell I did was the 13x9. I used tje same process with a heat gun, but the cortex pulled off some of the outer ply with it. I am going to have to fill that with wood filler before tje wrap goes on. Again, its just the remaining glue that gives me the most trouble.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SpazApproved
I wrapped my PDP popcorn snare and it has the tape strip. I swear I did everything right but the seam did pop up. Luckily I put the seam right after a lug so it doesn't have much to any room to move or lift. But sometimes drives me nuts and I keep pushing it back down lol But I did another wrap on a different drum and had no issues.
As far as your pedal question goes I own several sets of DW9000 pedals and the singles feel just like the doubles.
If I had some seams come up after all this trouble to rewrap, i would definitely be highly disappointed. I will probably just use contact cement and take my time to do it right once. Thanks about the pedals, in that case I will probably just get a double and use it as a single until I feel the need for the other pedal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SunDog
It's important to use non-flammable contact cement or you risk warping and bubbling of the wrap. That's the NF in 3M NF30. You apply it to both the shell and the back of the wrap then allow it to dry completely. When you touch the two glued surfaces together the bond is instantaneous. It is critical to have the wrap lined up straight and even because the bond is utterly unforgiving and sparkle or glitter wraps are thick and brittle. Attempting to reposition the wrap after contact will cause it to snap. At $100 bucks a sheet plus having to re-strip the shell and wait for a second delivery you must be methodical (can you tell I'm speaking from experience here). The final result is permanent and truly professional. I just feel like if it's worth doing then it should be the best.
I think you are right. I just want to do this correctly one time. Im hoping with at least the low bond tape I can get the wrap positioned correctly and held into place before applying the cement. Will it make any difference applying the cement over top of the high bond tape?
Re: I'm Baaaaack.!! Been a loooong time, have a few questions.
That's impossible for me to tell you. I weighed my options when doing mine. Ultimately I decided against Jammin Sam's and went with Precision and their recommended application. Based on my results, I know I made the right choice (the one failure/ re-rewrap aside). I chose a DW stock color from the same supplier (DelMar) that DW uses and applied it the same way they do. Results are amazing. I don't know what you're going to get with the tape. Some say good, some say bad. I think trying to use a cement and the tape together might actually be harder. It's contact cement. It works nothing like glue. You won't put it on, wrap, and then wait to dry. It's applied to both surfaces, allowed to dry and then the wrap is put on. The two surfaces covered in dried cement become bonded instantly on "contact", hence "contact cement". Its the same process that laminate is applied to MDF to make countertops. I would remove the tape and buy a bottle of 3M NF30 or just do the Jammin Sam's tape. Here's the thing, they will both look great immediately, but which will still look great in ten years?
