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Thread: Drum Set Painting

  1. #1

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    Hey everyone, I was thinking about painting my drum set. For lack of better works, the "plastic wrapping" that is on my kit has become old and warped and I want to remove it and paint directly on the wood. Any thoughts, suggestions, pros, cons, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

  2. #2

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    Be careful removing the old wrap. I've seen wraps come off with the first ply of wood still glued to it in some spots, and no amount of sanding will fix that. I would take a look at a drum building or vintage drum forum to get some advice on what kind of solvent products you should use to get the wrap off. Often times the shells that have a lesser appearance or imperfections are the ones that get wrapped, especially on lower end kits. Depending on how you want to paint it, this may not be a big deal, but if you plan to stain the wood, you might not end up with a good looking shell. How do you plan to refinish it, what type of paint?

  3. #3

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    Yes, BE CAREFULL! I had a kit that i peeled the wrap off and and it pulled the first ply of wood from the bottom of the bass drum at least it's not visible, i would suggest using a blow dryer and taking your time.
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  4. #4

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    I painted a wrap on a set before and it was nice !! I would think if you remove the old wrap why not just rewrap it ?? There are some very nice wraps out there and you can get them pre drilled too !!
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  5. #5

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    You will need to do allot of shell prep. When you take the old wrap off you will need to get all the glue residue off and seal the shells so that the color does not just soak through. If I were you I would just buy new wrap and re-wrap the shell in a new color.
    That would be the least amount of work and would look the best IMHO.

  6. #6

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    Definitely re-wrap rather than paint. As has been stated previously, the adhesives used for the initial wrap will make preparation for painting difficult - any glue residues in the wood will be almost impossible to remove, and are usually incompatible with paints of any sort. I used to work in an area where restoration was a major part of the day, and I reckon you could end up with a heap of problems if you try the paint thing.

    Jamie.

  7. #7

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    What's the make on the kit? Cheap or high end? I am all for change but as mentioned before is it going to be worth it in the long run.

  8. #8

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    i would say no..paint goes into wood unevenly, especially were there was once glue. you will never get a consistent color even with sanding. the glue has had years(?) to seep in to every crevice the drum has to offer. So theres no way around that even if you do get the wrap off without pulling off layers.

    best option is jamin sam -google it. they have some cool stuff. Or of you really want to go crazy, get some linoleum like you would put on a kitchen floor if you lived in a cheap apartment. it bonds well with minimal glue, looks decent, wont stretch, crack, or warp and you can paint until you pass out from the noxious fumes. <-seriously, open a window when your painting.

  9. #9

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    Thanks for all the responses guys.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gretschhead View Post
    Be careful removing the old wrap. I've seen wraps come off with the first ply of wood still glued to it in some spots, and no amount of sanding will fix that. I would take a look at a drum building or vintage drum forum to get some advice on what kind of solvent products you should use to get the wrap off. Often times the shells that have a lesser appearance or imperfections are the ones that get wrapped, especially on lower end kits. Depending on how you want to paint it, this may not be a big deal, but if you plan to stain the wood, you might not end up with a good looking shell. How do you plan to refinish it, what type of paint?
    I was planning on using some spray paint from Home Depot or somewhere similar.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fades Away View Post
    Yes, BE CAREFULL! I had a kit that i peeled the wrap off and and it pulled the first ply of wood from the bottom of the bass drum at least it's not visible, i would suggest using a blow dryer and taking your time.
    Do you mean heating up the shell with a blow dryer prior to attempting to remove the wrap?

    Quote Originally Posted by 2slow View Post
    I painted a wrap on a set before and it was nice !! I would think if you remove the old wrap why not just rewrap it ?? There are some very nice wraps out there and you can get them pre drilled too !!
    You painted directly on the wrap? Where can I buy some wraps for my kit?

    Quote Originally Posted by backtodrum View Post
    You will need to do allot of shell prep. When you take the old wrap off you will need to get all the glue residue off and seal the shells so that the color does not just soak through. If I were you I would just buy new wrap and re-wrap the shell in a new color.
    That would be the least amount of work and would look the best IMHO.
    If I where to remove the wrap and re-wrap, wouldn't it almost be the same as painting it (glue residue wise?) Meaning that the glue from the old wrap would be on after I removed the old?

    Quote Originally Posted by fumbled time View Post
    What's the make on the kit? Cheap or high end? I am all for change but as mentioned before is it going to be worth it in the long run.
    Its a lower-end set, Harmony.

  10. #10

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    Forgot to add, hypothetically, if I dont remove the wrap and paint, I'm going to paint the lugs, etc. Any thoughts on that?

  11. #11

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    If you are going to just use spray paint, I would just do a couple coats over the old wrap rather than removing and having to prep the shell. New wrap is not cheap, especially pre cut and pre drilled. On an entry level kit, it is probably not worth the cost to re-wrap it.

  12. #12

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    OK, thanks for all the thoughts. Ill probably end up just painting over the wrap, hope it all works out ok.

  13. #13

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    rewrap is easier and cheaper
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  14. #14

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    one thingg i must say, my drumline has new yamaha field corps bass drums and what we used to use was pearl drums. the yammys were black stained, but the pearls were wrapped. We needed to bring 2 more basses to the stand for purposes of nonmarching people to get to play a marching instrument.. They took the wrap off the pearls, brought them to a guy who does car body work, he painted them with car paint i believe. And the next time i saw those drums i didnt know they were the pearls, i thought we had just gotten more yamahas :P
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  15. #15
    Larrysperf Guest

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    I have custom painted 2 sets and they came out very nice. What I did first was put sealer on then painted. Hope this helps

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Larrysperf View Post
    I have custom painted 2 sets and they came out very nice. What I did first was put sealer on then painted. Hope this helps
    What do you mean? Where the drums wrapped?

  17. #17

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    I don't think painting directly on the wraps will work at all. The paint will eventually flake off. Your best bet is to just replace the wrap.

  18. #18
    Larrysperf Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by punkdrummer41100 View Post
    What do you mean? Where the drums wrapped?
    no I stripped the wrap off as paint wont stick to plastic very well without a lot of prep. Also years ago top manufacturers painted inside of drums, plus stains seep into wood,so paint is the same

  19. #19

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    On a kit like that...
    Take all the hardware off
    Heat the wrap with a hair dryer and slowly peel the wrap off trying to avoid pulling up any wood
    Get any extra adhesive off
    Depending on the condition of the outer ply you may have to use some wood filler to smooth it out
    Sand, sand, sand, sand (careful around the bearing edges)
    Use a sealer/primer base coat and then whatever else you want after that.

    If you want to paint on the old wrap (or lugs) then use an adhesion promoter first. DupliColor makes a good one that I've used a few times. Or if you just want to paint right on the plastic wrap you can use Krylon Fusion since it's made to adhere to plastic, and that stuff works really well.
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  20. #20

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    Thank you very much for that response quikstang2.
    I really am trying to avoid taking off the wrap simply because it has been on there for a very long time (5+ years) and I'm afraid of what the glue will do to the wood.

    I like the Krylon idea a lot. Do you think that paint would go through to the wood at all? And also, I plan on painting the lugs, etc. with just standard, basic spray paint. Good? Bad?

  21. #21

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    Take the lugs and everything else off the drum shells. Mask off everything that isn't the wrap and then spray that. The paint won't go through the wrap or the masking, so it won't touch the wood it you take the time to mask it off properly.

    Mount the lugs to a piece of cardboard or something, use Adhesion Promoter on them, then whatever paint you want. I'd suggest several light layers of clear. Also, make sure you take out the sleeves that the tension rods screw into before you paint them, or you'll be screwed when you try to put the heads back on.

    Ultimately rattle can paint is never the way to go, but it's cheap, easy and quick to fix when it gets scratched/chipped. I've used it on several plastic pieces of my truck and it's not noticeable.


    Remember that painting is 90% prep work. Take the time to do that right and the end result with come out MUCH nicer.
    "Life is backwards. Happiness isn't something you seek, it's something that finds you when you are doing the right thing." - Zone47

  22. #22

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    Guys let me say that I have painted a lot of hot rods, race cars and boats over the years and it is entirely possiable to paint a drum shell with automotive paint and have it turn out extremely well. As it has been said before by quickstang it is all 90 percent shell prep. With that being said most people do not have the proper equipment/ knowhow to do the job correctly to get a professional finish. however with a rewrap job and a little patience you can have professional results. I tend to be a perfectionist myself and if it isn't going to look like something I purchased new when I am finished then why spend all the time to do it. Painting is a finiky animal and you can spend a lot of money on materials and still have a crappy looking result if you don't know exactly what you are doing! I would also add that you will spend about the same to twice the cost for materials depending on what type of finish you want to apply, as opposed to wraps if you want a professional looking result. enviromental laws are driving the cost of paint, reducers, hardners, etc. absolutly through the roof right now, and I suspect they are only going to go up more as laws become even more stringent.

  23. #23

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    Once I take the lugs out, will it be fairly simple as to how to disconnect the sleeves?

  24. #24

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    By Sleeves you mean the wrap?

  25. #25

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    Its really difficult to get a high gloss finish using a spray can.It sort of like "Nice from far but far from nice ". If you are going to paint your shell's don't forget to tape up the bearing edge's. There is a guy on Ebay selling a sticky film to recover drum's.It around $60 for a complete kit and come's in some cool color's.Unlike regular drum wrap this film is thin,can be easily cut w/ a razor and looks good.Down side is the film can bubble or wrinkle if you stretch the material too much and it's not durable like regular drum wrap.Drum wrap can get to be expensive.To recover a kit in glass glitter can be aroung $500.00. A lot of company's do have complete rewrap kit's and I used the 2 way tape w/ good results.Google Drum Wrap and several company's have good web site's . For the money I think the Ebay wrap is cool !!! I used the Gold Glitter and it looks really nice.Again it's not as durable as regular drum wrap but its a lot cheaper. Good Luck !!!

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