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Thread: First Edition of El-Kevo's tips (cleaning)

  1. #1

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    Default First Edition of El-Kevo's tips (cleaning)

    I've been getting alot of messages, and hadn't even signed on in months, so I decided to write a series of articles of things I get asked most about.

    This week's edition is about Pre-Tour cleaning.
    So your drums have been sitting in nasty storage units and the glue and foam from your road cases have somehow melted and formed some gross paste thats collecting on your shells. To make things worse, a hurricane temporarily knocked out power and flooded the neighborhood exposing your hardware and ATA cases to water and rust.

    Begin by taking your road cases and spraying WD40 on all metal surfaces, including the hinges on the back. This not only reduces the rust but adds a protective layer of oils. Then lay towels down across the top. With each drum remove the heads, unscrew the lugs (make sure to put the small screws in coffee cups according to size), unscrew all hardware, tom mounts, kick spurs, fittings and spacers. I like to soak my lugs in windex. Now grab your softest towel you have and gently rub down your bearing edges, while cleaning them go ahead and look for pits or splits in the plies. Then remove dust from finish. Put very small pieces of tape over your holes to protect the untreated wood.Take a very good quality car wax (for finishes and certain wraps) and your buffing wheel. Very small circles work best. Let it dry in the shade while you do the others. While it's drying take the finest steel wool you can find and scrub the rust and crud off your hoops. When you reach the desired shine move on (not for black or colored hoops). Back to your shells, Remove the tape and grab your lugs. Before you begin screwing them back to the shell. put a cottonball or two inside each lug. Don't be surprised if some lugs, such as Premier, can hold 5-10 cottonballs. This reduces the noise your drums make allowing for a cleaner better tone. Make sure all fittings, springs, brackets are able to work around the cotton and your inserts aren't stripped and screw the lugs back to the shells. You can add some petroleum jelly to the tension rods and screw them all the way into the lugs. This will make it easier for the drum to slip out of tune for the first few days but is the most efficent way to remove rust, moisture, and prevent stripping. I usually use lug-locks during this time period. Make sure to remove the tension rods again before you try to attach the head and hoop.

    If you're switching kick drum heads and need to remove the brand logo, use a very slight amount of Acetone on a towel and rub the logo away. Make sure you wipe away any remaining acetone or it could eventually eat through the head...It's very determined stuff.

    Don't forget to wipe off your kick pedals, your front kick drum head, and anything else that tends to collect dust. When you're assembling your kit, always have a towel and windex (real stuff; not generic...don't know why) and spray and wipe every cymbal stand, every time. Just like cymbals once your stands are cloudy and nasty, it's almost impossible to get that look back. It never hurts to have a can of pledge or "clean and shine" around to wipe off the shells at shows as well, the layer it adds catches light and throws it making your kit look amazing.

    Well thats the first edition. Feel free to add what you please as I'm sure I forgot alot.

    More drum cleaning tips at DrumTips.com

  2. #2

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    Default Re: First Edition of El-Kevo's tips (cleaning)

    Good tips! Very thorough!

  3. #3

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    Default Re: First Edition of El-Kevo's tips (cleaning)

    Thank you so much for posting this, as i'm trying to research this very thing at the moment and didn't know where to look. Very informative read, detailed, and I was able to understand it easily enough. Can't thank you enough, looking forward to the next edition with anticipation!
    ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
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  4. #4

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    Default Re: First Edition of El-Kevo's tips (cleaning)

    What all would you guys like to know more about and ill get to work on something... Can be related to drums or maybe incorporating other elements such as drum head logos, lighting, whatever you want...

  5. #5

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    Default Re: First Edition of El-Kevo's tips (cleaning)

    Great tips!
    It would be amazing if you could write up a bit about colouring drum hardware, specifically the hoops and lugs. Thinking of painting it green, but im a bit worried about chipping of the paint and a few other things.
    Sonor - Pearl - Tama - Mapex - Paiste - Sabian - Roc N Soc - Pro Mark - Gibralter - Evans - Dixon - Mapex

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