I'm in the process of cleaning up an old Pearl Custom Classic snare drum for a local school Band program. It has a white lacquer finish (similar to the old Dennis Chambers signature drum). What would be the best way to clean to finish up? Also, there seems to be some duct tape residue on the finish. What should I use to clean that off without damaging the finish?
There are some amazing drum restoration folks here, so I thought I'd ask you guys first. Thanks in advance!
D808 - Goo-Gone for the tape residue, spray on, wipe off. There are a bunch of great products for cleaning, just make sure to use soft cotton rags, nothing abrasive.
John
1/2 pint Warm water, couple drops dish soap with 1/4 cup vinegar will remove just about anything. Like John, I use the Goo-Gone. Fantastic product for glues and sticky residue.
Thanks for the heads-up on Goo Gone, guys. It took off all the tape residue without affecting the lacquer finish. I'll use the warm water/dish soap/vinegar mix next to clean the finish. Any suggestions for a product to use for the final polish? Thanks again!
Also, what do you guys think about that Pearl badge? Should I use something to take off the old clear coat, clean it up and re-seal it again?
Nice work on the finish.
The badge on the other hand is another story. If you remove the original finish on the badge, drill holes in the shell, do a re-wrap when not necessary, we tend to refer to that as "molestation". In other words, trying to keep the drum as original and undisturbed as possible is the goal of restoration. What you're attempting to do is preserve the drum and the character it gains with age as much as you can. If its really butt ugly and needs a complete "lift" OK, but the rule of thumb is to leave it alone as much as you can. The badge looks just fine and has a nice "Vintage" character to it.
Lifting the original clear coat on the badge may also disturb some underlying step in the manufacture like inks or stamping artifacts that you won't want to disturb. If it ain't broke, don't fix it :)
cheers!
-kellyj
If you remove the original finish on the badge, drill holes in the shell, do a re-wrap when not necessary, we tend to refer to that as "molestation". In other words, trying to keep the drum as original and undisturbed as possible is the goal of restoration. What you're attempting to do is preserve the drum and the character it gains with age as much as you can. If its really butt ugly and needs a complete "lift" OK, but the rule of thumb is to leave it alone as much as you can. The badge looks just fine and has a nice "Vintage" character to it. Lifting the original clear coat on the badge may also disturb some underlying step in the manufacture like inks or stamping artifacts that you won't want to disturb. If it ain't broke, don't fix it :)cheers!-kellyj
Hey kellyj,
To me this is such a great post and defines the essence of vintage drum restoration ! You nailed it - I think every first timer to this forum should read your post .
Thanks !
Drum Doug
These are under the radar single ply snares that play and sound great! I've had two of the 6.5" version and currently have a black lacquer one. Swapped out the original pressed steel rims for diecast and now refer to it as the single ply w/o re-rings snare Gretsch should have made.
The Band
