the best is lemon or re finishers oil it is good stuff the liquid gold is a very temporary fix last min shine doe evaporate pretty quick i also like butchers wax a lot rub on buff out great for bearing edges ....

On my 1940/50's Slingerland drums have decided not. The ply layers are so thin worried about what would happen with the oil soaking into the inner layer. They look and sound fine as is. Were not oiled from the factory and no way to remove oil once applied. Like to keep things correct when possible.

Creighton

Jeff - Thank you again - I'm glad I had what you needed and was able to help kickstart your Camco project - it was my pleasure man. Your silver sparkle Camco kit came out just "killer" - the holes in that BD simply vanished into thin air

John

Thanks - That's been my experience using the lemon oil. I don't consider the smell an issue - it disappears in a few days or so.

Doug

Thank you - That would be a great test to try to quantify any differences before and after oil treating the shell. I know from my work with the structural engineers that each drum shell has a basic natural resonate frequency based on it's size and mass (weight). Oiling the shell may tend to dampen the vibration somewhat and maybe shift the resonate frequency but I would guess that the changes would be too small to be noticeable to the average listener.

I don't know details but know that DW is now designating pitches for at least some of their shells. They must have some kind of set up in the factory where they can "tap" the shell and measure it's resonate frequency. Therefore a shell with a resonate frequency of 440hertz (cycles per second) would be designated a "A" pitch drum shell.

Doug

Thank you - Your comment certainly makes sense - "if it ain't broke - don't fix it" I can't argue with that.

Doug

That's all very great a lot of theory's and practicum , but there is also the school of thought that the music grade , old slow growth wood , once the natural oils dry out then it becomes othere worldly in sound something the new farm grown wood cannot produce no matter how hard the big drum company try something to be said about. 60's African music grade wood especially the mahahgany from that era

I wanna suggest 100% Natural Beeswax, three coats can be done in three days in between playing if you want. It dries as if it was never put on, wont lighten or darken the color. Goes on wet and dries crystal clear and wont chip or crack. Smell is gone when dry.

I use Feed-N-Wax on bearing edges and unfinished interiors.

Mixture of beeswax and orange oil, I believe.

I would agree with this.

Leave them alone. They wood ages and makes the drum sound! Once the heads are on, it's not exposed to anything other than dry air, or the air in the place they are kept.

I've always lived by "if you'd be comfortable, than your drums are comfortable".

Just my two cents, but leave them alone! DOH