Christian,

This is a very popular question here. A lot of folks will say clean the drum(s) and enjoy the yellow patina. A lot of guys will tell you they prefer the yellowed look.

There have been several discussions about more aggressive techniques including wet sanding, using headlight cleaning systems and even Jim Messina's extremely judicious use of lacquer thinner. You would need to address this with those who have had success with those methods and I would suggest that the aggressive methods are not for the faint of heart and could lead to permanent damage.

In general I think most here would agree that straight ahead cleaning a mellowed WMP is the way to go. Enjoy the creamy vintage goodness. If you have a drum or kit with severely uneven fading and/or nasty looking rust or cancer spots then that MIGHT be time to consider something more aggressive. The problem is that the only way to even practice these techniques is if you happen to have a ruined drum or part of a drum. The pryolin finishes used in the early to mid century are no longer manufactured. Otherwise you would be diving into the genuine article and immediately reach the point of no return. Proceed with extreme caution.

Hy tnsquint

thxs for yor answer, and i agree with you when it comes to WMP, but the problem is that the bassdrum of the Set i am restoring is completly white and all the toms are yellowed. It´s not a WMP wrap its just white.

What about carpolish with white color in it? Do you have some experience with that?

Hmmm.... What kind of kit? My guess is that some experimentation may be in order. The laquer thinner idea was specifically intended for pryolin type wraps.

Thats why i am asking! The kit is a - Made in Japan Tama Rockstar, nothing special! I got it for free and want to restore it and make some money to buy some Rogers, Star or Vintage Tama:-)

If it does not work i have enough wrap (grey Charcoal) to re-wrap it. But i want to know if it might be possible to get it white again?

Also for future projekts;-)

Scott, what is the lacquer thinner idea?

ChristianB, I have heard of guys using this retrobright mixture and having very good results, but I have never tired it. Sounds like your bass drum would be the perfect speciman for the test.

Here is a link

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

one more,

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90954&page=2

HY, that sounds great jccabinets:-) i hope i get that stuff somewhere in good old Europe;-) It really seems to work:-)flower

The laquer thinner idea is a little controversial as it is extremely aggressive and can very easily damage vintage wrap permanently. Jim Messina had posted a very long video about it on DFO that spent over 20 minutes explaining mostly nothing. Basically his stance was that it is a bad idea as what you are doing is melting and removing the top surface of the pryolin wrap. Therefore, it is very critical how much pressure is applied and when to stop. His results speak for themselves and are quite impressive. He makes a point, over and over, that this is not a process for just anyone. I don't think I would try it unless I had a completely trashed drum from that era.

I will say that I like mellowed WMP, however, I also like drums that have been restored to showroom new. I suppose I prefer a bright WMP to a yellowed one. I wouldn't try this approach personnaly because I know me well enough to know I would most likely go one step too far. I am not suggesting this for anyone.

This is a video I found a while back that shows the effects of wet sanding. I don't know if I would try it on anything but a severely damaged drum, on my first try.... but, the result he gets is amazing!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPSXB6ihUu0[/ame]

I think i should give this a try:-),the result he gets is amating!!! I am going to make some pics before and after when i start the projekt.

We`ll see how it turns out:-)!