Funny you ask.

As I was actually going to start a new post on this.

Here are the results of a quick experiment I tried _ painting a fade finish directly on top of a black wrapped floor tom.

The sacrificial FT is a dog and the wrap is badly bubbled, and in whatever event needed to be replaced _ so it was a good candidate for experimentation.

Sorry about that first image being horizontal _ it presents vertically on my computer but reverts to horizontal when I upload it.

I didn't shoot any 'before' pictures.

Done quickly with a rattle can.

Ohm

As an addendum _ I painted over the wrap itself for several reasons.

1. Painting over the wood shell itself would have taken more time and prep.

2. I've seen my share of painted drums _ that have been painted directly over the wrap _ but have never seen any attempt to emulate a color fade.

3. I thought it might prove useful for folks that have vintage Duco kits _ many times offered without a floor tom _ that until they find a perfect matching drum _ they could in the interim _ do this _ with another drum.

Lastly _ I left the shell sit for 2 days to make sure the paint was completely dry _ and then applied some wax to a small portion of the painted surface _ to whit _ the paint held and the wax filled the sandy texture to a smooth gloss _ but I only did that to a very small section.

Ohm

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=22750

John

Thanks for all the feedback. I was asking because some time ago I picked up a couple of Slingy pieces in a black & gold duco finish circa 1953-1956 -- a 12x22 bass drum with a matching Student Model Radio King snare (see pics 1 & 2).

Since I figured my chances of finding the matching duco toms from the same era were slim and none I decided to look for a couple of toms with a gold sparkle wrap to match the in-lays on the bass drum hoops. I found a Slingy rack tom that's on its way (3rd pic) but the only candidate that I could find to use as a possible floor tom was a 12x15 Ludwig tenor drum (last pic). Its got a gold sparkle wrap with a black center section. I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum since the end result's going to be nothing more than a somewhat unique "player's" kit. I haven't purchased the Ludwig drum as of yet because I'm wondering if the gold sparkle wrap would actually match that on the Slingy rack tom. I'm also not sure if the Ludwig piece would be a good fit since the Slingy rack tom doesn't have the black center section.

Any "words of wisdom" would be greatly appreciated.