I added 2 Ludwig Classic Toms to my original 1992 kit. All were identified as Mahogany stain, but the latter 2 toms are much darker and do not match the original kit very well. I would like to lighten up the 2 newer toms and have no interest to refinish. I think Ludwig finishes are not consistent over time.
I thought about setting them in direct sunlight and rotating. But if you have better ideas from your experience, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.
You can adjust color by shading to darken or buy tinting to lighten
But once dark , it easy to match the dark but very difficult to lighten , a lot of sanding involved and finding the base and making a glaze to go over the darker area to achieve a fake lighter version of what’s there
Good luck
Gary
Thanks. Refinishing the drum is not in the cards for me. Am experimenting with sun exposure right now and we'll see unless someone else has a neat easy trick.
Thanks. Refinishing the drum is not in the cards for me. Am experimenting with sun exposure right now and we'll see unless someone else has a neat easy trick.
Would love to know how that comes out. If you would post pictures of the results (if your tracking the exposure) it would be great for all of us.
I have been tinkering with the idea of doing an experiment with sun fade over time to a drums finish. I did a trial of how to remove yellowing from a drum with a variety of methods and posted the results here, this will be my next experiment to run once I figure the best way to do it.
Yea . . . an engineer with way too much time on his hands.
I sure will publish the results. Have set my 8" tom in a sunny place in the house and will be able to compare shady side with sun-exposed side week by week. I am optimistic. If it works, will do same with my 18" tom later on.
Interesting experiment, I look forward to the results, thanks for your work.
I sure will publish the results. Have set my 8" tom in a sunny place in the house and will be able to compare shady side with sun-exposed side week by week. I am optimistic. If it works, will do same with my 18" tom later on.
In about ten years we`ll hear back about it. Mahogany doesn't like stain.What you most likely have is a difference in tint from the same order. It`s hard to get plies to match but easy to when you go veneer. When they unroll a Mahogany log into sheets, the tint is all over the place.The rule is, lighter wood tint get`s darker and darker tint wood gets lighter when finished.
The experiment sounds interesting.
This is the same tree, but when they unroll them into sheets, the tint will be all over the place and not uniform at all.
Good comments all. Fact is these are Ludwig Classic drums which have a maple exterior ply. It is the stain that is advertised as mahogany. They also offered cherry stain, etc. In any event, the mahogany stain on the two later-purchased drums was a whole lot darker than the original mahogany stain 6 piece kit purchase. In any event, the experiment using old fashioned sunshine is a week underway. We'll see. Just unfortunate Ludwig was unable to make stains match up consistent over time.
Well in that case you would have to go through the clear coat to lighten it. So, may you have many blue sky days ahead. I've seen it fade my kid's outdoor toy in less than a year.
