Could someone please explain to me what the hang up with lacquer is. I do play drums but my source of income is building custom hot rods. I have been painting for 17 years and have gone through the lacquers, enamels and now the FAR superior urethanes. When a friend who restores drums had a new snare shell to clearcoat, he told me the customer requested lacquer and my question was . . . WHY? DOH This sounds like these old guys talking about their car with "27 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer". Keep in mind that this is a new shell provided by the manufacturer. I can understand if it were part of a vintage kit that was lacquered originally. But even if you are restoring a complete vintage set, if it is supposed to be high gloss clear, why not put high gloss clear on it? Lacquer is not high gloss. It has to be rubbed out to get that deep gloss. To apply it, you put 3-4 coats on, let it dry over night, sand it, put 3-4 more on, let dry, sand . . .you get the picture. When you get it like you want it, then it has to dry down for a for a minimum of 10 days before you can buff. And lacquer never "cures". The solvents continue to evaporate and continuosly shrinks. That's why, as you may have seen, an old set that the finish has cracked. Urethane clears on the other hand - spray 2-4 coats, wet on wet, and walk away, 1-2 days later . . .DONE! It doesn't have to be buffed for appearance, but usually there will be a couple of specks of dust that has stuck to it, so you just lightly "nib" it, polish, and it's ready. Urethanes have a catalyst that is added so they actually cure. So they don't shrink and they are much more durable. They can also be flattened for a satin look as well.

From what I hear there seems to be some concern about film thickness and killing the tone. Three coats of urethane clear is about 1.5 - 2.0 mils of dry film build. If that is a problem then they better stop glueing on that 20 mil wrap they put on drums!

Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks