It's probably not going to change the fundamental sound of the drum by putting any kind of coating on the interior. It may make it sound a little "brighter" (more high pitch overtones), depending on how thick the coating is, but it won't change the actual "resonance" of the drum. When I think of the term "resonance", I'm thinking of the overall "note" of the drum, and that has more to do with the construction of the drum (shell material, bearing edge shape, dimensions of the drum, etc.).

Just my opinion based on my experiences.

I've done this before with clear poly. It did nothing to the resonance but did change the tone of the drums. They got a bit brighter, which is what I was looking for. When I think of resonance I think "ring". Best of luck.

-Doug

I've done this on a few MIJ shells too. I used satin finish (oil based) Poly, about 3 or 4 coats, then used 000 steel wool to make them smooth. Using the chisel point foam brushes is easier than a "normal" brush.

You aren't going to blown away by the sound difference, but there is a subtle change. Remember it's basic physics:

The softer and rougher a surface is, the more it is going to absorb the sound waves in and around it. Conversely, the harder and smoother a surface is, the more it is going to reflect the sound waves in and around it.

By lacquering the inside of the shell, you are making it harder and smoother, so the sound waves will be more reflective, which means you should get more resonance (ring) from them. How much resonance is the question. To me, there is a subtle difference, but remember that the vast majority of the sound of your drum comes from the choice of head and how it's mounted. Those two factors affect the sound far more than lacquering the shell will.

Go ahead and try it and see what you think. As an added benefit, the shell will pick up some more rigidity, which is never a bad thing.

Good luck,

V

You'll probably get more out of recutting bearing edges.

But Neil used fiberglass resin on the inside of his red Tama kit.

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I'm going to talk with George at Precision Drum to get his opinion as well. My goal is to get more ring out of the toms, so if the difference is negligible after doing all that work, I may can the idea completely. Re-cutting the edges may be the best solution. I'm sure they're not in great shape.

I did it with an old Pearl President kit and an old Yamaha kit.. My reason for doing so wasn't so much for resonance, but to protect the wood from future deterioration, so i only applied 2 coats..Not much difference with the Pearl, but the early 70's Yamaha, as most have stated here, became a lot brighter and slightly more resonant, but not a huge difference..Differences are subtle, and you have to either have a great ear, or ocd.. LoLoLoLo

Yes, have a look at the edges. I'd advice to let cut double 45's, with a minimum contact area. In case of Luan I'd advice to drain the edges with CAglue after cutting and before sanding. I makes them hard.

Please note you can also gain huge amounts of tone and resonnace by:

-Installing rubber under tom-mounts/floortombrackets and subsequent washers. It reduces transmittace of energy into the hadware/ground.

-instead use rimms on the rack toms and floating floortom feet on floortom (Gibraltar makes nice ones, far better looking than those ones from Pearl)

With edges re-cut and transmittace issues solved almost any drum can sound huge!

I agree with redoing the edges. I did it to my Stewart kit, best money I spent, he squared the shells, cut new edges (vintage style, round over), sealed them, and I love the results. Good luck.