I thought about that, but the nice thing about "thinning out" the shells is that I won't need to hammer the heads on.
I'm just about resolved to put a sealer on them and call it a done deal, unless I hear somebody come through with a "WAIT! WAIT! Did you try THIS?!?!?" If anyone has one of those, PLEASE come forward. Thanks!
If your shells didn't clean up good enough for a natural maple finish, then I'd paint them instead.
I've taken the wrap off several drums hoping for a nice mahogany exterior, only to have to re-wrap them instead.
Just a roll of the dice, it doesn't always turn out like I would wish.
Black or Elvin Jones ?
My original back up plan was a white satin flame or green sparkle finish. Then, I bought a roll of red satin flame from a local guy for dirt cheap. Then, as I thought more about it, and realized the heads fit better without a wrap or 20,000 layers of paint, I switched to the course of natural maple.
I'm totally not one of those "this is my 3rd drum kit restore this week" guys. I'm quite noobish about this whole thing, quite obviously. I was strongly recommended towards Howard's Restore A Finish as a final procedure to make the kit look good. Thoughts on finishing maple as natural and beautiful as possible?
Oh, and the floor tom has a stain on it, I noticed as I compared the shells side-by-side-by-side. Gonna have to sand THAT one too, now...
If you want to wrap the drum without making the heads fit tighter, than don't wrap all the way to the bearing edge. Anytime I wrap drums, I measure in from the bearing edge and put small marks around the perimeter of the drum with a pencil. I find that 5/8" (or 10/16" to make it easy when marking) is just about right. That's where most heads come down to, at least Remo anyway. You can do your own test with your own heads by simply assembling the drum, putting the head on with a medium tension, and then tracing with a pencil where the head is on the shell (how far it comes down towards the center of the shell). Again, it's typically about 5/8" (10/16") from the bearing edge. Then simply measure the width between the marks and cut the wrap width accordingly. As an example, an 8" deep drum would only require 6 3/4" width of wrap, taking into account you're taking 10/16" off of each side. As an aside, isn't odd that most drums aren't exactly the depth they are listed to be? I've seen many 8" x 10" toms they were anywhere from 7 3/4" to 8 1/2" deep!
After I make my marks by measuring in from the bearing edge, I put wide painter's tape on the shell at the point where the marks are and up (towards the bearing edge), leaving only the part of the shell that is going to be wrapped exposed. That way, it protects the bearing edge and the "bare" part of the shell (that is going to be unwrapped) from the glue. Then wrap as normal. When the wrap is on and dried, take the painter's tape off, and PRESTO! No matter how thick the wrap is, the heads will still have plenty of room to resonante and "float" on the shell. And, you or anyone else will never be able to tell that the wrap doesn't go all the way up, because the head completely covers the bare, unwrapped part of the shell.
Hope this helps!
I measured by tracing around the fitted heads & allowed an extra 5mm to sit under the head. no problems with fitting & tuning... no wood is visible..
Cheers
Thanks for the help, everyone! I finished the shells last night. I just need a couple pieces of hardware (a badge grommet and some spurs), and I'm ready to reassemble.
What kind of heads, batter and reso, will make these drums sing? Remo coated ambs? Aquarian Vintage?
