Hi Dave...

Forgive me for saying so, but I am the king of WMP! :-) The only reason I say that is ALL of my drums are WMP... Rogers, Slingerland, and WFL. ( ALL Buddy Rich snares, kits ) Anyway,

I have completely LIGHTENED/RESTORED WMP wrap without damage, as well as polished and cleaned, and what I have learned is that WMP will break your heart! It probably suffers the most from UV fade out of all the other wraps combined. It can also fade "spotty", as you have seen...

There truly is no way to remove that "spottiness" as it is UNDER the outer layer of the wrap, if you know what I mean. Nor can it be polished or rubbed out. The only way to eliminate it would be to COMPLETELY restore the ENTIRE wrap using one of the lightning techniques that I have used... but I don't recommend it as it is very tricky and you do run the risk of ruining what is otherwise a very nice looking drum.

If you are still interested, go to the www.vintagesnaredrums.com home page and click on the 1949 WFL 3X13 Buddy Rich Model snare at the bottom of the page... This will bring you to the page that features that particular snare. I used the lightening technique on this particular drum... the results are amazing... but, it is as I said, tricky, and labor intensive. Your drum is no where NEAR as completely yellow as this one was.

Hope this was of help!

Tommyp

Hi Dave, Congrats on the acquisition. It appears to be a 6 Lug Drum, correct?

As Tommy states, and he's probably no doubt correct, that the yellowing originates from the underside of the wrap, therefore might not likely be able to be removed?

Since neither of us can see the drum in person, it's a bit hard to determine this.

What I've used, and recommend for polishing a shell that is gentle, and "might" (Notice I say might) alleviate-lessen the yellowing, and will bring up the gloss, will be a good hand glaze, such as a product from 3M (Their Imperial, or Perfect-It Line)

A cheaper, and more easily gotten glaze-polish would be the Pint Bottles of Meguiars Deep Crystal System, but I personally like the 3M stuff better.

Waxes offer some help, as most commercially sold waxes are combinations of a cleaner, a polish, and a sealer all in one. They contain detergents also, and do help clean crud, grease, smoke film, and other nasties stuck to the shell. A small soft detailing brush, or a small soft paintbrush will help remove any dried wax around lugs, badges, and strainers etc.

Remember not to try really hard rubbing, and trying to get immediate results. Usually, 2, or 3 light to medium applications of a glaze work better than trying just one application, and trying to rub like crazy with excessive pressure.

Hope this helps, Mark

Nope... sorry Mark, polishing of any kind WILL NOT REMOVE YELLOWED/FADED WMP... you can rub until your entire bottle of polish, cleaner, etc. is gone and your hands need an entire bottle of Advil for the pain, and the yellow will still be there!

I did look at Dave's spotty yellow areas as he is showing them right around the badge... that doesn't look like a polishing/cleaning compound is going to lighten it... SHINE IT UP, yes... lighten/remove it, no.

Your suggestions on polish/cleaners are of course excellent... but that isn't going to do diddly for the yellowing, However,

IF... and this is a big IF... the yellow areas are from say nicotine... ( which in this case I doubt as there would be more than just spots )... polishing/cleaning will remove it.

As I had stated, I have completely lightened/removed yellow from WMP and there is really only one way to do it. In Dave's case, at least IMHO, clean and polish using Mark's product suggestions, stand back and admire your drum... ( it is nice )... and go play it! Enjoy!

Tommyp

Hi guys,

Thanks for the helpful hints. Having not seen the drum in person as of yet I don't know to what extent the spottyness is. However the price I paid for it..it really won't matter that much.

I wll try and polish it when it gets here but even if the yellow spots don't come off it isn't the end of the word..as long as it sounds warm and woody.

I am sooo chompin at the bit to get my new kit up and running....

I will send pictures when the job is complete

Dave

Well hey davejmw...

I could/can plainly see a bit of spotty yellow/fade right around the badge on your drum... I thought that was what you were referring to. IF that is all you end up with on this drum, that would be fabulous! I had no idea you didn't have the drum in hand yet... I am very used to dealing with WMP as that is ALL I own, and representing four different manufacturer's to boot. Regardless,

From the looks of the picture you attached, you may have to do nothing but a clean/detail... Then go play 'em! :-)

Tommyp

I will offer my "2cents" on this topic and hopefully not duplicate what has already been said and break it down into a final post.

The main reason is since I have been running the web site for so many years this is one of the top 5 questions submitted to the main web site before the forum was started.

1. Surface Discoloration

As stated can be caused by dirt, grime, smoke etc.. Start with a cleaning process stated above to find out. If it does not come off with the above process then it is deeper in the finish.

2. Fading

Especially on sparkles and other finishes can not be fixed. Once a drum is faded by sunlight etc.. Usually one panel or part of drum nothing will restore it back to original to match the drum.

3. Yellowing

This is specifically for WMP, if it is determined that after cleaning that it is not a surface issue then more aggressive methods can be used to "attempt" a wrap lightening. (stated above)

[COLOR=red]Disclaimer:[/COLOR] From what I understand this might not work on all WMP for every year drum and or manufacturer. This requires a chemical that needs to be tested prior to a complete lightening. After the lightening a clear coat will need to be added to the finish to protect it and bring back the shine.

Other then that I think that sums it up. There are a variety of methods for the actual cleaning, buffing and polishing. I tried to summarize a variety of methods on the restoration page on the main web site.

http://www.vintagesnaredrums.com/how_to_vintage_snare.html

Thanks

David

Webmaster

Howdy All,

I do understand, and you are correct Tom, should the staining be "in" the WMP, and not some sort of surface discoloration, you can rub till the cows come home.

The only other thoughts-theories I have on certain types of stains that might be encountered with Vintage Drums such as this, is that it was perhaps stored in a Drum Case, with something laying alongside the shell, a piece of nasty foam rubber, or the like to "supposedly protect" the drum.

I know old Foam can do some nasty things like melt-interact when exposed to certain plastic, or certain paint finishes.

In this instance, if the staining is on the surface, one might succeed in getting some of the discoloration off the shell wrap. All depends I guess just how bad it is, and how lucky you get with your cleaning-polishing efforts. Mark

I too had questions about the WMP but after reading this thread I have decided to keep mine the way it is. Does not affect the sound quality so what if it does show its age. I'm over 50 myself and looks are not everything

but quality of life is.

Milton

OK I'm going to piggy-back on this topic with my own WMP question. If Tommyp or any other expert can shed some light, then so be it.

Have a Camco kit which, for reasons too long and tiresome to go into right here, do not match (two different wood finishes) and which need to be recovered (and I know the whole value argument but just trust me on this - if need be I can take off the wrap and go back to the differing original finishes).

Had them done once in a WMP I got in L.A. which I think resembled the Slingerland one. The job was semi-botched so I'd like to try and do them again - but in a WMP which is accurate for Camco Chanute and/or LA badges. Looking at photos, most of the Camco WMPs seem to be like the Ludwig stuff but once in a while some others turn up.

Trying to access the old catalogues on line is a bit of a waste of time 'cause everything looks kind of, well you know, white and can't really see the difference. As these kits almost never show up in my part of the world, I'd appreciate some input from anyone who's actually seen one (or more) in captivity.

So I want to which one (if it is only one) to go for and where I might be able to get these in North America.

DR