Brian,
Not as much work as you'd think. I got the idea when I saw a red/white swirl patterned Vistalite floor tom on ebay. It looked like a candy cane and I thought a full set in that pattern would be great for Xmas. Realizing I'd never find a whole Vistalite set in this rare pattern/color combination, I picked up this cheap, white CB set off CL. Now all I had to do was make the red stripes.
As I was taping off the shells to spray paint the red stripes, I suddenly realized I didn't need to paint at all; I simply used a roll of red, industrial rubberized 3" tape (the type that is used to mark isles and paths on workroom floors) and wrapped the tape around each drum in the candy cane pattern (lugs removed of course). I then spray painted the metal bass hoops with red acrylic paint and replaced the white inlay.
The lights are really neat and make this set spectacular in the dark. I found these battery operated mini LEDs at Kmart (pic below). There are no bulbs or sockets; just little bumps on an thin, 8-foot filament wire which light up really bright, and can twinkle, fade, or stay on continuously. I think they're made for door wreaths or anywhere you can't run a cord. They wrapped around each rim nicely. Each drum has the battery pack/control box taped on the player's side.
And do these drums sound as sweet as they look? Nope! Even with properly tuned, brand-new heads, the sharp bearing edges on these imports just can't deliver the warm vintage sound we all like, but this non-discerning audience of parents will never care.
Hope you found this project amusing!
Mike C.
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