Ideas for a new drum finish

A

AJ3000

Silver Member
Ok, as some of you may know, I'm pretty into re-finishing drums and generally cocking about with stuff, and I'm tentatively toying with a company offering refinishes to the public. However before I kick off I want to make a 'show kit' that'll also double as a rental kit while we re-finish other people's stuff. But here is my problem....

I don't know what finish to go for!!

I have acquired some Mapex meridian maples spread across 2 colours and need to make them cool. It's gotta be a little bit crazy, to showcase what we do, but not so insane that it's unplayable!!!!

So what would you go for? There are no wrong answers, just let your imagination run wild!!!!!!
 
Jag said:
Maybe something with your company name involved in the finish. It will help get the word out there.
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+1 Nothing like spreading the word about your company via showing off a stunning looking custom kit.

Take it a step forward - perhaps the custom finish is matched with an equally amazing graphic bass drum head or maybe even awesome looking reso side heads. I honestly think our instruments are (or at least should be) a working piece of art.

Marketing would also tell you likewise; many manufacturers ofer the same kit in several different finishes at differing price points.

The devil is in the detail so even hardware on the drums should be custom; black chrome, gold and so forth.
 
you could do some interesting finishes like these:

joogBh.jpg

lbxyAh.jpg

jJtdMh.jpg


i saw those few photos from the chicago drum show and thought that they were an interesting new look on drums.
 
AJ3000 said:
Ok I already have branding and heads etc sorted, it's purely down to finish now. Part of me thinks an exotic veneer, part thinks maybe flame graphics, or jellybean, the list is endless!
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It seems the exotic veneers are quite popular these days. Take a look at what everyone else has and try something different. I used to build furniture and I can tell you there are an endless amount of options of veneers out there beyond the realm of what most drum manufacturers offer.

This company supplies some to a well known manufacturer:

http://www.veneeronline.com/folio.aspx
 
Jellybean is one of the most hideous things you could do.

Veneer by itself has been done. Can you do something more complex, a layered finish that fills and pops the grain, perhaps?

You might think about doing both painted finishes (flames, whatever) as well as stained/etc lacquered finishes.
 
Thanks for all the feedback!

To be honest, we tend to do way more paint than anything else, as a surprising number of kits are already stained, and therefore almost impossible to cleanly re-stain into a different colour. Our target market is more the SJC/Truth/OCDP style customer who doesn't have the pockets for a full custom build. I'm leaning more towards paint I think....
 
You can do a lot with paint. I had a lot of my other hobby things painted with amazing results; motorcycles, airplanes and cars to name a few.

Actually that gave me an idea of a cool custom finish; have my drum set painted up like an airplane....WW2 style or maybe the modern aerobatic planes. Panel lines and rivets would look awesome under a nice high gloss finish.
 
AJ3000 said:
Hey, now we're talking! I love the idea of something aviation and/or military-inspired. I must admit that most of the stuff I do is sprayed rather than airbrushed or hand-painted, but I love the concept. To the drawing board......
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Forget SQ2 I would honestly buy another S classix kit with a wrap and have it stripped just to get a cool paint job like that. Sonor finishes are nice but a birch kit with an aviation theme paint job would look amazing!!

Something like this:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/7/5/9/1519957.jpg

The eyes could be on the rack toms.
 
AirborneSFC said:
Forget SQ2 I would honestly buy another S classix kit with a wrap and have it stripped just to get a cool paint job like that. Sonor finishes are nice but a birch kit with an aviation theme paint job would look amazing!!

Something like this:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/7/5/9/1519957.jpg

The eyes could be on the rack toms.
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And that is exactly the market we're after! Imagine picking up whatever drums in whatever finishes from the stocks that are left and making a killer aviation kit based on that kit. And it's reasonably cheap!
 
The aviation kit sounds cool. Airbrushed with rivets missing and panels starting to lift, torn and bullet holes in them, smoke and or fluid running out of some of the bullet holes. Bass drum done up like an engine. I have seen spinners on the front head before so you might find one that looks like a prop or just have graphics like a jet engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ckgw81umG4&NR=1&feature=endscreen
 
tard said:
The aviation kit sounds cool. Airbrushed with rivets missing and panels starting to lift, torn and bullet holes in them, smoke and or fluid running out of some of the bullet holes. Bass drum done up like an engine. I have seen spinners on the front head before so you might find one that looks like a prop or just have graphics like a jet engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ckgw81umG4&NR=1&feature=endscreen
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+1 Exactly and the concept is great. Granted a paint job is not cheap.
 
The beautiful thing about the photos that uniin posted is that they transform the materials used to make the drum into something different. They remain classy, with a antique or old-world vibe. An aviation theme could be subtle, making the drums reflect construction with riveted panels over frame. Going too far ends up giving you something that came from a 10-year-old's bedroom. The drums don't have to be literal airplanes, but rather, you draw styling cues from them.
 
Believe me; unde normal circumstances I'm all about subtlety! Was merely thinking outside the box in going with the propeller idea!

I have had the idea of painting all the drums like other 'drums' for example an oil drum, a beer barrell etc. I think it's still too much, but this conversation is definately heading me in the right direction.

So I'm going to modify the question to this - if you could pick a finish, and it can be the simplest piano black through to something outrageous, what would you spend the money on?
 
Naked breasts never go out of style. All kinds, perky, voluptuous, voluptuous and perky, negro, asian, european, eskimo...

Currency is cool too. A drum with your countries highest currency bill is what I am picturing.

Comics work great too. You could literally wrap the drum in comics and lacquer over them.

You know how with vehicles they can put a custom graphic that encompasses the entire truck in say flower arrangements or something? It's not painted on, I think, it's more like wallpaper for lack of a better term. That's a possibility instead of painting.
 
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