brass drum maintenance

[permanent hearing damage]

so i've had this amazing dw brass shell snare for quite some time now. it has been on many tours and airplanes with me and probably been played on 2/3 of the records i've recorded for others. it sounds amazing. unfortunately, i haven't taken the best care of it and it sorta looks like it came from the titanic. shell is pretty tarnished. rims and tension rods are rusted pretty seriously in some spots.

in the past, i've disassembled this guy and used Brasso on the shell with okay results. i figured it's high time i clean this thing up. is there any kind of soak anyone would recommend for the tension rods and rims? additionally, is there anything i should be doing differently with Brasso or any other cleaner that could get this thing looking nice and shiny again? i usually just use a rag to try and buff it a bit, but maybe i should use something more serious?

i'm not worried about resale or anything - i'll keep this thing til i die. besides, i've had to replace a bunch of the lugs that i've managed to bust over the years.

thanks in advance

[cgarges]

If the rust isn't too bad, you can use light grade steel wool on the rims and lugs and that might take care of it. Lug screws are harder. If the rust is bad on the lug screws, I'd just replace them.

I also wouldn't go heavier on cleaning the brass, like buffing it. If the shell was in good shape and you were wanting to maintain it, I'd suggest using a brass cleaner for a polished finished and a band instrument cleaning cloth on a lacquer finish. But cleaning it with some regularity is the best way to maintain the finish.

I just bought a snare drum that was EXTREMELY used. The shell was in good shape, but there was a lot of corrosion and rust on the lug screws and throw-off. I just bought new ones, which maybe added $50 to the cost of the drum, but now I have a great-sounding, great looking snare drum that I didn't have before.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[Gregg Juke]

A couple other tips:

I have found one of the best cymbal cleaners (and this applies equally to metal snare drums in my experience) to be (believe it or not; drumroll please)-- Amway Metal Cleaner. So if you can find a distributor, you may want to try some of that.

+1 on "Don't do anything crazy" with a buffing machine or anything... Try elbow grease first.

When I do get around to doing maintenance/repair/restoration on stuff like this (and that's not nearly as often as I should-- I've still got that Black Beauty languishing out in the garage!), I've taken to using a little trick on my lug screws that I picked-up 1,000 years ago playing soccer with some older players that used screw-in spikes-- before returning or replacing lugs back into casings, I'll dip it in a little vaselline/petro jelly to seal and protect a bit. Seems to work well, and with the jelly, some decent lugs, and a set of LT LugLocks (tm), I haven't had to really retune my main snare drum for years (other than when other people try to "help" me in the studio, as has been happening so maddeningly often these days).

GJ

[The Scum]

For rust, there's a product called "naval jelly" that you can use to try to remove & neutralize it. It's usually a precursor to repainting or replating - if the steel remains exposed to the elements, it's prone to keep rusting. Loctite make one brand of it...probably in the spraypaint aisle of the hardware store.

Not that $25 won't buy you a new rim, if it comes down to it.

The thread oil or vaseline is a reasonable idea, but it tends to pick up dirt, and eventually the grime gums up the threads. Then they have to be cleaned...if it's a petroleum-based lubricant, gasoline is a reasonable solvent, and hot water & detergent should also be able to break it up. A toothbrush (or even better, a fingernail brush) is useful for scrubbing them.

White vinegar can be useful for some tarnish situations...the ol' "hot sauce cleaning a penny" trick. Rinse well with water when you're done, so the acid doesn't continue to eat away at things, neutralize with baking soda if you're paranoid.

[permanent hearing damage]

thanks, folks. after tracking this weekend, i am going to try and give it a shot.

i have actually had terrible luck with luglocks on my two C&C snares. they might slow them down a little from falling out of the drums, but it still happens.

While, we're on it - I've had awful luck with the DW and the C&Cs with screws inside the shell getting loose and popping out. Even Locktite doesn't help that much. Any suggestions? I guess the black Locktite might do a better job, but maybe that's a little too crazy? I am seriously considering it on my kick drum pedals, though (stupid DW hinges coming loose all the time!)

[digitaldrummer]

+1 on using steel wool for the chrome parts. then follow up with a coat of car wax (I like the Meguiar's cleaning wax) and I use plain old Vaseline to lube the lug bolts.

i also used some of this (from Lowe's):

http://www.lowes.com/pd_54851-75269-CL- ... facetInfo=

to soak badly corroded or rusted chrome parts. It helps but the steel wool does a better job if you can get to it.

Mike

[drumsound]

Goopy things on tension rods drives me crazy. Pencil graphite or liquid graphite (which is really dust and not liquid) is a great lubricant for tension rods.

[Nate Dort]

Steel wool on chrome will scratch it. Use one of those 3M green synthetic scrubber pads instead.

BarKeeper's Friend works well for soaking rusted/dirty metal. Available at pretty much any grocery store.

As for lubrication, I like "dry lube" which is teflon suspended in an aerosol spray. The liquid dries, leaving a coating of the teflon behind. Liquid Wrench makes a version that I've had around for a while (it's good for lubing Rhodes felt pads).

[Marc Alan Goodman]

Elmer's makes my favorite dry lubricant

http://www.elmers.com/product/detail/E450

[chorga1]

DO NOT use vaseline on your lugs! In hot temperatures it melts, all over your drums.

If you want something of that consistency then you should use white lithium grease.

[Gregg Juke]

NEVER had that problem once, but I'm not advocating for a whole shell immersion...

A _tiny_ dip of the _lug_ before placing in the _lug casing_. "Screw grease," if you will.

GJ

[digitaldrummer]

same here. I live in Texas and sometimes play outside in the summer and in the (very) hot sun. I have never created an oil slick.

if you were to cake on the Vaseline, then yeah, I could see that happening. but you only need a small amount anyway. if I have excess after threading it, I wipe it off.

Mike

[dwelle]

fine steel wool will *not* scratch chrome, but it does a helluva job at removing oxidation/rust. i use #000 extra fine regularly on chrome bits from drums and motorcycles. takes a little elbow grease.

the scotch pads are like sandpaper!...