Drum-care at Home!

[ahpek1]

Hi everyone, most of us invested lots of our hard-earned $$ to get our drums stuff and it's also important to take great care of them. Just wanna share my simple knowledge on drum-care:

As you know singapore is a humid place and it's bad for our drum-shells, hardwares and cymbals in the long run. If you do not take good care of your stuff, your drum-shells might get warped and out of shape & your hardwares and cymbals will rust easily.

Apart from cleaning your equipments, the other most important thing is to do is to get de-humidifier and put it in your drum-room, keeping your room dry and moist-free which is good for your drum-stuff, furnitures and electronics too.

You can either get the electric de-humidifier which cost from $60 and above or Thirsty-Hippo to put in your room.

If you keep your equipment in cases, then you MUST get silica-gel and put it in your case.

Most of you might not know about this but it's very important!!

Cheers and keep the faith

 

[soft]

ahpek1, is it true that if we are in an air-con room, the humid level should be fine? ha..ha.. i scare wait i put in a de-humidifier, i will start to dry up too.

 

[ahpek1]

:lol: :lol: Yep, if the aircon is on, it's fine but once you off it, that's when the problem starts. The downside for singapore weather is that it's hot and humid, and lots of us install aircondition which is good but we do need to take care of our stuffs at home as well. For air-con, it's water-based and once you off it, moisture will take over fast, de-humidifier is the answer to this problem, keeping your room dry, free from moist build-up that might cause algae and fungus build-up and that weird smell in your room

 

[legin]

ahahah theres another thread about how to store ur guitar properly. tink it both works the same.to keep the place around it dry and cool.away from vapour. a giant happy hippo will do just fine.

 

[ixora05]

I didn't know this! thanks for the tip. Will go and buy a coupla those Thirsty Hippo thingies. any tips on cymbal care though? like how to get rid of fingerprints made when trying to do mutes. lol.

 

[legin]

use cymbal polishers! ahahah as easy as that.for various brands of cymbals that u use go find the cymbal polisher.it'll be great if u polish ur cymbals once in a while as dust and dirt accumilated over time can actually change the sound of the cymbal.so yea get cleaning!

 

[nkf31]

For the cymbals, depends. The dirt build-up will make the cymbal warmer and darker, if i'm not wrong. If you like it, don't clean it.

Just wondering. i just got pearl eliminator pedals. How do you maintain them? Must you oil them regularly? will WD40 do?

 

[ahpek1]

Clean the pedal with dry cloth regularly. Once in awhile, use singer oil and apply it at the chain. You can also use autosol or brasso to clean the footboard if there's stain. Try not to use WD40.

 

[nkf31]

would you need to oil the rods operated by drum key? Cause the tension rods on my rhythm traveller have rusted, and wonder if the same will happen to my pedals. would you need to oil them? or is it the material?

 

[legin]

that was happened to my pegs too. pearl's hardware rusts real fast.

 

[ahpek1]

The rust on the tension rods or lugs are caused by moisture and humidity. That's where the de-humidifier is needed. You must also wipe the stainless-steel parts regularly. If you put your pedal in a case, make sure you put silica gel in it

 

[nkf31]

ok thanks much ahpek! also just wondering, i think i heard somewhere that you shouldn't oil the hinge because it will spoil the lubricant or something, is that true?

 

[ahpek1]

not really bro but do not use wd40, singer oil will do, just abit when the thread are dry.

 

[drummar-buah]

eh if use thirsty hippo, isn't that very expensive? have to keep replenishing every few days/weeks. how long would one container of "thirsty hippos" last?

 

[drummar-buah]

oops.. how long would it last to put ONE container in the whole room? <--- that's wat i meant..

 

[legin]

thats why i said GIANT thirsty hippo. which is jus a joke. what i really mean is dehumidifier.

 

[ahpek1]

Yo buah, thirsty hippo is around $7plus for a pack of 3. Usually for hdb room, just use 2 thirsty hippo is enough. Depending on the humidity level in your room, 2 thirsty hippo can last between 1half-4months. Once the water reach the max indicator, replace a new one. Mine last for 2months and everything's fine with my drum equipments, no rust on hardwares and my drum-shells are dry and in very good condition.

 

[drummar-buah]

cool man thanx. hmm but i think nvm la.. my hardware are all already rusted when i first gotten them.. so.. never mind la

 

[ahpek1]

yo buah, don't be complacent and take it lightly la bro.. Take good care of your personal instruments. If you're free, get an autosol or brasso and clean your stands and hardwares at your own time. And also once in awhile clean your drumshell. TAKE NOTE: to clean lacquered finish drumshell, DON'T use wax-base spray like Pledge, it will dampened your tone. just use window cleaner spray, spray it on a dry-cloth and wipe your shell.