8 replies to this topic

[israbatista]

Every time i play , even if im exausted i wipe heads with Windex .

Every week i take the hoops and tods and clean them with Groove Juice and water .

The i lube them rods with DW-40

I clean the inside of the shell and put some tung oil .

I use some furniture polish on the outsite of the shells.

I use DW-40 to clean all my hardware ( stands , rims , spurs)

I usually clean my cymbals , but right now im trying to age mine so i dont

I take my pedals apart and inspect and lube any discrepencies

I vacuum the inside of all the bags and cases, also check
For
Any
Damage on the bags.

I sand paper my sticks
After each play
I tune my druns every week ( depending on the situation)


Anyone?

[Flytoo]

Wow, you've got me beat by a mile! I just recently tore my set apart and cleaned up the rims and other shiny bits with chrome polish. Soaked the tension rods in phosphoric acid to remove some oxidation. Applied lemon oil to the inside of the shells. Waxed the outside with automotive wax. Applied a thin layer of Anti seize lube to the tension rods before reassembly. Used Cape Cod metal polishing cloth to shine up the cymbals. Now, I just wipe the kit down, once a week with Pledge. Probably won't do another major cleaning/polishing for a year.

[YELLOW_TOAD]

When I put new heads on....I make sure all the fasteners inside the shell are tight.

I check all the fasteners on my pedals, and put a drop of oil here and there.

Other than keeping them clean....that's it.

I clean my cymbals on average every two months. But....as of late...haven't done it since March.

I use Anvil cases for almost ALL of my gear.....I clean them out once every few years. I usually have to re glue foam once a year or so as the heat here in PHX dries out the adhesives.

I tune my drums every night before each gig before each sound check. (4/5 nights per week for the most part - summer is "off-season" for us here..so right now..3/4 nights a week.)

I give old sticks that aren't splintered to students.

[KBaker]

I tune my toms before every show.
Snare between sets
Clean my cymbals every few weeks or once a month.
Sticks that are to abused to continue to play with get thrown into the crowd.
Check my hardware when I set up and tear down for anything that needs fixed.
Lugs and such get checked when I change heads. Which could be once a week or once a month depending on the show schedule. Reso's every 3-4 Batter Changes.

[machinegunbassdrums]

tuning i do check every show. replace the heads when they wear out (havent needed to change my snare batter in 2 years even with every day use cause they're that good!)

once a month i take my kit, strip it right down, polish the shells, polish the hardware, clean bearing edges, clean the tension rods with wire wool and clean the inside of the lugs with cotton buds, clean the stick dust off the rims, polish all my cymbals, clean all my cases out. clean my stick-bag out of stick bits/stick dust, replace worn felts, washers and wing-nuts, strip my pedal down and maintain it with grease/lubricant/oil, and replace any worn out parts.

then just put it all back together, tune it up, and give ti a quick test run.


nothing special, just the standard stuff really.

[Mark@Graham]

i change my heads when needed, tune up if there starting to sound rubbish, tighted lugs if they rattle, cleaned my cymbals once, that's about it, kinda maintenance free.

[israbatista]

tuning i do check every show. replace the heads when they wear out (havent needed to change my snare batter in 2 years even with every day use cause they're that good!)

once a month i take my kit, strip it right down, polish the shells, polish the hardware, clean bearing edges, clean the tension rods with wire wool and clean the inside of the lugs with cotton buds, clean the stick dust off the rims, polish all my cymbals, clean all my cases out. clean my stick-bag out of stick bits/stick dust, replace worn felts, washers and wing-nuts, strip my pedal down and maintain it with grease/lubricant/oil, and replace any worn out parts.

then just put it all back together, tune it up, and give ti a quick test run.


nothing special, just the standard stuff really.

Brother were where u the whole time? Lol

[drummingbulldog]

The reason I refinished my Mapex kit in natural finish was two fold. One, because I love natural finish. Two, because that finish takes the most abuse and still looks good and doesn't show scratches. When I got my Gretsch New Classics I knew I would not play them out live so I don't worry too much about them. They stay in my drum room. All my other drums that get used have bags and or cases so they stay clean. Heads get replaced when they sound bad. Hardware gets cleaned periodically but here in Florida it's humid so if you are worried about rust you would have to clean and dry your stuff after every gig. I have a few sets of hardware. One for gigging with my Gretsch. One for my Mapex and other kits. One for the Yamahas. Cymbals don't get cleaned often. I like them when they are dirty, the sound I mean. The darker the better. Sticks rarely ever break from the tip so I throw away seemingly good sticks to the laymans view. I break sticks on the inside like a pool cue because I do lots of rim shots on snare and toms. I rotate my drums for fun and to keep the stuff from wearing out too fast. Pedals and hardware are all I use the same most of the time. Since I refinished the Mapex pro m kit I have been using them pretty exclusively so I guess what I just said is bunk. Different gigs work better with different kits. The small stages work well with my Gretsch jazz kit while the Mapex kick is a 20" so I don't really suffer from too big a kick drum anymore. To each his own. Compared to many of you I probably don't keep my stuff clean enough but my Mapex were well used when I took them on as a project. To me, drums are supposed to play well and sound really good mic'd or unmic'd. If they look great then it is a plus but the only kits I have that look perfect are my New Classics and my old Ludwigs. Everything else has some gig wear or age on them.

[Mark@Graham]

The reason I refinished my Mapex kit in natural finish was two fold. One, because I love natural finish. Two, because that finish takes the most abuse and still looks good and doesn't show scratches. When I got my Gretsch New Classics I knew I would not play them out live so I don't worry too much about them. They stay in my drum room. All my other drums that get used have bags and or cases so they stay clean. Heads get replaced when they sound bad. Hardware gets cleaned periodically but here in Florida it's humid so if you are worried about rust you would have to clean and dry your stuff after every gig. I have a few sets of hardware. One for gigging with my Gretsch. One for my Mapex and other kits. One for the Yamahas. Cymbals don't get cleaned often. I like them when they are dirty, the sound I mean. The darker the better. Sticks rarely ever break from the tip so I throw away seemingly good sticks to the laymans view. I break sticks on the inside like a pool cue because I do lots of rim shots on snare and toms. I rotate my drums for fun and to keep the stuff from wearing out too fast. Pedals and hardware are all I use the same most of the time. Since I refinished the Mapex pro m kit I have been using them pretty exclusively so I guess what I just said is bunk. Different gigs work better with different kits. The small stages work well with my Gretsch jazz kit while the Mapex kick is a 20" so I don't really suffer from too big a kick drum anymore. To each his own. Compared to many of you I probably don't keep my stuff clean enough but my Mapex were well used when I took them on as a project. To me, drums are supposed to play well and sound really good mic'd or unmic'd. If they look great then it is a plus but the only kits I have that look perfect are my New Classics and my old Ludwigs. Everything else has some gig wear or age on them.

+1, i agree it's good to keep you kit in good nick but imo a kit looks better lived in.

cheers Mark