Re-Heading Your Drums

Putting on new drum heads is a truly a paradox; it is pretty easy to do, but tough to get right. There is more to this art than just slapping the head on the shell and the hoop on the head. If you follow these simple steps, you can re-head your drums with confidence.

STEP ONE: REMOVAL OF OLD HEADS

Before removing the heads, first mark the position of the hoops relative to a reference point on the shell (such as a mounting flange or the trademark badge). This is best done with an electric engraving tool, but can be done with paint, nail polish, stickers, or a Sharpie. Be sure to mark each hoop as fitting on the top or bottom of the shell.

I like to kill two birds with one stone by using a "T" and a "B" to mark the positions of the TOP and BOTTOM hoops (I use the mounting flange on the rack toms, the throw-off on the snare, and the trademark badge on the bass and floor toms as reference points).

Next, loosen all the tension rods, one hoop at a time, but DO NOT REMOVE THEM. When they're all loose, pick up the hoop, leaving the rods hanging from their holes, and carefully place the hoop down somewhere safe, preferably over a raised surface that will allow the rods to dangle from the hoop.

Discard the old heads if they are broken or worn out so bad they buzz or cannot be tuned right. Save them to use as spares if they are still usable.

STEP TWO: SHELL PREPARATION

First, tighten all loose screws inside the shell, but be careful not to over-tighten. Replace any screws with stripped or worn threads. If the female fittings of the lugs are stripped, then the entire lug assembly will have to be replaced, which can be pretty expensive, even for one, which is a very good reason to watch how tightly you turn your screws.

When every screw has been tightened, clean the entire shell, inside and out, of any debris, dust, grit, or other foreign bodies. Pay special attention to the bearing edge, making sure it is perfectly clean and free of nicks.

Next, set the shell on a perfectly flat surface (a glass tabletop is best) to check for warpage and trueness of the bearing edge. A neat old-timer's trick for doing this is to set a light down inside the shell as it sits on the table, and see if any light escapes from under the shell. If any light at all escapes, the bearing edge is not perfectly true, and will have to be taken to a drum shop for repair.

This is important: an out-of round shell or one with a bad bearing edge will be impossible to tune when that step comes.

Do not ever drop an empty shell. If the shell gets knocked out of round or the bearing edge chips, it will have to be repaired by a specialist. If the shell cracks, it will have to be replaced.

Finally, rub a very thin coat of paraffin (available at Wal-Mart or any supermarket) around the bearing edge, coating it thoroughly. This will ensure free, unobstructed resonance of the new heads.

STEP THREE: INSTALL NEW HEADS

First, take the new head and turn it inside out while running your thumb firmly around the round part between the bead (the hoop of the head) and the playing surface. You will hear cracking sounds as you do this. This is normal, because it is breaking up adhesions and loosening the head material, thus making the head more pliable and more responsive to proper tuning.

Now, turn it back right side out, and lay the BATTER (top) head loosely over the TOP bearing edge of the shell, and try to rock it back and forth. If the new head has any play (wobble), rotate the head a little at a time until it sits as flush to the shell as possible. When it's there, carefully pick the PROPER hoop up and place it in the original position per the marks you made.

Next, get your trusty can of WD-40, and insert the straw into the spray button nozzle. Shoot a VERY quick blast of the stuff into the threaded fitting inside each lug. Now thread the tension rods into the holes until they are FINGER TIGHT.

Now use the tuning key to torque the tension rods down a little tighter, moving from lug to lug in a star pattern (see figure 2). Be VERY careful not to cross thread the rods into the lugs; DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING, or the result could be an expensive hardware replacement. Keep turning a little at a time until you just remove the wrinkles from the head, and the tone gets a little brighter. Now comes the fun part.

Place the drum on the carpet, or some other soft-but-firm surface. Place both palm heels in the center of the drumhead, as if administering CPR compressions. This process is called "seating" the heads. Push down HARD, until you hear a loud, cracking sound. Be as vicious as you like; you will not break the head. This stretches the drumhead material so it will hold its pitch when it is tuned.

Tighten the head, and repeat the CPR compressions at least twice more, and then tweak each lug a quarter turn more going around the hoop in a star pattern until a brighter pitch is reached. Now flip the drum over and repeat the process for the (RESONANT) bottom head.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR BASS DRUMS: Only turn the tuning key any tighter than you need to make the wrinkles just disappear. Also when seating the resonant (front) head, be VERY careful about pushing down on a head with a sound hole cut into it, whether cut by the factory or by you.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR SNARE DRUMS: Do not seat the bottom heads on snare drums. They are very thin, and will break very easily. They do not require seating because they are not usually tuned. Their purpose is to give the snare wires a surface against which to vibrate, giving the snare its sound.

You have now successfully installed new heads on your drums. Unfortunately, they now sound like warmed-over dog crap. That's because they need to be tuned, and tuning is a very tedious, detailed process that requires another article of its own. Join me next time on AC for advice on TUNING your drums. Bye!