would vinyl decals eff the sound up?

elijahlucian · 15th January 2009

so im designing decals for instruments. (some people like them) and i was wondering if vinyl lettering on a bass drum (like a band name) would ruin the sound of the kick? or if its a minimal type of thing that you shouldnt worry about...

also if anybody knows if putting vinyl on the front of an acoustic guitar would also wreck it... please let me know.. thanks in advance!

Nutmeg II. · 16th January 2009

It will change the sound of the kick.

The letters will dampen the head in certain places and also will add weight to the head, again in certain places.

The will not be the end of a good kick sound, but it does change the sound like putting tape on a snare drum or tom.

joeq · 16th January 2009

Many brands of drum heads come with a decal already - the one with the company logo on it. Some heads are painted, but many have a decal.

I would say it depends on the decal's thickness, area, and how uniformly it is bonded to the head.

the kind of decal that they use for the brand name (similar to what you might use on a model airplane) is not much thicker than painting the letters on.

everything affects the sound to some degree- even that proverbial coat of paint, but I would say yes to a decal on my kick drum resonant side if I really liked the way it looked. I would not worry about it noticeably changing the sound on my drum. But then my drum has a 5" hole in the head and 2 blankets inside it.

On the other hand, I have a feeling that a vinyl decal of any thickness would be a non-starter for most acoustic guitarists.

Nutmeg II. · 16th January 2009

On got to keep in mind a drum head is only about 10mil thick.
And a PS3 changes the sound a lot compared to a Ambassador and it only ads a ring of about 5 mil or less to the outer edge.

rhythminmind · 16th January 2009

change & dampen = yes.
eff it up ? = no..

I wouldn't use them, I'm a drum purest. I don't use any dampening.
But every kid with a garage band will want them. Never-mind most of those kick drums will be filled with pillows and everything else you could think of anyways.

15th January 2009	#1
elijahlucian Gear interested Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Calgary, Ab Posts: 14 Thread Starter	would vinyl decals eff the sound up? so im designing decals for instruments. (some people like them) and i was wondering if vinyl lettering on a bass drum (like a band name) would ruin the sound of the kick? or if its a minimal type of thing that you shouldnt worry about... also if anybody knows if putting vinyl on the front of an acoustic guitar would also wreck it... please let me know.. thanks in advance! __________________ http://www.elijahlucian.com

16th January 2009	#2
Nutmeg II. Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2003 Location: GEARmany Posts: 985	It will change the sound of the kick. The letters will dampen the head in certain places and also will add weight to the head, again in certain places. The will not be the end of a good kick sound, but it does change the sound like putting tape on a snare drum or tom. __________________ "Any recording engineer who uses a tube U47 is obviously not a professional" Stephan Temmer 1979

16th January 2009	#3
joeq Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: New York Posts: 9,908	Many brands of drum heads come with a decal already - the one with the company logo on it. Some heads are painted, but many have a decal. I would say it depends on the decal's thickness, area, and how uniformly it is bonded to the head. the kind of decal that they use for the brand name (similar to what you might use on a model airplane) is not much thicker than painting the letters on. everything affects the sound to some degree- even that proverbial coat of paint, but I would say yes to a decal on my kick drum resonant side if I really liked the way it looked. I would not worry about it noticeably changing the sound on my drum. But then my drum has a 5" hole in the head and 2 blankets inside it. On the other hand, I have a feeling that a vinyl decal of any thickness would be a non-starter for most acoustic guitarists. __________________ . “What you ask about is music. What you like is sound. Now music and sound are akin, but they are not the same.” — Confucius

16th January 2009	#5
rhythminmind Lives for gear Joined: May 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,076	change & dampen = yes. eff it up ? = no.. I wouldn't use them, I'm a drum purest. I don't use any dampening. But every kid with a garage band will want them. Never-mind most of those kick drums will be filled with pillows and everything else you could think of anyways. __________________ "Any experiment of interest in life will be carried out at your own expense."

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