r/Drums - The subreddit where drummers of all skill levels can discuss the world of percussion and share their grooves with the friendliest community on Earth.
Question
Sort by:
Top
Open comment sort options
Best
Top
New
Controversial
Old
Q&A
You don't.
What would you recommend then? Just straight up getting new heads?
All heads collect stick marks. Just continue using them until the head itself is worn out.
Dumb question, but can you just buy spray paint and spray that onto your heads? This is my first acoustic set, so I basically don't know anything about heads and stuff. Like could they get damaged by it or change their tone or would is just make anything worse?
No.
Try a Magic Eraser/melamine sponge. Or, do what I really recommend: decide not to care.
I mean, you beat them with sticks. No matter what you do, your heads will look like you beat them with sticks. If it bugs you that much, don't hit them with sticks.
Absolutely not. Paint will crack and chip, furthermore it negatively influences the sound.
Stick marks happen and are natural. I'm sorry, but get used to them.
Actually they are a good indicator on how consistent your hits are (striking about the middle of the drum gives you the fullest tone). Whenever I change them I want the next set of heads to have a slightly smaller “marked area”.
Please don’t
Sorry you’re getting downvoted man. It was an honest question.
Kinda problem is that I also bought a black snare head I wanna install now, but I'm concerned the white marks from the toms will also get onto the new snare head, what would suck imo
I don’t understand the fixation on keeping the drum heads clean. If you’re going to play the drums the heads are going to get marks on them. Why would that bother you?
If you care so much about the marks, get some sticks with black tips or don't use black drum heads. You're fixated on how it looks when that is the least important thing. Does it sound good and play good? Then you're good! No matter what you do you're going to beat up your drum heads.
Black heads look awesome for about 30 seconds. Fact of life. Play your drums, don’t worry about it.
Drums are for playing not (only) for display. But they are the sexiest looking of instruments
Even with white and clear heads you'll get black marks or off white cloudy plastic marks, stick marks will always be there, even on electric sets, always there, can't worry about aesthetic
Bro the downvotes are not normal
Hey bud. May I ask, do you have OCD or Autism? I know the concerns you have with the aesthetics resemble how one of my mates also feels about stuff. People on here aren’t able to relate to your obsession with it, to the point you want to paint the heads. It’s quite an unusual way for a drummer to feel about something you hit with sticks. There’s nothing wrong with having OCD or Autism, but recognising it means you can approach it with ways that help reduce your stress surrounding the problem. Just a thought. I hope your new black snare head works out for you buddy.
It looks like there is some significant wear as well as stick marks. Stick marks themselves aren't deal breakers, but if you have a hard time tuning the drum new heads are definitely the way to go. If you detune the head and it looks stretched out you definitely should replace them. I did see a video where a youtuber had some moderate luck in removing stick dimples with a heat gun. But really, new heads are something that people oftern wait way too long to do. My studio kit gets fresh heads two or three times a year unless a particular session requires different heads than I usually use. I have about 4 linear feet of shelf space where I keep good drum heads for swapping. When a head is visibly stretched it gets thrown or given away.
Consider it being a normal patina… Things age, completely normal phenomenon…
This would be one of my last options if I don't wanna ruin anything or buy new heads I guess. But dunno completely blacked out kit with white stick marks may look weird. Or just special. Thanks for your suggestion
No one will see it but you.
It would be incredibly wasteful to buy a new head everytike it collected a few stick marks. It shouldn't affect the sound significantly.
Consider that heads are something you should be replacing somewhat often, they aren’t like a buy it once and use until it breaks type of thing.
Maybe buy a black coated snare head to (after lots of play time) cover the white marks with black ones? xD
I got a black snare head I'm installing rn, what's the reason why I didn't want white marks on my toms which could then tramsfer onto the snare xD
What? Have you ever played drums before dude?
They won't transfer to the toms, it's the white coating from the snare head getting picked up by the sticks and put onto the toms. Don't worry about the marks getting on the toms, they have a negotiable effect on sound, but dents in the heads will so check for those.
Plus, only you can decide if your set sounds good for the most part so as long as you like it that's all that matters.
Maybe just give up playing if you don't want marks on your skins
If this is the coating from your snare head transferring to your other skins, I'd say you actually need a new snare head, because I ain't never even heard of that.
Otherwise? You beat these with sticks. They will always look like you beat them with sticks. If you wouldn't complain about a hammer head looking like you'd been hitting stuff with it, don't let this bother you either - especially over a cosmetic issue that literally no one but you will ever even see, much less notice.
Ok thx xD
Yeah I actually bought a new snare head cause the old one (Evans G2) started to lose its coating and I could start to see through it
I had this occur on a stock SJC drum head. Within an hour or so of playing, the coating in the center began peeling off and transferring to the sticks/other heads. So bizarre
Don’t hit it?
Looks better when you keep the marks in a tight circle in the centre
Yeah, I get more embarrassed how bad my groupings are than the marks themselves.
Well maybe another ring by the edge as well from touchier stuff
Yeah ok guys thanks to all your comments I know that I shouldn't care about it, and guess what, I actually don't by now, I installed my new black snare head and am happy with my kit as it is.
Okay, so I’m definitely with everyone else here. Who cares? They’re drum heads, you hit them, they’re gonna get marked up.
However, if it really is a deal breaker for you, I recommend two things:
Get Evans UV2 heads. You’ll mark up the heads a little bit, but the coating takes a very long time to chip.
Get a Big Fat Snare Drum cover. If you like the sound, that’s a good way to protect the drum head from getting marked up.
However, if you don’t like UV2s or Big Fat Snares, then you’re gonna have to just deal with marking up your drumheads, and honestly, your cymbals too. There’s no getting around it.
Kinda unavoidable mate; replace your heads often if it bothers you too much.
Nobody's gonna think it looks "silly." You can get away with using the same heads for months, or you can change them every month. Whatever floats your boat :)
Months? Oh sweet summer child lmao. I've gone years before changing heads. Them things are pricey. No disrespect meant
Haha, no judgement here. I probably chamge mine closer to yearly. OP doesn't seem to like the way old ones look, so I thought I'd suggest a more practical idea to that end.
I try to as well with one exception. It's a late 60s Premier 12 inch ish (metric size) rack tom that's had the same remo black dots on both sides since it was given to me when I was 9. For reference I'm 35, and it was a teaching kit before I got it, so who knows how old it really is. Sounds fab though.
Right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kit that didn’t have stick marks in the heads. This seems like a goofy fixation to me.
My Tom heads are over 20 years old lol. I know if I replace them they’ll sound better but I just don’t care right now lol
Agree.
20 year old heads clearly means you don't care.
Like a dude with a 20 year old car that's never been washed.
Hey man, the car is gonna get dirty anyways. As long as the glass is clean and it doesn't smell inside, that's all that matters.
Down voting this person upwards of 80 times for asking legitimate questions just because you don’t get why they’re asking is absolutely mental holy shit lmao.
Generally speaking stickmarks aren’t gonna come out of a head in any noticeable way. The material being transferred is pretty porous and being ground in pretty deep. I use black snare heads a lot, and currently have coated toms but haven’t had this problem, usually it’s the black coating transferring to my toms if anything. What brand/models of heads are you using?
Oh, another nice person, rare here xD
I've been using the heads which came on the set when I got it, white coated Evans G2 (logo looked old, not like the one on current G2s) on the snare and black coated Evans Onyx on the toms. And because the snare head started dying and getting onto my sticks etc and I liked the idea of only black heads, I went for an Evans Hydraulic head I installed on my snare today. Was jamming for about three hours with my band afterwards and really like the sound. And the white marks stayed on the toms for now, but irdc anymore, some people here are actually right, nothing to really care about that much and a nice indicator of use
Sometimes if a head is old and kept in poor conditions it can be more likely to create marks, especially on looser tunings. I think the major companies offer black heads that aren’t coated, I know Aquarian and Evans do anyway. There’s also the clear coated Evans stuff as well. I have a lot of aesthetic preferences too so I get being particular. Heads can vary even if it’s the same make and model so it can be a real dice roll for how long they stay looking nice haha.
New drumheads
Meh, I don't wanna spend that much money, espacially cause I already did so for the drumset and the snare head which really needed to be replaced
Replacing drum heads is your only option. This is normal wear and tear and is expected. If your drum heads don't have divots and still provide quality tone, then leave them alone until they do need to be replaced.
I’m currently rocking orange marks thanks to these Dave Weckl sticks 🤷🏻♂️
I’m with others. Just don’t worry about it and it’ll feel all the better when you finally do replace it.
In the future, try using nylon tipped sticks. Will help not make marks.
Don't use nylon tops and you will get less of these. Other than that I just leave it as an indicator of when I need new heads
It’s fine to just keep it there. Isn’t hurting anything, and it’ll just keep happening. What sticks are you using? Allowing for natural rebound of the stick and not dead stroking every hit will help this issue out too possible.
I was using Stagg Maple 7As but now wanna start using Millenium Hornbeam 5As I had laying around. Didn't really care about sticks for the 7 years I played on my electric kit, but now that I also got an acoustic one
Perhaps a white head would help. I use the Remo controlled sound on my Sonor Sq1. I can get a TON of different sounds from my snare between different styles songs.
Nothing wrong with using cheap drumsticks, esp since those things are hella expensive. But I suggest that you try getting a name brand pair and feel the difference. I think you're gonna be surprised!
I go with Vic Firths but ymmv
Ok, thanks for the suggestion, will do so in the future, but didn't feel like spending more money for now, cause the 400ish for drums and heads etc the last weeks have been a bit much
not trolling: if that bothers you, consider using coated heads on your toms
not possible, new heads or just deal with it. Most people just deal with it until the drum head is done
Are you using travis barker signature sticks?
Soap and water people.
Sounds like some weird ancient civilization.
They worship the great Búbble.
Not using nylon-tipped sticks in the future can help with that some, but no matter what you play or how you play it- your kit is going to look like it’s been played.
Stop downvoting the man and gatekeeping an instrument just because you fucknuts don't know how to help him
Thanks man, good to know there's other types of persons here. Who get downvoted for being nice... same to you, u/Additional_Zone2613. Dunno if I would have been treated differently by some if I mentioned I'm playing drums for seven years now, but only on an electric kit before, but well, it is as it is...
This! Luckily I'm not the only one thinking this. The dude is just asking for advise everybody down voting his replies. Never seen this happen on this sub reddit before, very sad to see.
So, I got a second hand kit from my friend who also bought is used a few years ago, played on it for 2 years and then let it sit in his basement for another two. Not I got it and jammed on it. After a while I realised that the coating of my white snare head had gotten onto my sticks and then onto my black Evans Onyx BKs. As you can see it doesn't look that good. I already tried removing them with just water and a rag and then also with diluted dish soap and vinegar, but until now it didn't help at all. I'm also not sure whether I'll even be able to remove the white parts without damaging the black coating. So if you got any tips for me, feel free to elaborate
is the black actually a coating? The only black heads I'm familiar with the mylar is actually black. (just looked these up and it does say there's a matte coating) If that's the case you're probably screwed. I'd try acetone on a small spot you might not see to test what happens. rdavidr uses acetone to remove logos from stock bassdrum heads and I've seen him use it to clean stick marks from old heads. It very well might take the coating off but I'd give it a try. Otherwise just live with it or get new heads. Get an ebony for the snare if you like that look so it doesnt transfer more. Also keep in mind normal dirt from use and dust from the room your kit is in could get on the heads, cymbals and the sticks and mark up your heads still. So unless you're making a music video or you're OCD, just leave em and not worry about it as it will not affect the sound at all.
EDIT: Sorry everyone here is being a dickhead.
Aquarian offers quite a few black coated heads for snares, not sure on the other major companies.
Are you using painted/coated sticks, like a signature stick or something? If so, then it might be the case that the paint is actually just rubbing off onto the head itself. Especially if the tip is coated.
Another thing to remember too, since I see you commenting about it alot, is that drumming isn't about the looks. It's about the sound and groove. Personally, I think aesthetic issues should be the least of your concerns. If you're changing your heads at least semi-regularly (every few months), then this issue shouldn't bother you. It's a naturally occurring thing that doesn't really impact your sound.
Another thing to consider which is separate from the aesthetic issue. If there are dents in your drum heads (which is sorta looks to me like there are), then you'll definitely want to change them out sooner rather than later. This happens because the surface doesn't have enough tension to return to normal upon impact so hitting it too hard without enough tension will physically damage the head.
I agree with everyone else here. You wont get the marks out. Use sticks that dont have paint on them and the paint wont come off on the heads. However, using black dru. Heads may hide some of those marks at least.
You don't my man. Kinda just how hitting plastic with wood repeatedly works. Beat it til you break a hole in it and wear that shit with pride.
I spray painted the first snare dum head I busted and it's still on my wall today.
New heads
I’ll be honest it surprises me how many people care about stick marks. Am I the only one who doesn’t like the look of a shiny untouched head??
Why are you so concerned about them?
Buy wood tipped sticks that aren’t painted. This won’t happen.
You wouldn’t happen to play the Zildjian Travis Barker signature model of stick, would you?
You can use some windex and some elbow grease. Windex is gentile enough that it would damage your heads, but it will take off the stains. I wouldn’t suggest it on a coated head because it makes it too smooth for brushes.
Edit: I thought this was a clear head. For the black head maybe just test it out and see if it works. Don’t use an abrasive cloth though because you don’t want to be end up with scratches
Is it just me that prefers to see all the wear on items i use regularly? Like when my drum heads get stick marks or when my skateboard gets all worn down from riding around and doing tricks. It’s super satisfying to me for some reason.
Drumheads are a consumable item. Once it has dents or is showing signs of significant wear/sounds off. You will need to take it off and bring it to a music shop. Try to go to a local owned one versus a giant chain but if you have to they will have it. They aren't that expensive so I wouldn't worry too much.
I am also guessing that you are using nylon tipped sticks. If you want to keep your heads cleaner for long as well as save your cymbal finishes, switch to wood tip.
Also don't worry, nobody cares about white marks on drum heads. It shows that you actually play versus keep it as a decoration ;)
Here’s a tip I haven’t seen yet in the thread: Focus on straight up-and-down strokes on the drum head. If you get lazy and hit it from an angle wherever you please, you will get more scuff marks. If you focus on playing in the very center of the head, you will get less marks because they’ll overlap each other, plus it looks better.
Okay, so it seems like the issue that you didn’t really clarify except in comments is that your heads are black and you’re getting white marks on them.
Are you using sticks with nylon tips? If so that could be where the white marks are coming from and wood tops probably won’t leave those marks. If it’s just coating from a white head getting on your black heads then I think you could put a black head on all the drums and mitigate it as well.
But the general consensus that this is just going to happen is true even, even if the marks aren’t stark white on black heads.
Why are you concerned with the aesthetics of a drum head if it still sounds good?
Heat gun
ITT: OP gets ratioed
The marks help keep you honest. If your head looks like this, you know you need to work on playing in the center more.
Don't play with nylon tips. You're always going to see marks on your heads and cymbals regardless so you might as well get over it now. Drum heads and sticks are consumables, so you replace them once they get too damaged, but stick marks like this are just cosmetic.
This reminds me of the guy who played my k sweets with pink painted sticks. It’s just a part of the cymbal now.
Beat up drum heads are a badge of honor. It shows your efforts. The marks are helpful tools as well. Over time you’ll see where you’re striking the head and you can adjust your technique and work for consistency.
If you use a drum head, you're going to put marks on it. You can try cleaning it after every use, but that will only do so much. Look at evans UV1/2 heads for your next set. They're incredibly durable and in my experience, retain fewer marks; and I have a tendancy to hit a little too hard at times 😅.
The other thing you can do to make it appear as if there are fewer marks on the head is to improve your sticking. If you always hit the same area of the drum (the center 😮) the marks will only appear in one area of the drum head.
To sum it all up, your options are:
Stop caring
Get more durable heads and stop caring
3: Get good and stop caring
Hope this helps. :)
Edit: sorry for the formatting, on mobile
Heat gun or windex. Not both.
Clean up your playing area and you won’t have marks all over the place
Stop hitting the drum head and just watch your drum kit from afar...
Use wood tip sticks
Here's a secret: it's really about if they sound good.
I bought a Sonor Force 2001 kit decades ago and the stock snare batter head was painted white. The paint rubbed off on my stick tips and made these kind of white marks on my clear Tom heads. I cleaned the Tom’s with isopropyl alcohol and immediately switched my snare head to a reputable manufacturer. Problem solved! I am not sure if this is what is happening to you, but the bright white color of the stick marks makes me believe you may have the same issue. Are you stick tips colored white!
Hickory ganggggggg