HHG Drums 14x7 Maple Stave 2018 Hand Painted Tattoo Art

Buckle up kids it's story time.

This drum has been something I've been knocking around in the back of my brain for years now. I had always wanted to collaborate with some type of visual artist. I had spent some time trying to find a pyrographer that would be interested in doing some wood burning, but had a really difficult time. So my next thought was painters and tattoo artists. Upon scrolling my Instagram feed one day I happened across Mr. Richard Bess. A prolific tattoo artist from Northwestern Pennsylvania. After spending some time stalking through his Instagram feed like a jealous ex-girlfriend, I decided to reach out.

I was immediately surprised to find how open and excited Rich was about the project, I thought he would honestly not give me the time of day. We went back and forth for awhile about logistics and how the shell, or as he called it "canvas" should be prepared. Finally, we settled on a transparent white lacquer with some Pearl powder added. We were already using a maple Stave shell for the project, which is a very light-colored wood, but the idea was to try and make the background as featureless as possible to help highlight the artwork that would go over top. The transparent white lacquer allows you to see just a little bit of the grain of the wood through it, and the Pearl powder adds a subtle shimmer to the finish.

After the canvas had been properly prepared, me and Rich talked about it and decided that it would be best to completely assemble the drum with all of the hardware, and then send it to him in that state. This way, he could visualize how the artwork would interact with the hardware of the drum.

All of the hardware on this drum features a copper splatter powder coat, we wanted to add a bit of industrial texture to the drum and found that this really added just what we were looking for.

Once the drum got to Rich, we started talking about the artwork. Rich is a master of his craft, and has a deep knowledge of tattoo styles and art, not to mention incredible instinct for what will work visually on any given project. I really wanted this part of the drum, the artwork, to be completely his creation. As you can see it, that was definitely the best decision that was made during the entire build process. What Rich came up with blends so many genres and styles tattoo art seamlessly. Also, doing artwork on a cylindrical canvas can be difficult, but you can tell that lots of thought went into how this piece would look as a whole once finished. In other words, he absolutely hit it out of the park.

I hope that the amount of satisfaction and enjoyment we got from this project is coming across in this text. Our only hope is that we can provide that amount of joy to you. We hope that you'll consider buying this instrument and work of art, we want to see it put to use!!

Features

Powder coated Hardware

Vintage style strainer

Diecast air vent

4.5 inch tube lugs

42 strand snare wires

7/8" super thick maple stave shell

White pearl lacquer undercoat

Hand-painted custom artwork

45ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂð- 1/4" roundover edges

Deep and wide snare beds

 IMPORTANT NOTE:  As with all of our drums and listings shown, when you place an order with HHG Drums, your new instrument will be hand-crafted in house, from scratch. The drum shown in the pictures was built for a customer, and now resides with them.