Does Custom Drumhead Printing Affect the Sound of Your Kick Drum?
Direct Answer: No, professional direct-to-surface custom drumhead printing does not noticeably affect your drum's sound or resonance. Because the specialized UV cured inks are ultra-thin, they vibrate naturally with the drumhead ply, unlike heavy vinyl stickers which act as a mute and kill the drum's natural tone.
Here’s a question we get a lot, whether it’s about a drumhead logo for a nationally touring artist, an indie band planning a regional club run, or a local band playing bars and clubs.
The answer?
It depends…
The production methods vary wildly among shops that offer custom drumhead logo printing, and how the art is printed plays a big role in how that logo printing affects the sound of the drumhead itself.
The Old-School Way:
Why Vinyl Drumhead Stickers Ruin Sound Quality
Lots of shops, including local sign shops and even some web stores within the music industry, do things the old-school way: They print a thick sticker with your band logo, cover that logo sticker with another clear sticker, and stick that sticker onto a drumhead. The result is a customized band logo drum head, sure…but at what cost?
Do stickers mute bass drums?
Yes. As you might imagine, this thick, 7-mil sticker often doubles the thickness of the kick drum head. That logo sticker completely robs the drumhead of it’s natural resonance, changing the kick drum’s tone.
Think of the sound before and after you add a small square of gaff tape to your drumhead to cut down the “ring”. Now imagine what it might sound like if you gaffed the entire head…
Are drum head logo stickers durable?
Not really. That drumhead logo decal will eventually crack, peel, and/or bubble over time when the adhesive loses its magic. And that’s a bad look.
Why do print shops print drum logos this way?
It’s cheap and fairly easy for a sign shop to print a drumhead decal. That’s the way it’s been done since the 1990s, and most local sign shops aren’t musicians and don’t know any better.
Some other ways to get a band logo onto a drumhead:
Before full-color drumhead decal printing was a thing, sign shops would cut custom logo decals from 1-color vinyl and adhere them to the drumhead (you’re limited to simple, one- or two-color logos). Before that, they were hand-painted (costly to produce, tricky to reproduce, and not very durable). Some of the big drumhead manufacturers print the artwork first and then embed it behind another clear drumhead ply or before forming the counter hoop (long lead times and lots of drumhead model restrictions).
Here’s a quick breakdown of the two most common drum logo methods:
| Printing Method | Average Thickness | Impact on Drum Tone | Long-Term Durability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl Logo Sticker | ~0.100 mm to 0.200 mm | High (Mutes resonance & ring) | Low (Bubbles, cracks, or peels) |
| Cut-Vinyl Decals | ~0.070 mm to 0.080 mm | Moderate (Limits artwork detail) | Moderate (Edges can lift over time) |
| Woodshed Direct Print | 0.015 mm (15 Microns) | None (Preserves factory tone) | High (Cured instantly to the ply) |
The Woodshed Way:
Why Woodshed’s Direct-Print Drumhead Logos sound better and last longer
Truth be told, we did it that way back in the ‘90s and early 2000s, too. Other than a cut-vinyl logo decal, that was the way it was done. There wasn’t another practical way.
But we set out to change that. After lots of R&D, we pioneered a method of printing full-color artwork directly to the surface of just about any drumhead. The first Direct Print Drumhead we sold to a client was way back in 2010.
Since then, we’ve seen a handful of copycats offering a similar method, but our Direct Print Drumheads have been seen on countless international touring stages, numerous late-night and morning TV spots, and even 2 Super Bowl Halftime Shows.
How does Woodshed’s Direct Printing change the drumhead sound?
In short: it doesn’t. Not in a meaningful way. This is because our drumhead inks are super thin - as thin as 0.015mm or 15 microns (thinner than a human hair!). This ink is instantly cured to the surface of the drumhead, and doesn’t change the sound of the “blank” drum head in any noticeable way.
How does Woodshed’s Direct Printing benefit the drummer?
Besides durability, our process allows the drummer to choose the resonant kick drum head brand/model based on his sound preferences, rather than our production limitations.
Since our production process doesn’t change the sound of the drumhead you choose, the printed kick head sounds exactly like the factory kick head.
Can Woodshed print onto Remo or Evans drumheads?
Yep! We print band logos directly onto Remo, Evans, Aquarian, and Attack drumheads in a variety of models and finishes.
What kind of custom drumhead finishes are possible?
Since we can print band logos onto just about any drumhead brand/model, we can get a variety of unique looks.
We can print artist logos onto gloss black drumheads, coated heads, calfskin-style Fiberskyn and Calftone heads, and even chrome drumheads.
The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Ready to upgrade your stage with a custom drum head logo?
Don’t let valuable stage real estate go to waste. Get a durable, direct-printed drumhead that looks incredible and preserves your exact factory tone.