Looking For The Best Drum Wrap Company? Here's Our Top Pick

One of my favorite things about drums is how customizable they are - not only the type of drums and cymbals you use, the sound you get from them but also how they look!

If you’re looking to customize the look of your drums you’re probably wondering what the best drum wrap company out there is.

Once you’ve selected a custom design and wrapped your drum shells the last thing you want is for the material to wear out quickly because instead of amazing looking drum shells you’ll end up with some pretty horrible looking ones.

This is why it’s important to choose your designs from a quality drum wrap company.

First - when would you want to use drum wraps?

You might consider buying some drum wraps if:

• You’ve had your drum set for a while and it’s starting to look worn out.
• You have an old wrap on your kit which needs replacing.
• You want to change the look of your drums.
• You want a unique look that no one else has, which can only be achieved by using custom drum wraps.
• You want to protect the original finish of your drum shells (only works with wraps that use tape instead of glue).

How do drum wraps work?

Before we look at the top drum wrap companies here’s a quick primer on application methods and quality.

The two main methods of installing drum wraps

The first method, which is the original method, is to strip your drum shells back to their bare wood and apply glue evenly to the shells and wraps and then glue them on. With this method you would need to sand the shells back and you can’t apply the wraps onto an existing drum finish.

The second method is to use a high quality double-sided tape. You pull the drum wrap tight around the shell and stick it together at the seam where it overlaps with the tape. This method is not as old because in the past they didn’t have access to high quality / strong tapes like we do nowadays.

Drum wrap quality differences

The highest quality drum wraps are produced by a company called Delmar Products Inc. which has been producing custom laminated sheets for over 50 years now.

The top drum companies use Delmar for their drum shells, so if you’re after the highest quality then you’d probably want to purchase from a supplier that sources their wraps from Delmar.

The second popular method is to print designs on a heavy duty laminated paper. This method is cheaper and can still provide great results for some designs but not for all types of finishes. For example for a glitter drum wrap the glitters would be printed rather than a textured finish.

The most popular drum wrap companies

I’ve picked out 4 of the most popular drum wrap companies and compared each on the following criteria:

• Drum wrap quality
• Installation method
• Number of drum wrap designs
• Whether they can do custom drum wraps
• Pricing & shipping destinations
• Their customer service
• Warranties / guarantees

To work out a comparable pricing I’ve taken a 4-piece drum set as the baseline with the following drum shell sizes:

• 12x10 inch snare drum
• 13x11 inch rack tom
• 16x16 inch floor tom
• 22x16 inch bass drum

I have excluded the cost of shipping as this could depend on your location and the cost of tapes and adhesives because you may be able to purchase them elsewhere for cheaper - so only the drum wraps are included in the pricing comparison.

1. Precision Drum Company

The Precision Drum Company was founded in 1961 by George A. Folchi and was the first provider wraps used to recover drums. It is now a family run business as his children have joined the company starting with his son Gary in 1993.

The company is located in Pleasant Valley, New York.

Apart from selling drum wraps Precision Drum can also manufacture custom drums and sell drum parts, shells and hoops.

Wrap quality, thickness and sheet sizes

Precision Drum offer quality wraps using the same material that the major American drum companies use.

The wraps can either be purchased in full sheets or pre-cut to fit your drum shells.

Their wraps are high quality and sourced from Delmar, with the thickness generally around 20mil (0.5mm) to 35mil (0.9mm) for the thicker designs.

Wrap installation method

Precision Drum recommend installing the wraps using 3M Contact Cement which can be purchased at local hardware stores or directly from them.

Note that you can use other adhesive products however this will void their “results” guarantee.

To install their wraps you would first need to remove the old glue from your drum shells with a paint or finish remover and they then recommend waiting at least 24 hours before applying the new wrap.

Wrap styles

They have 55 off-the-shelf wrap styles, including solid colors, sparkle drum wraps, glass glitter, pearl, oyster, onyx and satin flame.

Custom wraps

You can create your own custom drum wraps by providing high resolution graphics or you can work with Precision Drum’s graphic designer to create a custom design.

They also offer custom natural finishes such as wood stains, wax, oils, shellac and urethane.

Pricing

Precision Drum’s pricing structure is broken into four categories which they call price group A, B, C and D, with A being the cheapest and D the most expensive.

Here’s the pricing for each group based on a 4-piece drum kit:

• Group A: $247
• Group B: $362
• Group C: $398
• Group D: $475

Shipping

Precision Drum can ship worldwide and they state that most drum wraps will be shipped within 2 days from receipt of payment.

Customer service

Their customer service is top notch and they have a lot of loyal customers.

Precision Drum have a reputation of being easy to deal with and communicating quickly. They also keep their website up to date which makes things easier if you prefer browsing their site before calling or placing an order.

Warranty / guarantees

Their return policy states that items can be returned within 30 days of receiving the item (as long as they’re not a custom item).

Some items will require a 20% restock fee and shipping and handling costs are non-refundable.

Although they do not offer a guarantee they do recommend using 3M Contact Cement adhesive for best results.

2. Jammin’ Sam

Jammin Sam was founded by Sam Barnard in 2004, although he was working professionally selling refurbished drumsets since 1982.

In addition to drum wraps they also sell drum hardware and accessories and used drum parts.

Wrap quality, thickness and sheet sizes

Sam also sources his wraps from Delmar so you can bet they’re high quality as well, the thickness should also be around 20mil (0.5mm) to 35mil (0.9mm) since they’re manufactured by Delmar.

Jammin Sam sell their wraps pre-cut.

Wrap installation method

Sam recommends using their hi-bond tape for installation rather than glue. You will need to use their recommended tape to be eligible for their 1 year warranty.

Wrap styles

On the Jammin Sam website you can find 88 standard colors and patterns which include the following: satin, glass glitter, pearl, ripple, sparkle, solid colors, onyx, psychedelic and snake skin.

Custom wraps

I could not find any way to submit your own design via their website, it seems that Jammin Sam doesn’t do custom wraps.

Samples

You can request free samples with a max of 7 different colors in a max of 3 different wrap categories.

Pricing

Based on the 4-piece drumset described in the intro, the cheapest price on the website is $249.99 and the most expensive is $499.99.

On the special discounts part of their homepage I could also find a wrap on sale for $229.99 however I’m not sure how often they update these prices and their sales.

Shipping

Jammin Sam is located Phoenix, Arizona but they also provide worldwide shipping via the US Postal Service.

Customer service

Sam also has a good reputation and loyal customers. Although Jammin Sam’s website is not updated often you should be able to reach them on the phone quite easily and Sam has a lot of knowledge and experience when it comes to drum wraps.

Warranty / guarantees

Jamming Sam provides a 40 day satisfaction guarantee as long as the item has not been damaged or installed incorrectly. The guarantee may include a refund (less shipping and handling and accessories such as tape and hoop strings) or a store credit at their discretion.

On top of that they provide a 1 year warranty from the date of purchase when using their hi-bond tape.

For the full details and exclusions visit this page.

3. Bum Wrap Drum Company

Bum Wrap Drum Co. have been around since 2013, located in Cumberland, Maryland. It was founded by a drummer named Murray Gornall and an Art School graduate named Justin Brown.

Wrap quality, thickness and sheet sizes

They sell high heat laminated 21mil thick drum wraps (just over half a millimeter thick). The wraps come in one piece and cut to measure rather than in full sheets.

The wraps are not manufactured by Delmar but instead printed using UV ink to make sure that the designs don’t fade or bubble in high heat conditions. Think of the wraps more like heavy duty laminated paper with a print on them.

Wrap installation method

The wraps are installed using the tape method - so on the end of each wrap there’s a double-sided tape used to bond them in place. No glue is required.

They can be installed either on raw shells or over existing wraps.

Wrap styles

Their stock designs include a whopping 292 colors and patterns such as abalone, animal skins, bubbles, camo, cosmic patterns, flags, flames, lightning, metal, skulls, solid colors, wood (including fades and inlays) and more.

According to their website they don’t sell the following designs:

• White marine pearl
• Sparkles, glitters or glass glitter wraps
• Metallic colors

They also do not do color matching to existing drums.

Custom wraps

Bum Wrap allow you to submit your own design and will manufacture these custom designs at the same pricing as their normal wraps.

Samples

3” x 3” paid samples are available for their stock designs, but they don’t provide samples for custom designs.

Pricing

Bum Wrap Drum Company has the most affordable pricing and they only have one tier - so all their wraps including custom wraps are the same price.

For the 4-piece drumset described in the intro the cost would be $173.96.

Shipping

Bum Wrap Drum Co. can ship globally so you can order even if you don’t live in the US.

Customer service

This is where Bum Wrap probably fairs the worst, we have heard a lot of reports that they do not answer the phone or reply to emails.

Some customers have had to just wait weeks after payment hoping that their wraps will arrive.

Warranty / guarantees

Bum Wrap Drum Company provides a money back guarantee on all wraps minus the original shipping costs.

Their website states you can get a free replacement for wraps you accidentally damaged during installation (paying only for shipping and handling) however they don’t provide refunds any sizing mistakes that you make.

I could not find any warranties on their website about how long the wraps will last or until when you can replace them for free.

4. Walopus Drum Wrap

Walopus is a family owned and operated drum wrap company based in Canada. They rebranded to Walpus in 2015 and according to their website were producing wraps for around a decade before that.

Wrap quality, thickness and sheet sizes

They sell both cut to size wraps and full size sheets. The thickness of the sheets varies with the standard being 20mil (0.5mm) and some ranges available in 35mil (0.9mm).

Their sheets are not manufactured by Delmar, they are similar to Bum Wrap Drum Company’s wraps - a type of heavy duty laminated paper.

Wrap installation method

Their wraps can be installed either using a double-sided tape (which they refer to as “seam-bonded”) or fully adhered using glue.

Wrap styles

Walopus have a huge selection of 228 standard design ranges which include pearl, psychedelic, snake skin, oyster, stratas and swirls, wood grains, abalone, waves, glitter and sparkles.

Custom wraps

You can order custom wraps with no extra cost for the design process.

Samples

They provide free samples and according to their website will ship them for free to any destination - that’s a pretty good deal!

Pricing

Walopus have quite a few price points. They didn’t have the exact sizes for the snare drum and rack tom so I selected the next size up where possible as recommended on their website - 12x12 inches for the snare and 13x13 for the rack tom.

The cheapest cost I ended up with for the 4-piece drumset we’ve been using to compare was $191.25 and the most expensive $764.

Shipping

They offer worldwide flat rate shipping at $17 within the US or Canada and $33 to any other country.

Customer service

I’ve seen mixed reviews regarding their service, with some customers saying they are slow to respond.

Warranty / guarantees

Walopus provide refunds for unused wraps with manufacturing defects.

5. Rockskins wraps

Rockskins is the youngest company on this list, based on their first social media posts they have been operating since 2017 or 2018.

Wrap quality, thickness and sheet sizes

Similar to Bum Wrap and Walopus they use thick laminated paper with a print - the thickness would be similar as well (around 20mil or 0.5mm).

The sheets come pre-cut.

Wrap installation method

Their recommended installation method is using a double sided tape (same as many of the companies above).

Wrap styles

Rockskins have the largest selection of standard design ranges, with 629 different designs, patterns and colours on their website catalog.

They also have some pretty cool patterns I haven’t seen in other standard ranges including: acme barrel, blood, beer, chains and ropes, religious and steam punk wraps.

Custom wraps

You can create custom wraps with Rockskins either by submitting your own design or working with one of their artists to create something new.

Full custom designs will have an additional cost but it depends on the complexity of the work.

Their website states that the “average cost for a custom design starts at $250 which covers the layout and template for your wraps” and that on top of that you will buy the wraps for each size drum you need.

Samples

There is no information regarding samples on their website.

Pricing

For the drum sizes we’ve been using as a comparison in this review the cost to purchase wraps for a 4-piece drum set from Rockskins would be $215.

Shipping

Rockskins provide free shipping in the US and Canada for all drum wrap orders over $150.

They don’t ship to Europe.

Customer service

Being one of the younger drum wrap companies there aren’t many customer reviews regarding their service or product quality so I can’t confidently include any information about their customer service - if you had any first hand experience with their products please let me know.

Warranty / guarantees

Rockskins has a 14 day return policy as long as the items are not used, in their original packaging and are not custom or sale items.

They do not offer refunds.

Tape vs glue applications - which one is better?

Each of the companies above will argue that their drum wrap installation method is the best way to re-wrap your drums.

Precision Drum argue that using tape will not get you as high quality, long-lasting finish when compared to glue:

“The tape method is easy, but it’s not high quality. You might notice that the large drum companies use tape on their student level drums. If wrap is adhered with tape, the wrap will dampen the sound of the shell – as if a blanket were wrapped around it.

On the other hand, when wrap is glued to the shell completely, the wrap essentially becomes part of the shell, and resonates with the shell. As a result, drums with glued on wraps sound better.

Besides the sound issue, the tape method can allow the wrap to ripple, bubble, not lay flat, or simply crack, especially as the drum wrap ages.”

The argument for using double-sided tape over a glue includes some of the following points:

• Taping the drum wraps is quicker and easier, especially for first timers.
• When gluing it’s easier to make mistakes, such as gluing the wrap on a slight angle or not spreading the glue evenly on all surfaces.
• When changing the wrap sanding is required, and over time if you’re not careful you will sand the drum shell down.
• You will be exposed to more fumes when using adhesive products than when using hi-bond tape.
• Tape proponents swear there is no difference in sound when using tape versus glue.

So which one above is the best drum wrap company?

Choosing the best company isn’t easy, however I would say that the top drum wrap companies are Precision Drum and Jammin’ Sam - they both have loyal customers, good customer service, quality products and a great reputation.

They’ve been around for a while as well Precision Drum since 1961 (that’s 62 years of experience) and Jammin’ Sam since 1982 (41 years of experience).

They are slightly more expensive than the competitors but you are going to get a higher quality wrap.

If you are going to glue the wraps then the best company for you is Precision Drum as their recommended method of installation is using an adhesive.

If you want to tape the wraps then the best company for you would be Jammin Sam as they’ll provide a 1 year warranty if you use their hi-bond double-sided tape.

If you are super strapped for cash and want the cheapest product you can find then Bum Wrap or Walopus can be a good choice for you - their customer service might not be as good but some drummers have had success with their wraps.

Keep these tips in mind before ordering

Here’s some final tips before you order:

Drum wrap colors and patterns can vary from one batch to another (even though they’re the same range etc.) so if you are planning to re-wrap all your drums make sure you order enough wrap for the whole kit - even if you’re not planning to re-wrap them all at the same time.

If you’re trying to closely match an existing color or pattern then make sure you order some samples first, as the color variation could be too noticeable between your original drums and the newly wrapped ones.

Frequently asked questions

Which drum wrap company is the cheapest?

Bum Wrap Drum Co have the most affordable prices - a 4-piece kit with average drum shell sizes will cost you $173.96 with Walopus coming in second at $191.25.

Which drum wrap company is the most expensive?

If we look at the cheapest ranges of drum wraps (excluding specials) then the most expensive companies are Jammin Sam and Precision Drum. To purchase wraps for a 4-piece kit with average drum shell sizes will cost you $249.99 and $247 respectively.

They are more expensive than the other 2 companies because they use higher quality wraps.

Surprisingly when looking at the most expensive ranges the most expensive company was Walopus with their highest range costing $764 for the same 4-piece drumset.

Which drum wrap company has the most patterns and designs?

I counted 629 different designs and patterns on the Rockskins website, so from the 5 companies above they have the largest variety of designs and patterns from included in their standard ranges.

Note however that Bum Wrap, Precision Drum, Walopus and Rockskins all let you create your own custom designs.

Which drum wrap company has been around the longest?

Precision Drum was established in 1961 (62 years ago) and are the oldest drum wrap company.