I'd put all the lugs back on their original places, because you never know what kinda specific imperfections they have, how they uniquely made themselves little hollows in the wrap, and such. They are gonna sit best on their original places.
Agreed and good point. I've noticed the little perimeter indentations the lugs may have caused in the wood (probably can happen with wraps, too). Of course I do my best to match those back up when reassembling a drum.
B
I polish all my lugs, then I grade them 1-4. I have em all lined up on a white towel all polished and put the #1's at the most visable and the #4's on bottom of the bass drum and bottom of the floor tom.
Yes! This is what I do, and occasionally go one step further and lay out ALL the lugs (or claws, t-rods, or whatever) in order of ... what would I call it, exactly? Aesthetic pleasingness? Basically it's a calculus of chrome coverage and shininess as well as nicks and scrapes and rust spots. But the most presentable ones go in the most visible spots. It's no different to me than aligning the bass drum hoops so they hide the worst damage.
You guys are way to anal. It makes absolutly no difference which lug you put into which hole and which lug screw you use on which lug. If a lug was stripped at the factory, you should replace it. I have restored or deep cleaned several luddy kits and a sonor kit and have never seen a cross threaded lug screw. If there is a impression in the wrapp from a lug, any other lug will fit nicely into that impression. I have a taps and dies to clean up threads if necessary
You guys are way to anal. It makes absolutly no difference which lug you put into which hole and which lug screw you use on which lug. If a lug was stripped at the factory, you should replace it. I have restored or deep cleaned several luddy kits and a sonor kit and have never seen a cross threaded lug screw. If there is a impression in the wrapp from a lug, any other lug will fit nicely into that impression. I have a taps and dies to clean up threads if necessary
Anal? Perhaps. Lovingly meticulous? Definitely! Yes Sir
B
Lovingly meticulous is very understandable. I love all my drums and will go to extremes to make them all original, with exact original parts, put back exactly the way they should be. Hunt for the correct oem parts with painstakingly pateince. Always having to wait for that last elusive part to complete a restoration. Putting a lug back in the same holes with the exact screws that came out of it? How do you do that? Engrave a number on the back side of the screw washer, so you can clean the screws? Take a pic of the drum and number the holes? IM trying to figure out what I would do If I ever want to try this method, but I examined a few lugs with a microscope and cant tell any difference in the lugs or screws. A typical bass drum has 20 lugs and 40 screws. I suppose I could remove the lugs and lay them out in order and tape them to the table in case I accidently bump the table. Get 40 small containers and number them and clean each individual screw, the dry them oil them and lay them out in order. Polish each lug and put it back in order. Polish the shell and do what ever repairs needed. Then reassemble.......
Oh hell I forgot to put the tension rods in order! Ill do that on the floor tom.......I may replace all the lug screws with nos screws I got off of ebay. I might actually replace all the ternsion rods also, but I may just reuse the original parts and love the petina. It all depends which kit Im doing. I have a 68 sky blue pearl all original kit I plan to clean and restore someday. It belonged to a dear friend that passed away. I love this drum kit above all my others and I havent ever touched it. It's 43 yrs old. I wonder if anyone ever replaced a screw on it?
I couldnt help but notice,
You didnt mark your tension rods to indicate exactly which lug they came out of. Whats up with that? It just really doesnt matter, does it?
Hey Jonni, do you think the drill and steel wool trick would work on these t-rods? A plumber must've owned these drums, or maybe a dude who worked for a teflon tape company. Never seen this done before. I also noticed the t-rods for the two FT's I just got, have two different designs; one has a thick flange (or, integrated washer) by the top and the other is thinner (like the ones on my mid 70's kit). These lugs are also a bit longer than what's on my mid 70's 18" FT. Were the thicker flanged rods used on earlier drums? Are they even Gretsch? The length, shank and threads are identical.Thanks,B
no it doesn't......
its just a lug, wire (brass) brush it, lube it, install it and then play it
I couldnt help but notice, You didnt mark your tension rods to indicate exactly which lug they came out of. Whats up with that? It just really doesnt matter, does it?
Apologize for not stating. That jumble of rods were in the bottom of a gym bag, that came with the kit. Anything I disassembled was "Lovingly and meticulously" reassembled. Good eye, Poppy. So, to me, it does matter (but probably doesn't really matter). Is that clear as mud?
B
Lovingly meticulous is very understandable. I love all my drums and will go to extremes to make them all original, with exact original parts, put back exactly the way they should be. Hunt for the correct oem parts with painstakingly pateince. Always having to wait for that last elusive part to complete a restoration. Putting a lug back in the same holes with the exact screws that came out of it? How do you do that? Engrave a number on the back side of the screw washer, so you can clean the screws? Take a pic of the drum and number the holes? IM trying to figure out what I would do If I ever want to try this method, but I examined a few lugs with a microscope and cant tell any difference in the lugs or screws. A typical bass drum has 20 lugs and 40 screws. I suppose I could remove the lugs and lay them out in order and tape them to the table in case I accidently bump the table. Get 40 small containers and number them and clean each individual screw, the dry them oil them and lay them out in order. Polish each lug and put it back in order. Polish the shell and do what ever repairs needed. Then reassemble.......Oh hell I forgot to put the tension rods in order! Ill do that on the floor tom.......I may replace all the lug screws with nos screws I got off of ebay. I might actually replace all the ternsion rods also, but I may just reuse the original parts and love the petina. It all depends which kit Im doing. I have a 68 sky blue pearl all original kit I plan to clean and restore someday. It belonged to a dear friend that passed away. I love this drum kit above all my others and I havent ever touched it. It's 43 yrs old. I wonder if anyone ever replaced a screw on it?
Ha, haaaaaaaaa!! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and......yes!! Too funny. What I do is very simple. I have a piece of plywood with tape that has numbers on it; 1 to 10 (up to 20 lugs for batter and reso {reso's go below the batter}). I remove each lug and place the screws back into the lug where they came out of, then lay the lug down on the appropriate numerically designated taped spot. Very easy. To reassamble, you go backwards. I have been using the clockwise from the badge lug as #1. You go around like a firing-order. No fuss, no mess. Easy-peasy. Sounds anal; might just be even more so, but so what. I don't work.
B
PS - Doing something random is not worse nor better, to me. This is just what I do and it is not meant to pee on any other methods someone might employ. Just enjoy your take on vintage drum stewardship.
And actually the more scratched up lugs should have came off of the bottom of the bass drum, because they sit on the floor and get scratched more. Therefore they would go back on the bottom and the less scratched lugs on top that are more visable. I bought some bare shelkls and was planning on resoreing them. I had to buy ssome classic lugs off of ebay. I ended up replacing my standard lugs with the classic lugs on my Ludwig standard kit. The whole theroy goes out the window on a project like that.
