These were referred to as "COS" Chrome over Steel. Sanding may, or may not get those rust stains out on the shell. Instead of sand and trying to re-stain the hoops, try AIT Wood and see their replacements. They are maple and infinitely less than anywhere else. You can choose between 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" 10 or 12 ply hoops. The 10 ply 1 1/2 is $23.00/hoop plus shipping. Try to find one anywhere else, they typically are sold by most other online retailers for 48 and up, ea. No damages, no endless hours of sanding....just lightly sand, stain and go.

http://aitwood.com/StoreFront.Asp?WoodType=MAPLE&CATID=20&WoodPLY=10&Section=HOOP10PLY&wDesc=10%20ply%20Musical%20Bass%20Hoops%20Maple

Do you get an inlay groove and bullnose edge on one side for that price.

How much extra for that, if not?

Thanks, I need a pair of 20s.

Kev

No sir, I think the inlay is 15 per. The bullnose they do as well I believe, but I do that myself, takes about 10 minutes each. Still, when you add it all up, and look at the other sellers, they are offering bare hoops just like these, all from Keller, and are normally twice or more to begin with.

Thanks for the info on the hoops. I have considered getting new ones depending on cost. The original ones are beat up but useable. If the price is right, however, I may just buy a new set and be done with it. Are the 10 ply hoops the same thickness? Also, by "bullnose" I assume you are referring to the rounded portion on one edge of the hoop?

those splotches could be rust or could be mold. Since it was a marcher it has probably seen lots of time in the elements. If it is mold you might be able to bleach them away.

You are going to have to get that glue off before you can sand. It will just gum up the sandpaper.

Use some paint stripper or adhesive remover.

You need to sand it smooth enough to finish before you stain. Otherwise you will have to sand it smooth after you stain it and that will cause light and dark spots. I go to at least 320 grit.

Once you strip the glue and sand it you should have a better idea what you have to work with.

A dark stain will probably disguise those stains.

If it were me I would strip the hoops and see what you have to work with. They are single ply steam bent maple and will look really nice with a stained finish. Plied hoops will show the plies on the ends.

My first impression was that they were mold stains, since that's what they look like. But, with the covering on as tightly as it was, and assuming it had heads on it when being used, I'm not sure how THAT much moisture could've gotten in. If they don't sand out, I will try bleaching, hope it works.

Was thinking of goo-gone or something similar for the glue. Just don't want to use any chemical that will damage the shell any more than it is.

What's a good grit sandpaper to start with? I've read that you don't want to sand it too fine for the first coat. Also, the areas where the top ply has cracked/separated slightly - will that cause a problem when sanding and does it need to be repaired somehow? (Sorry if these seem like basic questions, but it's my first time out with this sort of thing)

it should be fairly smooth to begin with. I would probably start with 80 to 100 or finer grit depending on how smooth it is to start with. and work my way up to 320 without skipping grits in between.

I would strip if first and then post some pictures of the delamination so we could offer solutions.

Thanks for the help! I'll post up when I made some progress. I tried the adhesive stripper on a small section. It worked, but I'd rather not work with strong, nasty chemicals if I can avoid it.

Ok, I stripped the glue with adhesive remover, and went back over it with a heat gun to get as much of the remaining residue of as I could.

It was difficult to get the delamination to show in the pictures. However, in this picture, the majority of it is in the area of the red box. If you run your hand over the surface, it just feels like the top ply has "bubbled" up slightly. There are a couple smaller spots that are similar in nature, but this is by far the worst.

I was going to try and shoot some super glue in there, and clamp it so it can set. Then, fill in holes from where the rivets were drilled out, and sand the shell down.

My other idea is to try and use bleach to knock out the discoloration from what appears to be mold. Don't know if this should be done before or after sanding.

Of course, my fear is that so much damage has been done to the shell that a stain wont "take", or adhere to the shell, so my options would be to either wrap the shell or just cover it with a few coats of polyurethane.

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