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Haha....thanks, I've got lots of stripper. I want to save the gold.

I did find out how to remove it.........yuo use a razor blade etc. and lift it off because it's just 'pressed' onto the surface.

Razor blade or plastic scraper would be the way to go to save the gold leaf. Chemical stripper would ruin any chance of saving it I'd think? A heat gun on low setting might help also. There's also 2 types of leaf, real gold and synthetic gold. No idea how to tell real from synthetic but google is your freind and should yield some answers. That dragon is super cool looking. Ying/Yang neat as well.

Ya I agree - they are cool pieces of art on this black bass drum. But, three ply Gretsch bass drums are very hard to come by and if you do see them they're expensive. There are a couple online right now but they're nicely wrapped and I would have to remove the wrap to paint it....what's the point in that.

There were three great things going for this drum that made it a good choice for my restore project. First was price. The hardware alone that came with the drum was worth what I paid. Second it included very nice hardware and the badge and the inlay-type hoops. Third - it was once a wrap and it had been painted so the vintage value as far as being original was gone.

The seller told me to be sure and reclaim the gold as it is real gold leaf.

I took it off today with a razor blade.

The drum is not black now.........it's a dirty (light black) wood colour. I used furniture stripper to remove the lacquer - a messy job - and some Acetone to take bits here and there off. The hoops had the original wrap strips on them and they came off easy = hair dryer and screwdriver for wedge - they were only glued at the ends.

Now - to remove the BONDO......

first of all im a gilder and have been for years the problem is they use 2 kinds of size(glue) a varnish base or a latex base if its latex good old tsp should do the job if its oil base a mild citrus base stripper should do the job with out damaging the lacquer base of drums finish, the worst case is they sprayed lacquer over the leaf , if it is real gold its not needed, fake needs a clear coat to stop the tarnish so there you go tread lightly you don't need industrial strippers as it is a very thin coat of size look first for a decal/applique edge hope this helps

gary

Jaghog

Thanks. I took it off with a razor blade. Some paint came off with it and I soaked the shavings it in Acetone in a little jar. Then I put that in a metal container and lit it up to burn stuff off. I haven't checked to see what I have left but if there was any gold there it should be in the container - right?

ok lets go over the gold leaf process they still hammer it with big leather mallets between 2 sheets of leather 1 ounce of gold hand hammered to 250,000 of a inch 3x3 inch square will make enough gold to cover a 12x12 room 10 ft high ceiling and walls so that tell you you have about the size of a pin point fleck maybe of gold

Kona I can certainly respect that. I think I would do the same thing. What finish or wrap color are you thinking about?

I'm building a kit around the original 9x13 Cadillac Green tom I bought on eBay just before Christmas. It will be all 3ply 22/13/16 and I have a 3ply Gretsch shell coming in the mail. I have most of the hardware now. I did the major repairs on the bass drum yesterday and will see how the gluing held up later today. I had a painter match = close - the cadi green drum and I bought the paint. I have a plater (gold) and the shell painter all lined up. I just have to save some money and proceed. This is going to take a while to complete - I'm looking forward to the adventure.