Hello all,

Thank you for all of your opinions. Being new to the community, there is much I have to learn from all of you. This has been a good start. I am going to begin the Novus treatment with this set today. I think it should look much better when I am finished. And, I have been using Flitz Metal Polish on the chrome parts, and so far what I have completed has turned out really nice. There was quite a lot of surface rust and grime on the chrome when I bought the set.

Now that I have an understanding on the consequences of rewrapping, what are your thoughts on the following:

1) Repainting the base of the high hat stand, which is badly scratched.

2) Repainting the bass drum hoops, which are both scratched. I will be reusing the original chrome inlay.

3) Repainting the frame of the bass drum pedal, which is faded and scratched.

4) Replacing the red hardware stickers with replacements I found on Ebay. The originals are all damaged, in particular the snare drum stand sticker.

5) Replacing 4 tuning rods on the bass drum, all of which are bent.

Would doing any of this work devalue the set in the same way as a rewrap?

Any parts that I would like to replace will be replaced with original Slingerland parts. I found a good source for original spare parts at the Donn Bennett Drum Studio in Seattle. It looks to me like the high hat stand base and the bass drum hoops have been repainted at least once already.

That's all for now. Thanks again for you advice, and I look forward to reading your replies.

In my book, all those items would not devalue the outfit.

Most likely increase the value, actually.

Matching the paint nicely on the parts is important.

I've seen some really top notch paint jobs on pedals and hi-hat frames on this forum. Give a search and you will find some guidance if you need it.

You may be able to fix your existing bass T-rods... they aren't as tough as they appear. But replacing them with era-correct parts is OK too.

I really hope the Novus does the trick for you, it's worked wonders for me.

I agree with kevins that you should be OK doing the things you've mentioned. Also, as kevins pointed out, pay close attention to color matching when painting. Novus really does work wonders and, as you already know, Flitz works great on hardware. I stripped all my drums, used Flitz on the hardware, warm terry cloth with mild soap on the shells, then warm cloth with no soap to remove soap residue. I then wiped the shells with a dry cloth to dry them, used a Magic Eraser on a few scuffs (to remove black residue), then Novus 2 on the scuffs, then guitar polish on a microfiber towel. Then reassemble and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Also, to straighten your Ts: lay a towel on a hard, flat surface; lay the T down and tap it back into shape with a rubber mallet, or wrap the T in the towel and tap lightly with a regular hammer.

As for your BD hoops, here's what I did (with attached photos of the process and finished product) - Sorry, I can't resist showing off this kit ;) :

1. Cover your inlays with two layers of painter's tape and trim the excess.

2. Sand with 220 grit paper, then with 400 grit.

3. Coat the hoop with semi-gloss black (I got a couple cans from Lowe's) in a sweeping, side-to-side motion, being careful not to spray too much in one place, which would cause runs.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 4.

5. After the second coat, buff with 0000 buffing pad to smooth the hoop nicely.

6. Repeat step 3.

7. Reinstall heads and hoops and - the most important part - enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Take your time and I wish you good luck and beautiful results!

Hi SlingerLynn,

Thanks to you and kevins for your advice and tips. Your bass drum hoops were in far worse shape than mine. My plan for mine is to remove the inlay, which is already loose in several spots. After removing the inlay, I was planning on using a paint stripper to remove what looks like layers of paint. I will then sand the wood with two different grades of sandpaper to get to a smooth finish, repaint the hoops, the reglue the inlay back on.

How is the inlay attached? I am assuming it must be glued on. There are also have a couple of staples to reinforce it. What is the best way to remove the inlay without damaging it? Thanks.

By the way SlingerLynn, if the picture you posted is of your 1959 Slingerlands, that is one beautiful set. The wrap looks like new, with no fading or yellowing. Wow!!

Cool1

Kevins can probably answer this better than I can, but I believe they are glued and stapled (I didn't remove mine, just masked them off). My understanding is that the best way to remove your inlay is to use a hair dryer and be VERY careful to not allow the inlay to get too hot. Heat guns get too hot too fast and cause wrap material to catch fire, which would be very bad - possibly disastrous. There are several threads here on the forum that address the task of removing wrap.

I would like to encourage you to try 220 grit sandpaper before you use stripper. You'd be surprised at how quickly 220 will get the job done - it will still take some time but it won't take terribly long. Remember, all you have to do is get the hoop smooth, not all the way down to the wood.

Thank you very much for the compliments! I'm very happy with how they turned out. Speaking of the wrap, the yellowing is so slight that I was concerned that the wrap wasn't original when I got them - you can barely see that the tops and bottoms and the wrap behind the lugs and other hardware is a little bit whiter than the uncovered sections. I consider myself very blessed to have scored that kit in the shape they are in. Like I mentioned, I had to replace a few incorrect parts, but the most complicated thing I had to do is the work on the hoops. The snare drum that I bought to match the kit is another story. It took a pretty intense cleaning method to get the wrap to get close to as white as the rest of the drums.

Please update the thread as you go. We like pictures around here, and we'd love to see how you're doing with the project and how it turns out in the end.

Good luck!

Lynn

Novus Plastic Polish-Novus 1? 2? 3? All three? Advice on this would be greatlyn appreciated.

I've not been using 3.

It's for more severe scratching.

But, if that's the case, then 3,2,1, in that order.

Here's a case where rewrapping is working out nicely, at least price-wise. Price probably wouldn't be any higher for 20,12,16 if the original pearl was still on the drums.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170812661611

Am I missing something on this eBay auction? I don't see anything in the description that says this is a rewrap...