How bad is the paint, flaking etc??post a pic of the shell

Paint is in pretty good shape considering the age of the drum. A few scratches and scrapes.

Please sale the drum to one who will appreciate it's "ORIGINAL" paint, the painted and stained shells are some of the best shells Ludwig ever produced, this does not have a wrap scarf inside the shell. this is a 3 ply shell after you add a mahogany veneer or what ever wood your thinking, this will make it a 4 ply shell? and possible a hard head fit. And then it's a frankenstein shell here me out on this, To me This is a terrible idea. why would you remove good original paint? if it's not the color your after or whatever SALE it, take the money and buy what your needing. Ducco paint is not an easy thing to replicate, I've seen it professionally performed to have this paint job done these days will run you for a snare drum $300.00 and towards a $1000.00.

WE don not own these drums we are only stewards of them. Someone owned this drum before you someone will own it after you!?!

but I'll tell you how to remove this paint anyway. this is Lead paint do you have a respirator painting mask?? I use crown paint and glue remover from Lowes Home Improvement. it's a thick gel that will go through anything. on a side note aren't you the forum member I tried to buy a 18" Ludwig BDP floor tom from?

Vintagemore2000,

All your points are well appreciated here. I’m very much into “preservation” as opposed to “restoration” and hate to see good vintage drums screwed with.

My dilemma is this. I’ve been looking for a particular vintage and model of WFL snare for a year now, following EBay everyday and the “for sale” post on this forum and over on DFO, along with craigslist within larger cities around my state. I have a WFL mahogany 26” bass drum and 10x15 marching snare (which I intend to use as a tom) both from the late 1930’s with Zephyr lugs. The ducco I found is of the same vintage and model as the rest of what I’ve acquired.

I’d really like to complete the set so I can play it one day. I’m not a collector, I’m a player. I’ve always been a big fan of Levon Helm and for years I’ve wanted to put together an old mahogany set. I’m close, but just not there yet. I’ll admit that stripping or veneering this ducco is not the ideal answer for me, but as of yet I’ve not found a better alternative other than to wait and see of this missing snare falls in my lap.

But so you’ll sleep better tonight, I’ve decided to past on stripping/veneering over the ducco mainly because of the tight head fit that’s be brought to my attention by you and others.

And by the way, I’m not the guy with the 18” Ludwig floor tom you wanted to buy.

I wouldn't touch the Duco finish on your drum, other than to clean it up if needed. When you have a cool drum, why mess w/ it ? Why ruin it ? What's the big deal about making it Match ? No one can see the snare anyway behind the set, & no one will care about the color anyway. Many of these Zephyr drums have flaking finishes, & are often refinished because they're so bad. Consider yourself lucky that you found an original w/ a good paint job. (BTW Levon Helm played all kind of odd mix & match sets & snares over his career).

Thanks for your consideration. I saw the thread on the DFO also I really liked K.O's. advice, the shell as you should be able to see from the scratches in the paint it should be maple veneer on the outside correct? so stripping the paint isn't going to get you any closer to the Levon helm kit, The head fit will be a dilemma due to the painted and stained shells have a little larger oustside diameter than the wrapped shells it's only millimeters but there is a size difference.