Thanks for the compliments.

Just a disclaimer so all of you know this is tongue in cheek, I used to joke with the other guitarist in my band about drummers. I would ask the other guitarist (in front of our drummer if had made an honest mistake or something at rehearsal):

"Do you know why drummers sit at the back of the stage?" -- "Why is that?" -- "Because they're inferior."

I am amazed that he never threw a drum stick at me. hahha

Do you know why the drummer is the most respected?

Because...we sit on a throne!

UPDATE:

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help again.

The 12" tom is done. Has two new Ambassadors on it. I am halfway done with the 14" floor tom now and took some close up pics to show a "before and after" concerning the chrome. The 12" really looked about as bad as the 14" before I worked on it. Amazing! (not the best pic, that is dust on the 12")

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/beforeandafter.jpg[/IMG]

My 14" floor tom is overall in slightly worse condition than my 12", but not bad. Chrome is about 10% less good condition than the 12". Strangely, one of the support legs is in worse shape than the others??? The screws on the interior of the tom were not in very good condition. Whereas the 12" tom lug screws didn't even need to be cleaned, these guys needed the vinegar treatment. Here is the before and after (24 hours elapsed, with an hour soak in baking soda/water to help neutralize any vinegar. I took the "after" pic before they were really dry; they have a fan on them now. They still look rusty in pics but it is more of a slighly oxidized copper in person. Weird that it looks like copper?

BEFORE

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/before.jpg[/IMG]

JUST AFTER PUTTING INTO VINEGAR

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/justputinvinegar.jpg[/IMG]

THE LEFTOVER RUST AFTER 24 HOURS

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/theleftoverrust.jpg[/IMG]

AFTER SOAKING FOR A BIT IN BAKING SODA TO NEUTRALIZE ACID

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/after.jpg[/IMG]

MORE PICS:

Here is the Hi-Hat stand, cleaned up GREAT. Had to use a "Gibraltar" rubber foot to replace a missing original. They work well. NASTY stuff stuck in the leg hinges. 40 years of dog hair and nasty brown stuff collecting in there.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/hi_hat_stand_after.jpg[/IMG]

Shiny restored 12" tom....

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/12_tom_after.jpg[/IMG]

QUESTION:

Two of my three, floor tom leg mounts were installed as shown in this picture. The "L" in Ludwig is up, towards the batter side of the drum. The last one was reversed.

Is there a "correct" way?

Thanks....

"Before" restoration pic....

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/floortom_before_lug.jpg[/IMG]

Wow! GREAT job!

They look fantastic!

Er....for a guitar player I mean.

LoLoLoLo :D LoLoLoLo

Mine have the "Ludwig" with the 'L' at the bottom.

[IMG]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5207/5382053489_36fd342dfe_z.jpg[/IMG]

Hey Shawn,

In your pic (thanks for taking it BTW), is your next mount facing the opposite way with the L up? Mine had 2 with the L up, 1 down...

It's hard to tell with the screws, but they aren't really rusty anymore, more like oxygenated copper, like an old penny.... Would be nice if new screws could be found and these could be saved for posterity only... I might investigate a few hardware stores to see...

Thanks all. Itching to play them again.

Still looking for a lug setup for my bass drum in the "wanted" section here... :)

Very interesting. I'd like to see what the others have. Is this another one of those strange Ludwig things where it depended on the worker's artful judgement or was there actually a hard rule about how these were placed? Knowing what I've learned about Ludwig, I'd have to say the former.

MW... nice work so far! I'm still following the thread Cool1

Just get some semi-gloss silver paint and shoot the cleaned screws and washers with a light mist to brighten them up.

Inside the drum they will look perfect.