Let's get back on subject now shall we. Today a nice box arrived from Lawton drums!

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As I mentioned previously I had not found (yet) the last two 60's club date tension rods for the bass drum. I purchased these from Jack so I could at least play my kit. Now for the small patches I have to do. I was able to purchase some original blue oyster pearl wrap! I think I will go with some contact cement to fix the small patches. Other than contact cement I would consider using some other glue that dries clear.

These are the six tension rods I was able to find so far. They are in great condition and I have not even cleaned them yet:

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The last of the parts I need to come in are the other set of correct bass drum claws. The goal is to have as many correct parts as possible. Where needed I will give into new parts. I will throw on some new hoops and tension rods. Or like I did with my old Sonor kit throw the new hoops and rods on the batter side and the original on the reso.

Still up in the air on what to go with for heads. I have some left over Evans heads from a clinic I was planning on using.

Question for anyone out there - where is the best place to get felt strips? I imagine I could just cut my own but maybe some place has them ready to go. I know Gibraltar sells some.

Well as many of you might have noted my collection has grown. Now that being said I don't like to leave projects unfinished or unloved. The weather has finally gotten cold here in NC so I had to take some of my drums out of my car. My Sonor SQ2 snare was not happy being in the car over night so I had to give it some attention.

So I had thought of one product I use a lot on my gear; groove juice. I decided to try some slightly diluted mix of it on the rack tom lugs. Here are some results:

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The hardware was overall in great condition so I did not have to put much work into it so far. The hardest hit parts are the rail, floor tom and bass drum legs. I will use some chrome polish to get them super clean.

I called Shawn over at Anchor Drums to let him know about the round badge deal I got. He told me then he had finished the edge work on the shells! BTW Anchor drums not only does new custom "vintage" kits" but also edge work, restoration and more. I trust them with even my new very pricey Sonor stuff.

What a great thread. I appreciate your detail posts. Also excited to see you using Anchor Drums. I really like his overall design aesthetic.

Can't wait to see these finished!

I dig your tunes buddy!! I am normally not much of a fan of newer/modern music these days... but ya'll seem to be a diamond in the rough. Good luck!

Had some spare time tonight. Super easy method and I have yet to even use any polish.

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These will look stunning on the kit!

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I can see my reflection in each one. Cool part about this is I am learning tricks to use even on my newer drums.

I picked up a lifetime supply at a local fabric store. The trick is finding the heavy stuff, not the light weight crafter's stuff......

I got felt strips from musiciansfriend.com

How did you use your groove juice? I have some, but I was not able to get the result that you did. are you spraying and rinsing?? or using elbow grease?

I used this method (somewhat modified at times)

1. Hit all parts with simple green and let it sit on the parts for a while.

2. Wipe down with cotton towel or paper towel

3. Spray with diluted groove juice (not sure exact amount I just used a half empty bottle and filled nearly the rest with water)

4. Wipe down with cotton towel or paper towel

5. Spray again with simple green - you will notice that the first spraying of groove juice likely dried out the part somewhat

6. Spray again with groove juice

7. Wipe down and shine

The key is first to hit the parts with simple green. I helps lubricate and remove a lot of grease and built up grime. The first application of groove juice helps break up more and so on. I have worked a lot with groove juice. Sometimes for brilliant cymbals and finishes I would even alternate between groove juice and WD40. Sometimes you do need to rinse off between applications of groove juice.

Hope this helps! Remember I have not even these lugs or hardware with any metal/chrome polish. The polish will finish everything to the results I want. I used my above method on my rail consolette and it worked amazing!

Thanks my man! I need to go and get some of the Simple Green!