Hey Greg, happy new year brother! :D

Even though I'm confined to the couch I haven't been slacking off! All the stuff I could do sitting down, got done. I got all the tacks out, cleaned and polished the shell, finished stringing the calf head and now, as soon as I can move around a little better, I'll tack the head. Here's a photo of what I've been up to...

John

TA-DA!!!!! Thanks to an excellent lead from Downtownfarmer, I secured the missing claw for the 13"!!!!!

A big shout-out and props to: Anthony at; Village Drums and Music

http://thevillagedrumandmusic.com/dr...m-restoration/

Anthony got right back to me, gave me a cousin-price on the three claws I purchased and was a pleasure to do business with. He could have taken advantage of the situation and charged me whatever he wanted to, but he didn't. So cool.

Thanks to all who helped in my search. I'm happier than a clam... back to the resto...

John

Good to hear John.

That's great news!

Mike

Aren't they amazing? Anthony is who I dealt with too - he literally went through the parts bins while on the phone with me. I thought that was pretty special. "Cousin price" - check.

After my parts arrived, I kept meaning to call and ask if they minded me mentioning them here...cuz y'know them parts bins might get emptied out toot sweet! Cats outta the bag now... :)

I'm super jazzed they had your claw. As a side note, being from TO Canada I really enjoyed Anthony's RI accent. The only thing wrong with this shop is it isn't just down the street lol.

Mitch

Thanks again, Mitch! Yes, very nice guy and easy to deal with. I hope people take the time to check out their website. If I ever owned a drum store I would want it to look just like theirs. It's like a 'Fairy Tale' drum shop!

And I don't think Anthony would sneeze at any business that comes his way because we mentioned him on the Internet. Free advertizing! :D I'm all for supporting Mom & Pop style music stores and Anthony's place is a good one.

John

3 claws? Right on.

You know, I think you had guys all over the nation looking for that claw.

VDF+great guys= a beautiful thang.

Scott - I was starting to think that there wasn't a single one in the entire country! And yes, lots of my buddies went to work looking for me. It is greatly appreciated and something I always enjoy doing for others when I can. We have a cool drummer community made up of some of the nicest guys in the world. I'm proud to be part of it. All you guys are the best.

I bet guitar players don't get along like we do! LOL

John

Ok boys, we're back!

Been a rough couple of weeks for me physically, but I'm almost back 100% and I'm ready to get back into finishing this restoration project. I started in on the tacked head.

I soaked the calf, strung it up, and now I'm going around tightening it as much as I can by hand, without mechanical assistance. Next is tacking, followed by trimming. Then I'll concentrate on the wood hoop and the metal parts.

The next drum will be the 13". Thanks to Anthony at Village Drums and Mitch (Downtownfarmer) I'll now be able to complete the rack tom. I have some broken metal parts that need welding and I'm thinking my best shot is to go to a local motorcycle repair shop. I don't think that any machine shop, or metal shop would even look at a job as small as the one I have. I think a motorcycle repair joint will be a better fit. Ideas?

Jeremy (W&A Drums) - Anthony at Village Drums tells me you guys know each other! Homeboys??? :p

John

Dang,

Impressive work going on there. Thanks for the pictures!!

Creighton