As I mentioned above, I live in the Canadian prairies, and it was -25 degrees outside. I would have been risking frostbite to do the whole drum. I just wanted to check the effectiveness of the stripper. I am going to have to wait until the weather warms up before I can undertake the stripping in any large scale because my wife won't let me do it in the house and I don't have a garage.
.........Gotcha !
If you veneer than you add a ply. Head fit can be difficult then. But I've seen many drums with enough room to do it. It doesn`t look good as staining that surface will bring out the imperfections. You need to turn that drum and sand horizontally or you wont get a surface good enough for staining. I`ve stained a million things that looked good until I stained them. I see light and dark spots if you stain it. I think the adhesive has filled in and solidified the pulp.
Yes, same rules apply with wrap. I would simply leave a 1/4" at the top and bottom of the shell and smooth sand to allow heads to seat better. I have seen this done on many vintage kits, especially Gretsch.
I see the area you're referring to in the photo, where the seam was glued. However, since I sanded the area the lighter area is hardly noticeable. I'm not expecting perfection from this ol' Rockers kit. Just a kit that will look sweet from 10 feet away if I decide to take them out.
I am stripping some (in one case LOTS) of old paint off some drums right now, and learning the whole process too. They are your drums of course, but I would think that ANY finish or wrap would look better than flat battleship gray... :)
I am stripping some (in one case LOTS) of old paint off some drums right now, and learning the whole process too. They are your drums of course, but I would think that ANY finish or wrap would look better than flat battleship gray... :)
I've always been a sucker for grey. I owned a set of Yamaha Recording Customs that were Quartz Grey gloss lacquer, and people either loved them or hated them. I loved 'em!
On one hand I'd like to refinish them in something that looks "Ludwig", like a sparkle or pearl. On the other hand, this will be a gigging kit that cost me next to nothing. I don't want to sink $500 into them. If they were older (60s/70s) and from the Classic series, I would probably spend the money. But this is a rocker kit from the 80s, so I'm approaching it a little differently than I would a true classic kit. I'm sure they're gonna sound great regardless.
Still though. I keep envisioning Blue Sparkle.
I already have a 67 Superclassic kit in black oyster but my first kit ever (and still my dream kit) is a 60s Luddy blue sparkle downbeat.
Yes, same rules apply with wrap. I would simply leave a 1/4" at the top and bottom of the shell and smooth sand to allow heads to seat better. I have seen this done on many vintage kits, especially Gretsch.I see the area you're referring to in the photo, where the seam was glued. However, since I sanded the area the lighter area is hardly noticeable. I'm not expecting perfection from this ol' Rockers kit. Just a kit that will look sweet from 10 feet away if I decide to take them out.
FYI, i also had a 13" that came with my Rocker II that i knew i wasn't going to use often, so i tested staining it with a nice dark walnut stain over the original shell.. Even though the stain covered the shell nicely, the patch was still visible as were the lines of contrast with the original shell outer ply.. This is what will happen if you stain. If you apply a veneer over that, you'll still have a slight protrusion over the circumference of the shell and it will look uneven. Sanding the patch, then applying a veneer would be the only solution for you at this point, seeing as how you don't want to rewrap, and are adamant about staining.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out !
Problem solved, I think. I have talked to the guys at my company's autobody shop, and for a couple hundred bucks they can give the shells a few nice coats of automotive paint. Now to decide on the color. Since they are used to working with metal, I am going to have them paint the original stainless steel BD hoops to match. If they start to flake and look crappy, I'll just buy wood ones.
Now I just have to wait until I can find an appropriate place to strip all this old paint off, and get that done.
The hardware is all taking a bath, for the most part, is cleaning up nicely. a few rusty spots, and the spur bolts were stripped, but I managed to thread 2 slightly larger bolts into the holes and they seem to be holding. Lots of lugs have scratches and scuffs, pitting etc. But I really don't mind that stuff. I like the character it adds.
Everything is accounted for except 2 Bass drum T-rods (luckily, the claws are still here), which I will just replace with new standard rods and put them on the bottom of the batter side, and the 12" bottom hoop is unoriginal (I don't really mind), and a bunch of washers are missing from the tension rods. Other than that, everything is here!
So by the time all is said and done, I will have spent less than $500 to have a cool American made maple shelled gigging kit. Aside from the paint job, most of that is heads. I paid less than $100 for the set. I'm pretty pumped!
Wow, thats gonna be killer! I would go for a metal flake finish, did they give you a site to look at colors or a color chart? What paint are they using, DuPont?
Wow, thats gonna be killer! I would go for a metal flake finish, did they give you a site to look at colors or a color chart? What paint are they using, DuPont?
Honestly I'm not sure. It's a modern facility with a million dollar booth just installed, so I'm assuming it's top of the line stuff.
I looked at a few samples and so far, I'm leaning toward a metallic white with pearl finish, or a black mica. Something classy :)
Cool, cant wait to see it. My first restore project was a Rocker kit.
Hey for the bass drum do what I did on my red kit- replace the bottom bass drum t-rods with the same length regular Tuning screws. I got the idea from some kit I saw but it allows precise Tuning without the T hitting the ground. Since you have the right claws it'll look factory.
I also sort the lug casings when I restore a kit, so the worst ones are on the bottom or opposite the badge, which typically faces out.
