Hey Guys,
A couple of weeks ago I picked up half of a Camco concert tom set. Part of the package was a 1968 Supraphonic, with what I think is the original case, along with a few other misc drums. The snare is stamped May 6, 1968.
The condition of the snare looked great considering it is 50 years old. Just dirty and surprisingly it didn't look pitted.
Well I decided to clean the old girl up giving her a new life. I just used some "Never Dull" metal cleaner I've had forever. It is the wadding type.
While cleaning her up I was happy to see there were no pits, just signs of a little oxidation starting and some light scratches. When I was just about done polishing the outside it hit me that my fingers, with polish on them, had been running along the inside of the drum as I was rotating and cleaning. Oh crap, the date stamp! I looked inside and the date was still there but definitely lighter due to my fingers rubbing across it. Dang! It is still there, and with serial of the Keystone badge to confirm, you can still tell 1968 but still a bummer but lesson learned. I tried to wipe off the haze from the polish around the date with a Qtip but there is probably some still on the date.
I was thinking ahead of time to be careful when cleaning inside but didn't think about it when cleaning the outside.
Attached is a pic of the date before cleaning and after.
Maybe my newbie mistake to restoring drums will keep others from doing the same thing!
Wes
