Congrats! That's a great feeling, no doubt. Nice kit. Ya gotta love those mij's. Seriously under-rated by most...myself included.

Outstanding!!! FYI: Just put Earthtone goat skins on my 13 inch and 16 inch toms... What a sound! Warm, round, fat, organic and punchy...

Daddio

Awesome, that`s what I`m talking about- these luan shells need really nice heads to shine properly and compete with all the modern drums out there.

This 69 Valencia pictured above has Remo Fiberskyn 3s top and bottom on the toms. I am sure the goatskins sound fantastic.

Beautiful man, just beautiful! Well done on reuniting the kit at last.

flower

Remo Fiberskyns are great... that's what I have on the bottom of the toms (I put them there when I got the Earthtones). They work great with the Earthtone batter heads... I play a lot of blues---old school blues--- and I think I finally have the sound I've been looking for... I use brushes alot (the old Galato Regal hickory handle/fixed wire) and so, have an Evans Etched batter head on the snare...

I love your set!! superb...

daddio

Photos to come tonight. Basically it was in perfect condition- I opened it up and disassembeled the entire drum - taking off the strainer and lugs, took it down to the shell. I washed the shell and polished the lugs and hoops with baking soda/water paste- rinsed, dryed the parts with a hair dryer and reassembled. I used machine oil to lubricate the strainer mechanism and the tension screws. I went with a Diplomat reso, new Pearl wires and a Remo Emperor batter. On tuning it up I realized that the Emperor is better on a high tension drum and switched it out- going with a Remo Fiberskyn 3FA I had lying around- it was late by then, but inital taps and hits suggest a super drum. Stay tuned for some pics.

pics! I was just a bit too eager and didn`t think to take intial pics before I detailed the drum. I was just pretty stoked to find this last piece to make a perfect 69 Valencia Red Sparkle.

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010019-3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010006-2.jpg[/IMG]

In short, it`s basically mint- I took everything off the shell and washed it with just a little soap/water towel off and then polished all the chrome with baking soda paste/water and a toothbrush, including the strainer mechanism. I oiled that and all the lug nuts. I changed top and bottom heads- Fiberskyn 3FA on top, clear Amb snare on reso and new Pearl light wires. Tuned up it`s just what you'd want - a nice crack, dry and tight snare drum. None of these Luan MIJ 6 lug snares are "sensitive" in my opinion- they are best for tight and dry Clyde Stubblefield/James Brown style smacks. For sensitive snare response I go to other woods and makes of snare ( a beaten copper Pearl supraphonic copy called the Toshi Nagai 6.6x14- that is a sensitive drum!)

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/th_P1010053-1.jpg[/IMG]