Some before pics.....

The 8x12 was originally Black Pearl, but it had gone green! Yuck! I found it had all chrome hardware and overall was in pretty good shape. I was planning on re-wrapping anyway.....only one set of extra holes in it, someone decided to move the muffler location, no idea why. I ended up just wrapping over that set of holes. Also, the drum only had one muffler, none on the bottom as with the earlier drums....

The bass drum was badly yelloed and the wrap was cracked in spots, some places so bad that some genius decided to use small wood screws to hold it down! Fortunately the screws didn't go all the way through the drum! Also, I foound one of the lugs/claws/T-rods was missing and replaced with an old Tama lug! DOH the things some people do!

Unfortunately, I never thought to take any before pics of the 9x13...DOH But it was about as bad a shape as the bass drum was. It was also a badly yellowed and cracked wrap, with very bad tom rash on one side of it. One of the mufflers was missing as was the tom mount. The mount I located for it was I thought Leedy, but it appears to be Gretsch in actuality. The bolt up pattern is the same and it works, so I'm planning on leaving it. Also, the mount on the 8x12 is original, but is for an early rail-mount system, so I had to modify it a bit to make it work as a hoop mount. Hardware on the bass drum and the 9x13 I found was nickle plating, but was able to polish it up to shine almost as well as the chrome on the 8x12 and later the 16x16.

The floor tom was the one I paid the most for off of ebay, and as it turned out, in some cases needed the most work. It had all its hardware (good things) but was covered in so much filth! So much so that I didn't realize that it had chrome hardware until I started to clean it up! It had its original calfskin heads still and when I took them off found out what the rattle inside was.....the bottom reinforcement ring for the shell had come loose! So after some glueing and clamping and much sanding of the horrible black paint on the outside of the drum (it was original too!) and lets not forget polishing of the hardware and rust removal from the legs and brackets I wrapped it to match the other drums. My original plan as to use calf heads for the whole kit.....well after finding out how much for the bass drum, and then after scoring some 12" and 13" heads on ebay......I found that the heads wouldn't fit the toms after they were wrapped! well, I wasn't about to try and retuck 50-some-odd-year-old heads......so I went for Fiberskyn 3's all around.

I sold the calf heads to a fellow forum member, so please don't ask what my plans are to do with them.... :D

I'd like to thank the members of this forum that helped me with some of the hard to find parts that I couldn't find locally or through Ebay. Also, I'd like to thank Precision Drum as always for their great wrap products. And I'd especially like to thank the webmaster, David. Without the Leedy catalog scans on this site, I'd have no clue as to what I was looking for......I am after all a Ludwig-dude...:D

Bowing

Nice job... Clapping Happy2Clapping Happy2Clapping Happy2

Thank you....one of my best and favorite ones yet....x-mas3

A classy restoration with that classic look! I'm a sucker for those natural wood colored BD hoops plus inlay. With the pearl and calf heads, fine fine fine!:D

They're fibersyns actually. I'd have loved to have put calf back on them, but as I stated they just wouldn't fit and I didn't want to risk damaging them by having to soak them, untuck them, split and reset the flesh hoops, retuck the heads.....I mean they are 50+ year old heads....too much of a risk....putting fiberskys on was far easier.

That is a seriously cool kit. You did a nice job on that one. I can visualize those uber-cool hoop mounted cymbal holders and the ever-present cowbell/woodblock. Paul, great job!

I dig the natural finish on the BD hoops, also... I've been debating whether to paint my '41 WFLs black or not..... dilemma solved

Great job man!!