Well I've finally completed my Slingy orphan modern jazz combo, or 95% complete, enough to show the pictures anyways! I started this project a few months ago, I was looking for a jazz set but wasn't looking to pay the hefty prices they go for, so I decided on an orphan project. I had a 60s 14x20 bass drum shell already and about half of the BD hardware, so I began looking for the other shells and hardware. I knew these would be re-wraped so I wasn't looking for collector grade stuff. I found a really nice complete 8x12 that had already been stripped for a re-wrap and had 2 small holes filled. The floor tom I found had a silver sparkle wrap with a 1" crack in the wrap running the length of the drum, and it looked like someone had dropped it on one of the leg mounts, it was cracked around and pushing in. After some easy patching and sanding she was solid as a rock and I had all my shells ready to go.
Since I had some pretty abused orphans, staining was pretty much ruled out, so I began looking at wraps. The price seemed way too high to me, almost more than I spent on the 3 drums combined, so I had to find another route. Veneer seemed like a great option and relatively inexpensive. I found a huge sheet of paper backed walnut burl veneer with some really cool grain patterns on ebay for under $100, enough for all 3 drums, the future matching snare, and I still have 1/3 or more of it left. I bought a heatlock glue that was extremely easy to use and eliminated the need for a vacuum.
After getting all the extra crud off and giving the shells a nice sanding, I set up my wrapping station. I put the shells on a rod running across 2 chairs so I could turn them easily and get a clean wrap. The heatlock glue was awesome, 2 coats on the shell and 2 coats on the veneer, let dry for 20 minutes, wrap and smooth with an iron. The heat from the iron activates the glue while smoothing out any bubbles, the veneer is instantly adheared. I was not super happy with my joints, but since this already a players kit I'm cool with it, you can only see the lines from close up anyways.
I put 5 coats of Tung oil on the shells allowing 24 hours between coats followed by a light sanding. The Tung oil really accentuated the burl patterns and brought out the beautiful colors of the walnut. I found the rest of the missing hardware that I needed and completed all of the drums. I'm only missing the cymbal L-arm and mount.
My original intention was to go with Fiberskyns, but after checking with 4 stores in town I opted for the Aquarian Modern Vintage and I couldn't be happier with them. I had to order the BD head, so I'm still waiting on that, in the mean time I'm using a coated Emperor on the batter and an original Slingerland logo on the front.
Overall I'm pretty happy with how the project turned out, if I were to do it again I would look for non backed veneer (the seem lines bug me), and I would be a bit more careful with my joints. But the sound is nothing short of amazing.
