I'm with OddBall on this. The lugs, screws, etc. all were randomly picked from a series of bins at the original build, so I clean everything from a single drum together as one batch. When reinstalling, I test fit parts prior to final assembly, putting the best looking ones in the areas that will be most visible.

I polish all my lugs, then I grade them 1-4. I have em all lined up on a white towel all polished and put the #1's at the most visable and the #4's on bottom of the bass drum and bottom of the floor tom. I think tryin to put the very same lug back in the very same place it was with the exact same screws that came out of the lug is crazy!!! But hey, there's lots of crazies on here! I have a cloth polishing wheel on one side of my bench grinder and use those polish sticks on all the lugs and t rods. I also use the wadding chrome polish on the rims, but I dont ever use steel wool on anything.

Hey Jonni, do you think the drill and steel wool trick would work on these t-rods? A plumber must've owned these drums, or maybe a dude who worked for a teflon tape company. Never seen this done before.

I also noticed the t-rods for the two FT's I just got, have two different designs; one has a thick flange (or, integrated washer) by the top and the other is thinner (like the ones on my mid 70's kit). These lugs are also a bit longer than what's on my mid 70's 18" FT. Were the thicker flanged rods used on earlier drums? Are they even Gretsch? The length, shank and threads are identical.

Thanks,

B

I used to restore antique Wurlitzer Jukeboxes and I just did a "sorta" restore on my 1959 Slingerlands and my policy has always been that any piece of metal looks better if you clean it, even if it is still rusty when you finish, it will look better than it did before...those rods will clean up just fine...and I agree with the idea of putting the "prettiest" stuff in the most visible place when putting 'em back together...it can't possibly matter where they were originally unless it has some effect on how it fits.:2Cents:

Hey Bill, yes, but you may want to soak them for a little while first. The action of the screw gun and steel wool is the same no matter what condition the screws are in. I do allow the mineral oil to soak in when confronted with stuff like this. Some of those are very early and some look to be replacements with more modern parts.

As for the maker of the rods...you got me there. I have no idea who made what. All I know is some of the early Star rods are thinner than almost anyone elses' rods...

..uhhh...let me rephrase th...oh, nevermind..rods is rods, right?? That just don't look or sound right coming from a hetero man...

NOTE TO SELF...open mouth, extract foot...replace jaw to the upright an locked position...in the case of loss of cabin, or in this case brain pressure, please bend over, place head squarely between legs and ki...never mind.

Likely the Teflon tape is keep the rods from backing out of the inserts. Makes sense, but I wouldn't use that technique.

The ones where the heads dip in a little on the sides are Rogers.......early 60's.......

They could be early Stars Blair. Tat is exactly what the Star rods look like from the early days up until about 69-70. If these are MIJ, that is most likely what they are, if not, then Rogers it is most likely to be. Just depends on if they are metric or ASE. I'm not tryin' to be difficult, just showin' off some of me ill-got branes...brains....noggin-head...more like a pea-brain. Party

I've ALWAYS kept track of which screws went to which lug.You never know if the factory install was cross-threaded (I've seen it a few times especially on Slingerland's)

You think so? Those rods are on every drum from my 74-ish kit. You never know, I guess. Maybe the drum mfg's got there small hardware bits from a hardware supplier and some companies used the same rods? I wonder.

JohnniStix - I didn't soak them. I roughed up the teflon tape with a brass-bristled brush and pulled the tape off with my fingers - kinda' like a monkey cleaning his pal. Then I cleaned up the threads a little with the same brush. Yes it took time, but at night, in my quiet garage (kids asleep), with a cold one and some tunes, it was very relaxing.

Thanks guys.

B

I'd put all the lugs back on their original places, because you never know what kinda specific imperfections they have, how they uniquely made themselves little hollows in the wrap, and such. They are gonna sit best on their original places.