Hello boys and girls.
I'm Jonas. I just got back home (Switzerland) after studying in the US for one year. I didn't just learn a lot about drumming there, but fell also in love with vintage drums. I bought two kits: A 70's Slingerland 18-12-14 and a Ludwig Downbeat (pretty sure that it's an original matching kit, serials are close etc...). The Slingy was in pretty decent condition and I already restored it, it just needed some chrome and furniture polish.
But before i can start restoring the Ludwig, there are some issues/questions you guys may could help me with. I'll post a sh*tload of pictures, so you hopefully get an impression.
I have to say: I'm not a collector, I'm a player. I don't want to put my drums in a museum, I want to play them. But of course I'd like to make them look as nice as possible, and I'll take care of them as good as I can!! But the main thing is the sound.
The main questions I have are about the inside of the drums - the BD is in decent condition (may've been repainted?), but the white paint of the toms flakes (don't know if this is the right word - it comes off in small pieces... :-) ). And there are some small cracks in the inner ply. So here they are:
- It seems like someone already tried to repair some separations of the reinforcement rings & the shell with some nasty glue. What do you think? Should i try to remove that?
- Should I repaint the inside of the toms?! What should i do about the "flaking"?
- What should I do about the cracks & the separation of the inner ply?
- What should I do about the separation of the wrap?
- What do you think about the bearing edges? In one picture you can see that there's some "space" in one edge... should i fix that? There are some funky spots, but I think I'll just leave them how they are... That's what's gonna make the drums sound "vintage", right?
- There's some green rust on some screws... How can I remove that?! I don't think that all the screws are original - do you?
I'd be happy about any comments - let me know your opinions! Thanks in advance!!!
Jonas
Pics:
12''
[IMG]http://www.clapotis.ch/ludwig/12_1.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.clapotis.ch/ludwig/12_2.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.clapotis.ch/ludwig/12_3.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.clapotis.ch/ludwig/12_4.JPG[/IMG]