The transformation from a thrashed 10x14" tom to a killer sounding snare drum reminds me of the old saying, "what you can conceive and believe, you can achieve". By rotating the lugs 180 degrees, cutting off the excess shell before re-attaching the re-rings, 16 of the original lug screw holes were able to be re-used. Since the tom had been played as a concert tom at some point and the reso side bearing edges were damaged and had to be re-cut, I thought it would be a great idea to turn the tom into a Concert Aristocrat with double rows of casings and a period correct strainer and butt plate. Similar to the Concert Aristocrats that were made in the early 60s with the 4ply shells and 16 lugs. The hoops came from a mid to late 60s Studio model #701-EP and still look new and were not re-chromed. It has the Precision Throw-Off Snare Strainer which was prior to the Aristocrat model 830. Unfortunately I didn't save any of the before pictures because it was pitiful sight...One of the previous owners before Ryan had even spray painted over the badges.
Camco 10x14" Tom Transformation
Well, I did save a few pictures of the drum. Here is one of the paint covered badge,(you can see the thick paint, It was a mess), And a few of the build. From cut shell with re-rings separate to a completed primed and ready shell. It was a fun project, and the end results were awesome. I hated to let this one go, I had fun building it. The badge came clean, and the drum sanded out and painted nicely. Ask any questions you want, but I'm not giving up all of my secrets.
Nice work on this one. I like very much!! Yes Sir
Not a guru just havin fun with some old dusty drums.
Very nicely done! I was in so much of a hurry to get this project going I realized after the fact that I had forgotten to take before pics! This one I sent out to Jack Lawton. He cut the 10x14 parade snare down to 4.5x14 to represent the ever elusive Casino Model. He did such a good job that it has actually fooled some experts (not my intention of course). I even put an economy strainer on this one so it should've been obvious as it would've had an Aristocrat on it if it were real. If you look very close you will notice that the badge is placed just slightly higher than the center of the lugs. The badge was never removed and that's how they are drilled on GW parade drums, something to keep in mind when looking at one to make sure it's legit.
[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/George%20Way/IMG_0791.jpg[/IMG]
1959 George Way BDP 22/12/16 w/ 5.5x14
1959 George Way Green Sparkle 22/12/16 w/5.5x14
1961 George Way Blue Sparkle 20/12/15
1961 George Way Jelly Bean 20/12/14 w/4.5x14
1960’s Camco Oaklawn Champagne 20/12/14/16w/5x14
1971-73 Camco Chanute Walnut 24/14/18 w/5x14 COB
Fueling up this old thread.
Quite surprising to me that it didn't get more attention,... what a superb looking snare that is. Congratulations Ryan !
A couple of weeks ago I bought a 14"X10 and I was planning to add it as a tom to my 22,16,13,12,10 natural maple Oaklawn kit.
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=37205
Since I'm not a huge fan of large kits, I came back from that idea and I'm considering an Aristocrat tribute snare.
I have the lugs and as a strainer I'm planning to use the Gibraltar George Way replica "beer tap" type.
Hoops,... if I'll ever find originals great but for now I'll use standard 2,3mm triple flanged hoops. I have top/bottom cast Gretsch hoops laying around that came from a beat up 4160 and was even thinking to try them out. Good idea, bad idea ???
The transformation of the shell itself I'm not taking on myself. Most likely that work will be done by Belgians n°1 drum builder.
As it's a concert tom, I'll probably ask him to use the bottom part of the shell. That way only the badge hole needs to be plugged and hopefully will hide under the strainer.
Just a couple of questions for Ryan, Roger, Steve, David, and anybody that can help.
- Does the "real" Aristocrat have snare beds?
- Ryan, where you able to save the re-rings on your snare ?
- To drill the lug holes, I'd like to find out the exact position on a 6,5" Aristocrat. I believe they are closer to the edge than on a 8" or a regular tom.
Thanks a lot for your feedback and info.
Stef
I once used a beer can to urinate in...Hurting
Yes, I was able to cut away and reuse the re-rings. It went quite well. I didn't steam them out, as the re-rings are made of plied shell material, and aren't solid like many other vintage drums. I was afraid of the plies separating as well.
How are you thinking of finishing the shell? Just interested...
Good luck, and keep us posted!
Thanks, Ryan
I've currently got my Oaklawn Aristocrat wood snares in bits as I do some re-finishing.
The earlier one (pictured) has a snare bed depth of around 5.5mm (doing this metric for our Euro brother plus I couldn't find my imperial tape measure) and the beds' widths are between 16 and 19 cm (straight line measurement not around the circumference of the shell) - it was different on each side but the start of the beds are so gradual as to be almost unnoticeable for a cm or so. That's the traditional Oaklawn USA badge.
Have a holey Super 99 oval badge Oaklawn also in bits and its bed depth is a much shallower 3.5mm and the width of the bed is 14 - 15cm (slightly different on each side of the drum.
As a little aside - you'll notice this first one was also a burns victim too. I've had it hidden beneath some fake 3D Moire but going gently at it with some 80 grit (I know that sounds like an oxymoron but bear with me) I've actually managed to get rid of the burn marks in one area without hacking through the ply. This now has me thinking that I should do this with my whole fake 3D Moire set-up, all of which were all originally lacquered drums but were messed up in same way or other (prior to my involvement) with half-stripped finishes or similar. Am I mad? And if this madness continues, should I do 'em maple, piano black or moss green - all drums except the 14" floor and the snare have extra holes of some kind but these have been well-repaired. Or do I just keep 'em 3D? Anyway, this is a parallel thread which I'll need to start when I see the new member of the family arriving soon.
Those snare beds look much deeper than the ones I cut into Slingalud's drum. I used an original Oaklawn snare for a comparison... Not that one is more right than the another, but let me know if you would like some comparison shots for snare bed depth, But what am I saying, I bet you have a few snares around to use for examples.... Right?
- Share
- Report