Rogers was easier to find. Expensive. But hey, it’s only money.

By adding back the Rogers parts you -increased- the resale value of the kit by more than what you paid for the parts.

John

Thank you for all of your help. I went to your website. Wow! Super cool!

What do you think - Should I wrap these drums or stain and lacquer them? I was thinking of getting the holes repaired and then staining them ebony and then going with a tinted clear coat of lacquer. (My best friend is a refinishing genius by trade). Or should I repair the hole and get Precision wrap on them. I'm kind of partial to ginger glitter.

Also, some of t-rods have rust (chrome is nearly gone). Should I get them rechromed, or just buy some reproductions?

In the end I hope to end up with a great looking playable kit.

Thanks in advance for all your help and knowledgeable advice.

Walter - They're your drums brother and you can do anything you want with them. I always try to think in terms of preservation first. In terms of preservation just fill the extra holes, clean them up and play them. If you want to wrap them you will be altering them and they will lose a lot of their value in the resale market. If that isn't an issue and you just want them looking as new as you can get them, let the pro's at Precision Drum do the job. As far as re-chroming tension rods, just clean and lubricate the ones you have - you don't need to send them out for a chrome job.

Enjoy them. That's a very special set of drums you have in more ways than one.

John

Good advice. I have a touch of OCD and could start going crazy. That said, I hope to have these playable in a week or two. Otherwise, my wife is going to kill me.

Walter -

As you probably are aware, Camco drums that were wrapped had the white interiors (other than LA era Camco which all had clear maple interiors). The stained/ lacquered drums had clear interiors. If this were my kit to restore I would wrap them for two strong reasons. One is it is accurate to what these always were. And two is you can plug the holes you don't intend to use before wrapping and get a really clean look quite easily.

Like others have said, they're yours and you should do what makes you happy first and foremost. No matter what, getting them back in playing condition is a great project. These drums deserve to be heard!

Mario

Thanks for all of the advice. I decided that with all of the extra holes my dad drilled that these will not be a collectors set. Since I would never sell them, I did it my way.

When I got these, they were different colors. The snare and the RT had an unfinished overlay of dark walnut. The floor tom and bass drum had been refinished to be a blotchy medium brown stain.

After removing the dubious overlay I sanded all of the drums to 320 grit. I then put 3 coats of danish oil (Dark Walnut). I wet sanded the oil in between each coat. After it cured I put 3 coats of tinted bees wax on each drum and polished with a cloth. I really wanted the wood grain to show and for it to look like a nice instrument.

I added a badge to the snare and would like to find a couple more if possible.

I think you did well to stick to your Dad's original vision for the outfit.

I'm partial to natural wood finishes, and these look really nice to my eyes.

Good work, and thanks for posting!!

I agree with Kevin...These look great!! Are you hooked yet?

Cheers

Walter,

Since your father went through all that trouble to get natural, unfinished shells from the factory, he obviously did not want a stock, factory finish or wrap. I think you did the right thing by restoring them back to their original state... simple walnut stain. Enjoy them, and I hope they will always bring you fond memories of your dad.

Any pics of your dad playing them?

Mike