A couple of days ago I was scrolling through the local Craigslist ads and found three Star drums for sale. I was skeptical at first because the owner only wanted $50 for the bass (22x14), floor tom(16x15) and mid tom(13x9). After finding out the history of Tama/Star and that all the hardware was there, I decided to go check 'em out.
I walked out with all 3 drums, extra heads, and a mint condition Samson 1502 MPL mixer .... and only $85 dollars poorer! (drums for $35!)
Now I have quite a project on my hands. All the hardware was painted with gold "hammered" spray paint, and all the shells were painted flat-white. The original tom mount was gone, through for some reason the holes decided to stay :p. As well, the the bass drum lugs were only secured by one screw each.
So far I've removed the paint from the wood hoops and that horrid gold paint. Here are some photos of my first kit:
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/danot2serious1/bassdrumbefore.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/danot2serious1/bassdrumbefore2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/danot2serious1/bdhardwarebefore.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/danot2serious1/bdhardwareafter.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/danot2serious1/slingerlandbracket.jpg[/IMG]
I'm still deciding what to finish the shells with (as for the hardware, don't worry, I'm not going to cover up that gorgeous chrome!). I really don't want to spend the money for nice wraps, but I know it will take a lot of work to lacquer finish these things. Staining is clearly not an option. I'm really wanting to use the HVLP spray gun out in the shed....I'm good with a can but never tried the big girl gun.
What are the pros/cons of just using a tom stand instead of a bass drum mount? I have seen the ball system that Slingerland used...heard it was a bit unreliable (slipping?). I don't have the mount arm.
Any tips, suggestions, comments are much appreciated!
-Stefanie