Issues with one of the 12" toms? hmm

I'm not sure if '64 slingy's came with badges on the toms. I believe it was 65/66 when air holes and badges started showing up on the toms.(the slingy experts will know) It looks like the badge on that tom was added judging by the poor drilling job. How do the vent/badge holes look on the other toms? For a players kit, the addition of badges is no big deal to me. I like the look as long as it's not sloppy looking on the exterior. The stress cracks on the interior is, again, no big deal on a players kit and fairly common. I have a '61 Luddy BD with multiple cracks similar to your tom. I filled the thin cracks with carpenters glue (the cracks never affected the sound of the drum) just to prevent further cracking and I'm still using that BD. It looks like you have a great players kit and a nice winter project for repair, clean-up, and a little historical investigating. Good luck!

That is a great snag. There is plenty of information on this site about how to do your restorations. It does not look like you have too much work ahead of you. A few quick details:

- Soak chrome parts including the tension rods in 50/50 Dawn dish washing detergent and water. Let sit for 24-48 hours then scrub clean, rinse and apply some standard chrome polish. Alternately, vinegar is used by many here with great results.

- Do not use steel wool on chrome! One noted exception might be the threads only of the tension rods.

- While all the hardware is off, clean the exterior of the shells with a damp (not soaking wet) cloth. You can use some Dawn as well, but you will need to "rinse" with a damp cloth of water only. This will take off years of grime. Just don't get the wood plies wet as this will tend to cause ply separation.

- Once the exterior is generally clean, you will want to polish it. I use the Novus plastic polish system. #3 to diminish deep scratches, #2 for minor scratches and cleaning and finish with #1 which is their polish. Some guys only use #2 and have great success. Otherwise you can finish with a high quality car polish or wax.

- I am going to leave interior cleaning to someone else as my methods are pretty hit or miss.

- It is quite possible that the drums left the factory with the bits of hole blow-out and minor cracks in the interior ply. While we like to say that "they just don't make them like they used to" as a means of nostalgia, the fact is that quality control in the factories that produced these drums is nothing like what we have today. Hole blow-outs, inconsistent edges, poorly applied interior finishes, glue drips, etc. are extremely common. They are still great instruments though.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas. Time to go to the grand kid'a house!

Great deal.Post some more pics of the interior of the snare.I think I see a P-83/32 on an unpitted shell.Is there a serial number on the badge?Possible crimped snare beds,and rolled bearing eddes,and a welded seam?

If so,that may be a COB Super Ludwig 400,and you just made money on the purchase.They go for 800-1200 for a really nice one.x-mas2

Steve B

Post are short now due to Christmas.

Snare:

Here a few pics of the snare in question. The Ludwig was traded into my local music shop by a high school. It looks like it has been dropped quite a few times, but I really like the sound. I am pumped, but don't really plan on it being much more than my everyday snare for now! I actually traded a drum for it (1930-32 Slingerland parade snare in original condition). I cannot answer your questions about welds, or crimps, or bearing edges with out really knowing what you are talking about. I definitely do not see a full on weld, like if a piece of paper was made into a drum shape and taped (weld).

Snare has bottom hoop that looks like COB (it is scratched) and pitting that reveals a brassy color underneath (see pics). One tension rod is wrong. top hoop has no scratches that show brass

Any info about the drum would be cool. I'm having trouble matching those serial numbers on the ludwig badge identification guide to a specific year.

#100644

Drums:

The one 12" tom in question is the only drum where the chipping is bad near the badge.

For the curious out there..this i what I traded for the ludwig snare. Yes, I can get it back if I want.

Cleaning begins. Going to soak chrome in dawn and water, then get to cleaning shells with dawn mix. After that, I plan on cleaning/polishing the rims. I am wondering about the filling in of these shell cracks?fractures? Also wondering about the best way to repair the large crack in the bass drum wrap.

Supplies I could find:

Leather chamois

Dawn Power Clean Platinum ("The power of an overnight soak in just 3 minutes!")...we will see

Mequiar's liquid (wrap and small hardware) and paster (rims/large hardware)

Naval Jelly Rust dissolver (tension rods and a couple springs)

Brasso

Q tips

Cotton Balls

Scott glass cleaner paper towels

Cotton rounds

Golf club brush

Rustoleum Special Lacquer High Lustre Coating Spray paint (black for bd hoops)

Painter's tape

400 and 2000 grit sandpaper (2000 in case there is a bad spot on any drum's wrap...I may not use at all, 400 for bd hoops)

Having a good time here doing this. It is encouraging seeing the nice silver finish under the hardware I removed. Let me know if I am doing something terribly wrong, please.

Hope everything is going well out there!

I would not worry too much about the "blow outs" or the wood that was splintered from drilling. If you have some structural issues you can sort those with regular carpenters wood glue and or CA glues. My cherry Gretsch kit had some much smaller splinters from not so awesome drilling but I just leave them be.

On my Ludwig kit I noticed the wood was really soft around the drill holes in certain areas so I would use some flexible CA and or carpenters glue in various spots. You want to try to keep everything as original as possible but for us guys that gig and work our drums they need to be functional and take regular use.

Glad you are enjoying the process. Still get a big smile when all of the grime is gone and everything is polished. Excellent suggestions below. Only things I would add is Windex works wonders for getting the first layer off.

Hit the dollar store or Harbour Freight and pick up Micro Fiber towels and brass or stainless steel brushes. The brushes don't make near the mess steel wool does. The micro fibers won't scratch any thing. I'm finding soaking T-rods, lug inserts, and screws in PB Blaster for a couple of days really helps to get all of the rust off.

Any questions just ask. Looks like you are off to a great start!!

Creighton

Since you have all the drums apart....can you shoot some close up pics of the tension rods?

In the pic of the 12" Tom rods....they look too long,and are maybe Rogers ones.....

Also,put a magnet up to the metal hoops....do they all stick to it, or not at all?..shouldn't stick....

Lastly...the FT has different mounting screws for the lugs...so could have been added later?