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1966 Stripped & Polished Ludwig Supra

Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

About a year-and-a-half ago I purchased a set of drums that had one of the best sounding Supraphonics I ever played/heard. I don't know why, but this supra just had "It."

The problem was; is was a pitted mess. I decided to experiment so I took it to a local plating shop and had it stripped of the pitted chrome right down to the bare aluminum. I then had them polish the aluminum to a very high gloss. You cannot tell it apart from a chromed shell.

It cost me $175. in total (I already had the brass tube lugs & hoops) to refinish the drum as you see it in the photo. The big difference between mine and any other 60's supra's is; mine will never pit again! As long as I keep it clean and polished, it'll look new forever...

Enjoy,

John

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Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 13 years ago
#1
Posts: 1273 Threads: 22

Wow, man. That's a real killer-diller!! Beautiful.

B

PS - Love the tubes.

Vintage Drum Fan (Not a Guru)
Posted on 13 years ago
#2
Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

> PS - Love the tubes.

Strangely, adding the tubes dried the drum out a little more than it already was. I 'almost' put the Imperials back on. But the sound of this one is so right-on, I didn't want to mess with it anymore. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Thanks for the kind words, it did come out better than I expected.

John

Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 13 years ago
#3
Posts: 681 Threads: 81

Beautiful drum. What a great idea to bring back a pitted supra. I actually like the looks of the polished alloy better than the chrome finish! The tube lugs are a great look on that drum. Did you say that you also used brass hoops? Nice job!

Posted on 13 years ago
#4
Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

Yarp! COB hoops, COB tube lugs.

I really thought that by replacing the Imperials with tube lugs it would 'open' the sound of the drum a bit. To my surprise, it went the other way! This one sounds more like a super-sensitive - very crisp, articulate drum and because it's so articulate, it punishes playing mistakes mercilessly. You can hear every tick of the stick clearly, nothing mushy about this drum. And what a range on this thing! It would make as good a concert snare as it does a rock/blues drum when tuned a bit lower.

John

Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 13 years ago
#5
Posts: 1113 Threads: 60

Love it!Cool1

"Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail". John Wooden

Blaemire / Jenkins-Martin drums.

http://www.jenkinsmartindrums.com/
Posted on 13 years ago
#6
Posts: 802 Threads: 9

Looks great. I never really could understand why they chromed these things in the first place as Al is one of the most reflective metals, as your's clearly illustrates.

Posted on 13 years ago
#7
Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

What I can't understand is; the company knew pretty early on that there was a serious problem with the chrome plating pitting on their proprietary, Ludalloy. Yet, to this day, they continue to produce supra's which; are all going to have bad acne cases in just a few years.

And... people know it and continue to buy them. My buddy, JR Frondelli's tagger says, "Mediocre is the new Good!" Sad, but true...

John

Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 13 years ago
#8
Posts: 1273 Threads: 22

From Purdie Shuffle

"Mediocre is the new Good!"

Ha, haaaaaaaa! I love it!!! Can I use it, too? Too funny.Excited

B

Vintage Drum Fan (Not a Guru)
Posted on 13 years ago
#9
Posts: 1867 Threads: 179

That drum looks very cool and different.

The tube lugs do a number to my eyes. What brand is that?

Oh yeah.

I've done my last 3 drums with the tubes.

I miss that old 60's and 70's style American lug.

I will look for some beavertails or Gretsch type lugs?

Something old and cool.

SA

BLAEMIRE DRUMS
Thanks to Mr. Jerry Jenkins
Posted on 13 years ago
#10
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