IT'S SUMMER BREAK!!! I get to be a drummer again ...
I picked this one up very recently. It doesn't need a huge amount of work, which excites the snot out of me.
It's a 79 Traveler in Oakwood Lacquer. The chrome was in good shape. Just needed a bit of spit and polish. Shined up beautifully. The edges are excellent and the inners are unbelievably good.
I cleaned the shells using Murphy Oil Soap. After all is said and done, I'll run some Old English over 'em just prior to slapping the hardware back on.
The exterior lacquer has that tiny hairline cracking going on. It's very minimal. I don't mind it at all. It gives it a bit of character. I love the aging that these shells have taken on.
The bad ...
I noticed when I pulled several of the heads off, there was some resistance. I found sags and wrinkles in the outer Oak veneer right up towards the bearing edges. Luckily, these are nowhere else to be found. Yeah. I pondered this one for a while. I could not figure out how to get it to lay down again. Eventually, it hit me. Push the doggone thing back and hope for the best.
So, out come the pressure do-hickeys and here we go. I tested a small area for two days and it worked. So, all of the problem areas are getting the push-down. This will take about a week as I only have enough pressure do-thangys for one side of one drum at a time. I will need to allow two days of constant pressure to ensure a good push.
Here's the first few pics.
