Hey All,
Been a few years since I've posted to the forum. I'm going to go on and on in this post, my apologies in advance. I also wish to beg forgiveness for the lack of pictures, I am currently camera-less.
What brings me here today is questions about a number of restorations I'm working on. First off is my first real kit ever, a set of 79 Gretsch's, walnut finish, 24/13/14/16/18. I got this trap kit in 1988 for $850 (with an additional 22 kick & the snare drum I'll describe in the next section of this post). They've been sitting on the top shelf of my storage area in my rehearsal space for several years now and it's time for me to fix em up. They have been battered by touring, improper transpo (my fault, I was younger & dumber at the time) and modification (previous owner). I'm not looking to do a total restoration, I just want to clean up the original finish and mask some gouges. The lacquer is age checked (not a problem) and dull in spots (problem, I'd love it if these tubs had a shine). I also want to touch up the gouges, mainly rim rash from owner #1 and me being young and dumb and not casing these beauts every gig. What should I use to polish and what recommendations do you have for a good product for the rash? Again, I don't expect these drums to look factory fresh and DON'T want them to look that way, I just want to care for my babies.
Next project, the poor Ludwig snare that came with the Gretsch's. 5.5x14 Super Classic. WFL throw off, Ludwig butt plate, COB hoops. Brutalized by the guy I got these tubs from. He stripped the gold glitter finish, apparently discarded the badge, painted the interior black. Is there any way at all to get to the original paint inside? I see bits of white in there. I'd absolutely love to thin the black down enough to see a date stamp but I know that's not gonna happen. I'm thinking I'm just going to make a pass around the inside with 0000 steel wool to thin down the gunk. After that I'm rewrapping this drum silver sparkle to match a lovely set I picked up last month, 22/12/13/16, early 70's, granitone interiors, no badges except for a remnant on the FT, it was a school kit (engraved Bonham JHS on every drum, including the Superaphonic that came with), and leaving well enough alone. Oh, one more thing, nickel plated hardware.
All this blah blah leads to my main question about this one: Considering the nickel hardware, except for the throw & butt, the mismatched branding on those pieces and the brass hoops do y'all think this is possibly a trans era Luddie or is it simple a WFL that had a replacement butt plate added. I'm asking simply because I am going to badge the thing once I've wrapped it and want to get as close as possible.
Third thing is a mercifully short question. Cripes, I do go on. What is the best polish to use on nickel hardware? I have some beautiful Leedy & Ludwig traps that have really tarnished lugs.
If you've read this far, many thanks just for that. Input is appreciated. Back to reading more resto posts. Y'all know what you're talking about. I forgot how much fun this forum is.
Best,
Travis
