Hi,
I introduced my vintage ludwig kit on this thread:
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=19546
I'm just curious to know what you would recommend as a procedure for cleaning inside the drums. The bass drum is the main one I suppose, it has a couple of bits of velcro strip that I want to remove, and other things.
They are of the unpainted variety, but would they have some sort of lacquer on them?
goof off will remove the strips and glue residue.
I'm sure there is some kind of sealer that was put
on by the manufacturer. Some people like to rub
on a coat of tung oil. I did this once to a dry out
set of slingerlands and they looked great, but beware
this will alter their sound a little bit, adding resonance.
Some like that, others do not. If I had the chance to
go back, I would not do that again and would try something
else from a cleaning only standpoint. What? I don't know
at this time. Someone will offer a suggestion based on
their experience.
I have never done anything to the inside of any of mine except a damp rag. And, I'm careful with that around the date.
I have used everything from Ajax to hand cream on the outsides and hardware but I think the insides should remain pure.
I did have to strip the inside of a bass drum once because someone painted it but if the inside is natural, I sure would leave it alone. When I re-finished that bass drum, I used 3 coats of clear satin lacquer. I'm pretty sure that's what it originally had.
JMO
I have found that Goof Off is too harsh. That stuff is more designed to take off graffiti and such. If I find stubborn tape residue or something like that, I try the Goo Gone spray gel. It much milder and will not take off existing lacquer/sealer.
Other than that, I just use good old Scott's Liquid Gold to clean.
The couple times I had to re-lacquer, I did something very similar to what KapperDog described. 2 or 3 coats of clear lacquer, with a light sanding using steel wool #0000 between coats.
As you can see in the two photo's below, it's not exactly 'showroom quality' in there. :-) It looks like some sort of adhesive strip has been stuck on up higher then taken off, then the two velcro strips added lower down (this is all before I got the kit 17 years ago).
Erm, one thing I don't quite understand, if the trueness and finish and all that of the inside of the drums are so important, why do people stuff things inside their bass drum as a dampener?!
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25754&d=1297544573
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25753&d=1297544567
I used a rag dampened with diluted pine sol and water on mine.
Watch the date stamp!!! It is water soluble and will come right off!
Well that must mean my kit must have been washed at least once then. :-)
