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Okay, it needed a LOT of TLC
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The two drums were gifts for two very close friends of mine that happened to save my life two years ago while on a trip. They are both bass drummers and somehow a bottle of whisky just doesn't say thank you enough so these are the finished drums that I presented to them over the summer.
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Okay, last one for now. Hope the bombardment of posts helps to make up for months of waiting for updates for those of you that were following this thread.
I picked this drum up over two years ago. It looked interesting and i thought it had potential. It is made by A.G.S. Philadelphia which later became A.G.S. Excelsior and then the company relocated to Camden New Jersey and became Excelsior drum works. I was amazed when I located a 1911 Excelsior Drum Works catalog scanned in to the vintage drum guide here on the forum. The drum was called the Autocrat (the one I have predates this catalog because it is from the Philadelphia factory.) and in 1911 was a $31.00 drum which was a lot of money.
Here is a link to the catalog page
The drum as it arrived to me two years ago.
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There were only 4 of the original tension rods left but the catalog said that rope tension was an option so I a went with that since I don't I will ever find replacement tension rods of this type. I dusted the drum off and put new calfskin on it and ropes and ears and called it a day.
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After all this time with no interest I had thought about refinishing the drum. The original lacquered finish had crackled over the years and since there is no historical significance to the drum that I have been able to find I decided to strip away the patina and restore the drum to its original glory.
The hoops
Stained maple with nickel ring overlays before
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After
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And now for the shell which was a much bigger surprise than I had anticipated. The top and bottom veneer rings are mahogany and the triangles are actually alternating veneers of birdseye maple and walnut!!! There is a beauty unnder all of the years of dirt and grime that I had not anticipated. Had I know this was what was waiting for me I would have done this a long time ago.
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More pictures coming soon.
Very nice Matt! Walking
Beautiful work Matt, thanks for sharing!
Hi Matt, good to see you back. You've been busy too, lots of cool projects going on. Thanks for all the pics and details!! Cool1
BTW I really like the painted drum logo's! Very unique vs the stickers everyone's using these days. Clapping Happy2
Thanks for the compliments, I am happy to be back and glad that so many people enjoy following this thread.
Matt,
I can't tell you how many compliments we've recieved about the drums you made for us. They not only look great, they sound so much better than the 1937 L&L 12x16's we were using for the last 30 years (and as we are no longer young men, they're a lot lighter to march with!). I know you posted a couple shots of these, but here's a better photo of us old guys with the new drums at Hartford's Veterans Day Parade.
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I'll contact you after the holidays. I know you're busy (and that's a good thing!) but we've got a new 16x16 3-ply Keller shell we'd like you to make into a fourth snare.
Mike C.
Here is a picture of the A.G.S. Excelsior Aristocrat drum put back together
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I will have another picture without all of the blue painters tape soon
