This post should come with an obsession warning.
Its this one .............
[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Snare%20and%20kit/DAVECLARKFIVEPICS078-1.jpg[/IMG]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sehYnUVAcZM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sehYnUVAcZM[/ame]
Presented by DC as a prize in a competition in 1966.
[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Melodymaker26thMarch.jpg[/IMG]
I bought it from the winners.
[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/DSCN2765_1.jpg[/IMG]
BASS
The front hoop had been taken off, like a lot of us did in the 70s, and lost it, along with the tension rods and claws.
For the auction we had found replacements, but the front hoop lacked Red Sparkle inlay.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/DSCN3334.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3346.jpg
What I started with
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3355.jpg
John told me that when he received the kit the heads had been played. He replaced a few but he doesn’t remember which ones. There are a lot of old heads on this kit – more on that later.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3349.jpg
Various sites of damage inside the shell where something (lighting) has been secured.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3351.jpg
Same damage viewed from the outside. The holes have been made rather untidily with something like a bradawl.
One of the collet nose/wing assemblies (that big wing nut thingy) on the bass drum spurs (legs) is of American manufacture. Someone must have lost the original and got a replacement from the US.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3358.jpg
Some of the lugs had cracked. Seven lugs needed to be replaced. Many of the tension rods and claws had seen a hard life too, and I replaced a few from my stash accumulated over the years.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3363.jpg
Both of the collets on the top of the bass drum which receive the tom tom arms have distorted the collet plates on which they sit, likely as a result of the leverage that the mounted toms have exert on the collets.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3376.jpg
The plates in turn have transmitted these forces to the shell. There is the beginning of some very slight distortion to the shell.
The fitting of the collet plates inside the drum is unusually untidy for an English Rogers. Makes you wonder if it was done in a hurry.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3377.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/Carolsphotos_0011-b.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3370.jpg
Years of build up of dirt.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3381.jpg
Stripped and ready for a clean.
The original bass drum hoop is made of solid beech. Boosey & Hawkes who made the drums would also use laminated birch. The replacement I found has the same profile (they can differ slightly) as the original but is of the birch variety.
The original hoop had grey/silver paint under the black.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3389.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3393.jpg
The scarf joint on the original hoop had started to come apart and there were various bits of damage that you find on bass hoops. Glue and filler to the rescue.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3396.jpg
The Red Sparkle inlay for the “new” front hoop came from Delmar and is an extremely good match for the original. The sparkle in these wraps is achieved by using flakes of aluminium foil. The flakes in the new inlay are slightly smaller than the original wrap, but you would need your specs. on to tell.
I had found an Ajax bass drum anchor, of the sort that was fitted on the original front hoop that John had lost (marked on photo) last year on ebay. I had bought it because I have an Ajax Nu-Sound kit which originally had one. I diverted it to this project - another blow to the stash.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/Carolsphotos_00161.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3407.jpg
It didn’t turn out too bad. Looks similar to the one below, wouldn’t you say?
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/LaterERRS3.jpg
I adjusted the colours on this photo. It is usually seen with the drums looking orange in colour. Someone at some point has got the colour balance out of whack.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3410.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Bass%20Drum/DSCN3422.jpg
TOMS
I didn’t think there would be so much to say about the toms. How wrong could I be?
These are the toms as I received them.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Toms/DSCN3333.jpg
Anyone familiar with American Rogers drums would notice that the collet plate on the smaller tom (12” diameter) tom is a little low. This is standard for English Rogers. The collet plate’s coach bolt is always approximately in line with the inner lug securing screw hole. The position of the collet plate on the larger (13” diameter) of the two mounted toms is clearly even lower, and that is not usual at all.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Toms/DSCN3531.jpg
On the left is a 13” shell that I have had around for some time. Someone has stripped and painted it, and elongated some of the holes. On the right is the 13” tom from the Red Sparkle kit. You can see how low in comparison the collet plate is on the Red Sparkle drum.
The question is, “why has it been set so low?”
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/Toms/DSCN3453.jpg
When you look at the tom arms, the one on the players left (where you would expect to see the 13” tom) is angled, which reduces the height that the tom can achieve compared to the 12”. Extra height could be achieved by mounting the collet plate on the 13” tom extra low. This appears to be what was done. It can be seen here.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/DC%20Thread/dc5pic171.jpg
The inevitable conclusion is then that the 13” was always meant to be on the players left. Its shell was drilled in the factory to take that low collet plate. These drums were not purchased and then set up in that unorthodox way, the set was designed from the outset to be used in that configuration.
