My recommendation.. carefully and throughly mask the inlay.. lightly sand the hoops.. paint them. I use blue painters masking tape and then very carefully trim along the edge of the inlay with a modeling exacto knife to wrap the masking tape around the edge of the inlay and make a clean painting edge.

I have removed the inlay to paint hoops and it is a pain. Masking and painting does a nice job for a 3 foot view restoration of hoops.

two cents

I'm in the same boat (well, my boat has a 60's silver sparkle); any recommendations on the paint to use?

I'd like to revive this thread. I'm refinishing a pair of Gretsch RB hoops very soon and also would like to know what the best paint would be to use. Any recommendations, besides sanding and masking, would be much appreciated as well.

Thanks very much.

Based upon my experience, Jim's is the way to go. Lightly sand to smooth chipped areas. Use very light coats of a gloss spray (I prefer lacquer), and I add the steps of following up with 5/0 or 4/0 steel wool when the paint has cured, and finish up buffing with a soft rag. Remove the masking tape to behold a nice, but not so new looking satin finish.

I had a drum builder give me great advice. Jim's advice on taping off the inlay is good, as well as the light sanding. Where I differ is to use a coat of primer, then lightly sand with 0000 steel wool. Then use flat black paint of your choice, while hitting it with 0000 steel wool in between coats. Then, hit them with a few coats of spray can lacquer to bring some gloss to the finish.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the insight! I'll post some pics when I finish the project.

-akaran3