Hello! I recently bought this snare at an antique store and in spite of the research I've been doing I still have a few questions and I was hoping some of you here might have some answers or know where I could go for more info. Please be patient, as I've been playing drums for quite a while but I'm pretty new to vintage drums, especially ones this old. Thanks in advance! Here's what I've figured out so far. The drum is a 15" x 4" snare with 8 lugs. The only marking anywhere on the drum is a "Wurlitzer Cincinnati Chicago" mark stamped on the top rim, and Leedy built drums for Wurlitzer. Shell is probably nickel over brass, as a magnet won't stick to the shell, and the plating is way too clean to be chrome. The 2 screw lugs place the drum as pre-1925. Overall the drum looks very similar to a Leedy Utility model, but I can't find an exact match to my drum. When I found the drum, it still had it's original calf heads, torn to pieces. The snare wires, throw off and butt, lugs, rods, hoops, and clips were all very rusted, while the shell was virtually spotless. The throw off had been detached from the shell and the screws long gone, just the wires were holding it on to the drum. The throw off had been repaired at some point, because the pin(s) holding the lever on had been replaced by a random piece of bent metal, perhaps an old skinny nail.I disassembled the drum and cleaned off the rust the best I could and gave all of the parts a good polish. The hoops especially are still pretty pitted, but everything else cleaned up well. I used two new pieces of wire to attempt to fix the throw off but I don't think I got it right as the leverage still won't hold the throw off engaged when I put tension on the snares. I replaced the heads with Remo Renaissance heads, top and bottom, and I set aside the old snare wires and put a modern set on it for the time being. Here is the part I still need a little help on. Is the shell definately brass, or could it be aluminum? Is that nickel plating for sure? I've never seen nickel look THAT shiny before. What is the "proper" way to reassemble the throw off so it works correctly? Even just a clear picture will work. What is a ball park value on the drum? Again, thanks for any help you might have!

Part of the reason I seemed to have a hard time pinning down info on my particular drum is I've not yet seen one that had the combo of single flange hoops, slotted tension rods, and the Utility throw off. I also haven't seen that many 15" drums, but like I said I am kinda new to this.Were the Wurlitzer drums considered "second line" drums by Leedy? That might explain the slightly less advanced hardware.As for changing the hoops, the top hoop especially still looks and feels a bit rough, so I'd like to change it as much for a feel reason as a looks reason. So since I'm pretty sure I'm not going to resell the drum I'd like to clean it up so it looks a little more "vintage" and a little less just plain "old."How bad of an idea would it be to have the lugs replated?