Coming together nicely! Yes, i've been down the hunting for nickel road before as well. And it can be a rough road. I built a maple Club Date kit from bare shells and decided to go nickel. The 12" hoops were the hardest to find. Nice job on the modification!

Mike

Hello Mike

Thank You kindly pal

I bought one 12" nickel hoop for 40.00 plus shipping

which has slightly different ears on it when compared to the one original

I have since found two more matching, and the rods for the second tom from Allan Fogel

My difficulty seems to be the bass drum tee rods and claws

and a red sparkle floor tom or parts in the nickel

I will trade the hardware or the whole floor tom (pictured)

for one that matches or pay outright

Anthony at village drum can re -wrap this one for me

but has already cautioned that the match will not be as close as I might prefer

For that reason I am being patient to try and find an original red sparkle drum or shell.

I have a set of large nickel bowties but missed out on some nickel legs and brackets

being outbid by just a few lousy bucks in a down to the wire eBay auction

As for the mod it was totally out of temporary necessity

and went together as simple as 1,2,3,

On the mij side I normally dislike double mounted toms

The 12" and 13" often look overwhelming on the 20" bass drum

on the club date kit the two small equal sized 12" toms mounted tight together

via the Pearl U rod looks somehow much nicer to my eye

and gives the kit a unique feature rather the run of the mill clubbie set up

The beauty being it can be reversed in minutes to a 100% original config

Great looking project. Way to make it work for you.

Just curious if you cleaned/polished that hardware yet? I’ve heard great things about cape cod clothes for nickel. Best to you on finishing up the kit.

Curtis

Nickel is soooo classic, though.

You've already got the cymbal arm, which I would think would be a very tough find.

When you are done it will be well worth it....staying the course has "Heart Value"....!!

Best of luck on a speedy conclusion...!!

Looking forward to completion, my friend.

Hello Curtis

Thanks for the positive reply

I have not touched any of the nickel hardware yet

but yes, I have heard the same good things regarding the Cape Cod cloth

And I sure do appreciate the best wishes on completing the kit ^5's

Hello Kevin

You are so right about the classic look the nickel hardware gives the drums

with the red sparkle they remind me of an antique fire engine

so much so, that I may use an old fire company emblem on the resonant head

I lucked into the cymbal arm it just showed up

I think it may be a little earlier than the drums as it came with the mount bracket and that is a tad earlier design

but it was totally nickel and in nice shape so I said why not

I agree the expense and frustration will melt away once finished

And I thank you most kindly for the great encouragement there pal

Yessir, and thank you as well...!!

:Santa::Santa::Santa:

UPDATE: I mentioned earlier I had been outbid

for a set of nickel floor tom legs and brackets in an eBay auction

I had won a set of small bowties a set of large bowties and a tom mount all in nickel

and all on the same evening and from the same seller.

That seller and I struck up a rapport as we traded messages about details, shipping, ect ect

I mentioned though I was happy to get the things I did win I was bummed to have lost out on the legs and brackets

a few days ago that seller e-mailed me to say his buyer on the legs was having trouble with the fit

it seems his club date floor tom had those first gen regular style brackets and not the clipper type

My seller put me in touch with that buyer and those parts are now on the way

as an added bonus through my conversations with this new seller

he also had one 12" hoop and twelve mounted tom rods all in nickel

So for my floor tom that still needs to be re-covered in red sparkle I have the lugs, the legs the leg brackets

I still need the twelve long rods, a couple ball bat mufflers,and two 14" hoops all in nickel

Your drums don't look faded to me; I'm thinking new red sparkle will look fine. Also, when you polish up your nickel, the chrome parts won't stand out so much; you'll notice the difference, but others might not. Ludwig used to send out kits with mixed finishes-hard to believe, but true.

People say a plating shop can strip chrome off hardware & leave the nickel plating; I've never had it done, but worth checking out.

btw, I think your double mount is the cleanest set-up--don't know why Ludwig didn't go that route. I love my red sparkle Club Dates.......marko