SO I picked these guys up yesterday. Spent some time on em last night. Disassembled everything and cleaned/polished all the chrome. Looks great. No rust to be found. Only the hardest to notice ever pitting on some lugs and the ones on the bottom of the bass drum are kinda scratched up. Bearing edges look killer. All parts are accounted for via my personal stash except for original 12/13/16 bottom hoops and rods as well as a handful of bass drum rods and claws. Easy stuff to find. I just happened to have 2 70's Ludwig bass drum hoops laying around that have red metallic inlay (not sparkle, but I don't care) so I just have to paint those puppies and they will be sweet. Already have em taped off but I have to run into work now so that will have to wait for tonight.
The 16 has a seam crack. This is my first time doing a repair like this. Im excited to learn some new skills. After some research I ordered some of the #16 Weld-on since the crack is so wide. The previous owner did a home-fix job by drilling two extra holes per side and reinforcing the edges with steel plates. Worked fine I guess, but he didn't really get the bearing edges to line up and it looks kinda dumpy. Im going to do it right and fill the holes as well. Also looks like someone else tried some sort of chemical on the seam earlier, as it is a clean split but the edges look slightly melted/crazed. I am confident I can put humpty back together again. The badges on these drums are flawless and the minor scratches in the shells should easily polish/buff far enough out that Ill never care.
Pics are Before, after disassembly and cleaning of a few shells (no novus yet) and finally a pic of the completed snare! It looks great, and I am hoping the rest of the kit follows suit.
-Adam
