That JCabinet (sp?) guy knows his stuff. Very impressive work. PM him and see what he says.

Drums that vintage I would do with nitrocellulose lacquer. Only.

I detailed the procedure for keeping the color of the stain even too, but I'll do the Cliff's notes version now:

[LIST]

[*]sanding sealer

[*]Block it flat at ~320; re-apply sealer and re-block if you blow through

[*]1 double coat of straight clear lacquer

[*]Block at 400 if you didn't apply it glassy smooth; re-do if you blow through to sealer

[*]light dusty coats of tinted lacquer to get shade/depth where you want it- do all drums at once and compare in sunlight if possible to see 'true' color and tone. Don't touch it at all after the color is right....

[*]2 wet double coats of clear Lacquer to seal it up

[*]Block and buff 400/600/1000

[/LIST]

If you go through the clear to the color coat, you will probably have to take it all back and start over, but you might be able to repair it. You can also do 'burst' finishes easily in the color coat with black, chocolate brown (usually looks better on vintage anything than black does) or the tint color applied heavily at the edges. remember where the hoops will sit, so your exposed 'fade' is the same length on all drums (or a bit wider as the drums get deeper- do some math and keep the ratio the same or it will look funny).

Woodcraft stores sell the Behlen nitro and associated products. excellent stuff I used on some guitars and all the snare drums (but one) I painted.

Perfect,

Exactly what I needed to know.

Thank you very much!!

Creighton