Well....I was planning on calfskin heads for these actually......so snare beds shouldn't be a problem. I pick the drum up tonight tentatively, so I'll be able to get a better look at the bottom bearing edge then. I'm not overly concerned though.

Got the snare last night....its in great shape, except for the wrap, but I'm planning on rewrapping it anyway. I'm wondering.....opinions here please....should I consider die cast hoops, or stick saver hoops instead of the factory fit original stick chopper hoops? They do seem to be thinner and not as durable as a modern hoop, however it would lose the vintage vibe....so should I keep the stick choppers on? Anyone?

Glad we made a deal Ludwig-dude! Enjoy your new field drum, I mean rack tom!

This drum formerly belonged to a HS band program in Northern Virginia and it has its share of flaws up close.

I'm a little sad to see it converted but as long as it will be appreciated it's cool. Let me know how it works out in the end!

-Lee

Thanks Lee......don't worry though. All of the snare parts will be saved so they can be fitted back to it if I part with it. No permanent mods will occur. No bearing edges will be tampered with. :D

Well....I decided to keep the snare as a snare rather than convert it to a rack tom. I finished the re-wrap tonight, came out rather well I think. I used a wrap from Precision drum called Continental Pearl. It's a pretty close match to what I found under the lugs and also the seam of the original faded, cracking, yellowed wrap. Think of it as how this drum would have looked when new....

Oh, and I should be tackling the bass drum this weekend. Hopfully the parts I bought for it come in by the weekend......

Man I'm beat now. Time for a Coffee Break2

Well....just about finished the bass drum. I cleaned up the heads that were on it, they seem to be in ok useable shape, for now anyway. After considering calf heads for it and realizing what an INVESTMENT that would be, I'm considering other options....I'm torn between Aquarian American Vintage heads, Remo Renaissance heads, or Remo Fiberskyn heads....

The wrap is precision's Continental Pearl.....turns out its a close match to the unfaded, non-yellowed original portions of the wrap I found under the lugs and seams. And this drum, even with those old Remo heads on it sounds KILLER! Bowing Thinking of making this the basis for a "traps" type of kit rather than a Bonham kit, since I'm finding it rather difficult to find original Leedy & Ludwig, or even just Leedy toms to go with it!

Just picked up a Leedy 9x13 rack tom today, also in a very yellowed/damaged WMP wrap.....I guess this was the most popular color wrap that Leedy, and Leedy & Ludwig sold! This one has a date stamp of 4804, so April 1948! I need to source a few of the hoop clips as 5 are broken and one has no plating left on it at all and another appears to be of a different manufature, Slingerland maybe? No extra holes, has holes for a hoop mount style tom mount, and only one of the two internal tone controls are there. Sourcing another tone control might be difficult, but then again maybe not. This drum has no other issues with it! Scored it for $75.00! This seems to be the magic number for me and these Leedys/L&Ls!!

Anyone want to sell me a floor tom for $75 or a Broadway snare for $75? Laughing H

Anyway, I should be ordering the hoop clips and new Continental Pearl wrap on Tuesday.....since Monday is a holiday, I may not be able to order anything on Monday. This kit is starting to come together nicely! Cool Dude