I was fortunate enough to pick up a 1965 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl (OBP) Kit earlier today. All the drums need a serious cleaning and polish (see pics) and there are some "issues" I'll need to address. However, I simply couldn't pass them up for the price I paid. Here's "the good, the bad & the ugly" of what I got:

"THE GOOD":

* Original OBP wrap on all three drums;

* No extra holes in either tom shell;

* Original Ludwig Keystone badges on all three drums;

* Factory-drilled holes for original mufflers on both toms;

* Factory-drilled holes for rail consolette & cymbal l-arm mount on bass drum;

* No cracking in any of the shells;

* Original factory-painted white resocoat on all three interior shells.

"THE BAD":

* A few nickel Ludwig Classic lugs in lieu of chrome on the toms;

* Rack tom has one chrome rim and one nickel rim;

* Prior owner replaced the fold-out spurs with non-original spurs (DAH??);

* Prior owner mounted a Ludwig center tom mount on the bass drum shell (DOUBLE DAH????).

"THE UGLY":

*Bass drum hoops have one OBP in-lay & one chrome in-lay;

* Some minor scratching on the wrap on all three shells;

* Some adhesive residue on the wrap on the rack tom.

I've got extra original chrome lugs as well as the chrome rim that I need. I've also got an original Ludwig rail consolette & mount for the cymbal L-arm that I'll be installing. I'll be picking up a pair of Ludwig fold-out spurs to "replace the replacements" currently on the bass drum. I'll need to find some OBP in-lay material.

Obviously, I can't do anything about the center mount. I might just use it to hold some extra sticks. Any other "creative suggestions" would certainly be appreciated!

HERE'S WHERE I NEED YOUR "EXPERT" ADVISE:

I'll be stripping & cleaning the hardware from all the shells as soon as I've got the time. In regard to the shells themselves, I need some suggestions as to what would work best for:

1.) Cleaning them & removing the aforementioned adhesive residue;

2.) Removing superficial scratches; and

3.) Polishing the OBP wrap.

I've used "GOO GONE" in the past on other wraps and it's been quite effective in removing stains and residue. However, I'm concerned that it might be too strong for this particular finish. I'm probably somewhat paranoid, but it took me what seems like "forever" to find a kit with the original OBP wrap at a reasonable price and I don't want to make a stupid mistake and negatively affect the finish by using the wrong product. I've heard that "NOVUS" has some sort of 3-step system that is quite effective. I've personally never used the product but would be extremely interested in hearing from any of you you have. Also, any and all other suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. I've tried to show the residue on the rack tom on the last pic that I posted but, based on the OBP wrap, it's kind of hard to pick it up in the pic.

Sorry for the length of this post. I guess I'm a "tad" excited, even at my advanced age.

As usual, THANKS in advance for all of your help!Coffee Break2