Nickel has a duller/warmer, yellow-ish undertone to the color. Chrome is more mirror-like and has a more blue-ish undertone. Without seeing the pieces, I can't really be sure. Can you post some pictures?

Generally speaking, chromium plating was the more-"deluxe" finish because it was harder and more corrosion-resistant -also more costly because it was an additional step in the metal-plating process. However, nickel that's in really nice shape has a richer look, in my opinion. It reminds me of what real silver looks like. However, it's more difficult to maintain and quite a bit softer than chrome.

I think some mild silver polish would probably work great. I've also heard that j eweler's clothes (?) are something that works well on nickel.

When I clean chrome pieces initially, I usually take them and soak/spray them with WD40 and then I get some terrycloth towels and paper towels and take the stuff out on my porch and polish them until they are as perfect as possible. I wipe them with dry towels and rags until they are clean and then, from that point, I try to maintain the look with a bit of Windex on a soft cloth.

Fingerprints are the worst offenders to nickel finish because the nickel is very reactive to even the slightest amount of skin-oils. That's why you should never touch nickel with bare hands if you want it to stay looking clean.

hey there,

thanks for the input. i'll try and post some pics tonight. im starting to think that its Nickel tho.

I think I?m starting to prefer nickel to chrome plated hardware. I recently bought a 66 Ludwig Pioneer snare, I didn?t realise at the time but all the hardware is nickel plated, (the rest of my kit is chrome plated). At first I wanted to replace all the nickel with chrome plated hardware. I pulled it to bits and gave everything a good polish with some ?metal magic? and it came up great, it has no pitting or rust at all. I agree it has a richer, warmer look with a slight yellowish colour with actually looks better with the yellowed silver sparkle wrap. I also just bought a chrome plated snare butt to replace the generic one that came with the snare. I hope it doesn?t look too out of place with the rest of the nickel hardware. Anyone know if Ludwig made script logo snare butt plates in nickel?

hey there,

so here's some pics of the drum (sorry theyre so bad). its already pulled apart (which was totally fun). the badge is aluminum and there are what looks like Lime deposits all over it. what' the best way to remove those? also, im actually starting to think that the hardware is chrome now. i polished one of the beaver tail lugs with Brasso last night, and it shined up really nice (middle one). all the lug screws and springs cleaned up really nice too, they almost look brand new. next is gonna be the wrap. there really arent any stains or spots on it, just surface dirt. ive read that car polish is the best for cleaning wrap. is this true? thanks.

Well...Thanks for posting the pictures....Unfortuantely, the pictures seem to have taken on the color of the ambient light source, so it's still very difficult to tell....However, from the looks of the fingerprints on the rims, I would guess that the finish is nickel.

If you can get some pictures taken in natural light (like outdoor sunlight) then it might be a bit easier to tell.

Another thing you could do is to take one of the lugs that you have cleaned with you to a music store and then go and compare it to one of the newer drums' hardware. It's really easy to tell the difference between chrome and nickel when you have a direct comparison.

I bought a 1958 Ludwig Buddy Rich WMP Classic with nickel.

A lifelong drummer friend (who is very anal about keeping his drums tip top)told me to use WEIMAN's Metal Polish for Brass and Copper. The nickel cleaned up beautifully.

For the wrap he suggested MEGUIRS clear coat paste car wax which is supposedly the top wax out there.

I doubt you will get much of the yellowing out of the finish, but it will shine-up nicely. Check out the area on this site about cleaning and restoring. WMP is the not easily restored to its original color, but I prefer the vintage look for my vintage snare to go with that vintage sound........

Enjoy your project.

JohnG

hey there,

yeah, i cleaned up the rims last night. used Comet first then Brasso, they look friggin great. i cleaned up the shell too. used Dawn and warm water first, then used NuFinish Scratch remover (for clearcoats on cars) and it looks awesome now. some of the yellow actually came out. im gonna apply a coat or two of NuFinish car wax tonight to give it some shine. ill post some pics later tonight.

ive been reading that there is supposed to be felt inside the lug casings. is this tru? there wasn't anything in mine when i tooke them apart. i read that you should pack with felt or cotton balls. what is the purpose for this? just noise reduction?

thanks for all your input. cant wait for the chicago vintage drum show this weekend. need a few parts to finish the drum up.

hey everyone.

looks like i'm done. i think i found a new hobby. i think it turned out great. the strainer is a bit bent but whatever. after cleaning it up, there were all these awesome chips, dents and scratches in the hardware. gives it a ton of character.

anyway, the "before"pics are lower in the thread. im gonna post these in a different thread as well.

anyone have any idea what this could be worth? not sure if the tension rods are all original since some are subtley different. i also have the original snare wires (still need to put those back on).

WOW! Nice job on that beautiful snare. I saw the original pics and just saw the final pics.

Did the Nu-finish remove a lot of the yellowing? I have awhole set to brighten.thanks