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Old Calfskin head question

Posts: 449 Threads: 81

I recently picked up an an old 1930's Leedy Reliance bass, snare, cymbals, pedal and accessories. I am in the process of bringing it back to life.

The snare heads were both broken and had wooden hoops.

The bass heads have a painted metal collar but look very very old. No splits in these, and they have an ink stamp that says calfskin. I would like to put them back on play it with the original heads, but I have no idea if the batter head will hold up. Should I use some sort of leather conditioner to the heads to prevent them from cracking?

I likely will not ever really "play" this bass drum other than for the novelty of it setting it and playing around on it a bit, so I really don't want to spend a lot of money on new heads for it.

Thanks!

Posted on 14 years ago
#1
Posts: 712 Threads: 24

From ConvertedLudwigPLayer

I recently picked up an an old 1930's Leedy Reliance bass, snare, cymbals, pedal and accessories. I am in the process of bringing it back to life. The snare heads were both broken and had wooden hoops. The bass heads have a painted metal collar but look very very old. No splits in these, and they have an ink stamp that says calfskin. I would like to put them back on play it with the original heads, but I have no idea if the batter head will hold up. Should I use some sort of leather conditioner to the heads to prevent them from cracking?I likely will not ever really "play" this bass drum other than for the novelty of it setting it and playing around on it a bit, so I really don't want to spend a lot of money on new heads for it.Thanks!

I've never heard of using leather conditioner but I guess if it was really dried out it would be a thought... on the other hand it's probably an oil and that might make the head sound really dead. I probably wouldn't do anything.

My kick batter and my small tom are both from at least the 40's and they play fine. I did buy a head just for the flesh hoop that was really dried out so it was like paper and I wouldn't expect a head like that to last very long if played.

My experience with calf is that it's not as delicate as you might think so I'd play the set - that's what they're for. ;)

Posted on 14 years ago
#2
Posts: 449 Threads: 81

Great observation about possibly changing the tone of the head.

I am almost finished with cleaning of the bass. The snare is done -- just waiting on replacement snare wires to replace a defective set of Puresound wires that rattles.

Thanks!

Posted on 14 years ago
#3
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