What a great idea to use super sensitive hardware!

I'm going to try this conversion in the future. Working on a quantity purchase of early 60's Rogers marchers. How does this

thing sound??

> How does this thing sound??

Great! Like a super-sensitive! Dry, articulate, sensitive, crisp, all those adjectives describe the sound. It has a nice woody note that I don't get from my metal shelled SS. This was something I've always wanted to do. I love SS's and I can take them apart and put them back together in my sleep, I just always wanted to hear one made of wood. That's why I built this one for myself. Buying one of Bill's shells to do it made it an affordable project for me. I already had the complete SS mechanisms. With new heads and all, it cost me just over $100. to build the drum.

Back to Tim's thread...

John

That's an awesome looking drum and even better for $100.

I stripped down the Ludwig shell today. The machine screws are a rusty mess, but I didn't snap or mess up the heads. I'm guessing this is because they used quality US made parts back in 1960. If this was a 70's drum in the same condition, I would've not been so lucky. The parts are currently taking a nice bubbly citric acid bath. The rust is literally falling off.

Now I have to figure out the new shell depth. Ludwig put the badge/grommet hole right in the center during this period, so to properly mount the small classic lugs, I'll need to cut above the grommet hole and then patch. The top re-ring will cover the inside and the new wrap will cover the outside, which will workout fine.

-Tim

Tim - I don't want to influence you one way or the other, but consider that; 7"x14" the size used to build classics like the old Radio Kings, is considered to be the 'perfect ratio' of depth to width. There is something magical about that size/ratio that just helps to produce a great sounding drum. Research it. You'll run into the same material I did.

Food for thought...

John

Thanks for the tip, John. I'll check the measurement against the shell to see where the existing holes line up.

-Tim

I did some measuring and it looks like I can cut the shell just a hare under 7", somewhere between 6 3/4" and 7". The top lug holes are in the way to make it exactly 7".

Possible change of plans for the Slingerland. My son saw it and begged me not to cut it down. So this is still up in the air.

I think the Ludwig is going to be White Marine Pearl.

-Tim

Well I plowed through and finished the Ludwig marching snare conversion. I was on a roll, so I kept the momentum going.

I like it and my son does too (he's the actual drummer). This was my first re-wrap with glue. I used the recommended water soluble stuff and did not like it. Didn't adhere in some spots. Lesson learned. There are a couple spots around the edges that I need to go back and re-glue with the good (toxic) stuff.

Here are the details:

1960 14 x 6-3/4 Ludwig Transition Badge School Festival Conversion

[LIST]

[*]3-ply (mahogany/poplar/mahogany) with maple re-rings

[*]Vintage White Marine Pearl Wrap

[*]WFL P-83 stainer and butt-end

[*]COB hoops

[*]one coat of polyurethane on shell interior

[*]stock bottom bearing edge and re-cut 1/4" round-over top bearing edge

[*]Remo FiberSkyn batter and Ambassador Hazy resonant

[*]Puresound CustomPro Brass 24 strand wires

[/LIST]

I'm not too sure I like the sound of the FiberSkyn head. It's kind of boxy and doesn't have a lot of shell overtone. I'll let it break in for a while, but I have a feeling there will be a coated Ambassador on it in the near future.

Vintage White Marine is such a sharp and classy wrap. It looks like there's a Keystone pattern running throughout the entire wrap. In the future, I would love to do an entire kit in this wrap.

Since this is a marching snare conversion, I never want to deceive anyone, if it ever changes hands. So I put the badge on the panel to the left of the butt-end and the tone control on the panel to the right. I've also thought about getting a metal stamp that I can heat up and brand the inside of the shells, which would say something like "Reproduction".

Visually, the wrap is perfect, but there are a lot of imperfections in the chrome. This was a marching snare, so there's some rash on the hoops and nicks in the lugs. The strainer had rust where you feed through the snare cord, so I sanded and brushed on "chrome in a can" to make it a little more presentable. A fully assembled drum hides a lot. ;)

I've got about $165 in drum and parts for this project. Labor is a different story. :eek: I know there is no way I could ever get more than $175, if I ever sell it. So I do it for fun and the challenge.

-Tim

I love it! great job all around. Those are really fun projects, thank you for posting the finished product Tim!

Quick update ...

I finished the drum Friday night, let it break in Saturday and my son played an hour and a half set with it on Sunday night. He got some great compliments from the audience on the sound and his playing.

It sounded great. Fat/thick sound with nice Ludwig woody overtones. Think of a Jazzfest on steroids. I think the FiberSkyn batter is going to stay.

-Tim

Tim,

That drum looks GREAT! Keep up the good work!

Bill