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Sonor Hilite Exclusive Restoration. LOTS of pics!

Posts: 68 Threads: 12

I thought some of the guys here might be interested in this.. Also posted thison another forum but here are thereal vintage guys (although this kit is 'only' 21 years old)...

After the restoring of a Ludwig Vistalite kit and a Sonor Signature kit last year, I’ve taken on a bigger project a couple of months ago. It’s not finished yet, but it’s coming together nicely.

I’m restoring Sonor Hilite Exclusive kit from 1988, but more specifically, the hardware. This is the only kit in history of all drum kits that I know of that had all hardware copper plated. And all hardware means ALL hardware. Lugs, rims, washers, claws, spurs, stands, clamps strainers, everything. Some think it’s hideous, some think it’s classy, but it’s unique for sure. The copper hardware is very easily damaged though. To prevent oxidation of the copper, the copper plated parts are sealed with a thin layer of clear lacquer. When this lacquer is damaged, the copper underneath starts oxidizing. Of course, lacquer is not nearly as hard as chrome, so putting all stands together in a hardware case is a no go with these kits. Unfortunately, that is what most people do, so many of these kits are not very nice looking after 20 years.

This kit was no difference. When I saw the ad it all looked ok, but when I asked for more pics, it was clear that the hardware was horrible. More people thought so, because not many people bid. So I got the kit for a nice price. It included a Sonor HLD590 33lbs bronze snare drum, the holy grail of Sonor drums. This one too had some scuffed copper hoops, but besides that it was in excellent condition.

Sizes are:

17x22

8x8

9x10

10x12

11x13

13x15

17x16

8x14 snare

Pics from the ad:

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/set1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/set2a.jpg[/img]

These were the places where the copper was the worst looking (and the flash made it look even worse):

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/he1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/he2.jpg[/img]

[IMG]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/he4a.jpg[/IMG]

Posted on 15 years ago
#1
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

With the dusty shells on the pics I couldn't really see how nice the shells, lugs and hoops were, so I was delighted to see that those were very nice. The shop that was selling it also said that the guy they were selling it for had always put the shells in cases, but all the hardware in one. So after I cleaned the toms I was delighted!

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/alletoms1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/alletoms2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/alletoms3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/toms1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/toms3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/toms4.jpg[/img]

Posted on 15 years ago
#2
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

Just a bit of snare rash on the 10" and 12":

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/rash1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/rash2.jpg[/img]

At this point I decided that these shells needed nice hardware. I first thought I could maybe restore the hardware myself, but found out that that would be impossible to do in a nice way, and hazardous. (getting the lacquer off in a acetone filled bath is not something I look forward too...). Also, polishing thealready thin layer of copper wouldnever be as nice as replating.

So I decided to contact some companies to see what replating the hardware would cost. I contacted about 10 company's. 4 wouldn't do it, 4 were around 2000 euro, and 2 were able to do it at much less cost. The first one was close, the second one was a bit further away, but said they could replate riveted parts, without the hinges getting stuck! So I went to the first company closest to where I live to get a few parts done as test pieces. It was disaster from the beginning...

I called and asked when I could drop by to talk about it a bit. 'Tomorrow before 12am is ok'. When I got there at 11, the guy wasn't there. So the workshop guy told me he would do three pieces for free, so I could see if it was ok for me, so I could decide if I wanted to do the rest. Ok, all nice. When after a few weeks I called for an update, I got the answer that 'they had just been copper plated, and will be chromed tomorrow'. Chromed? WTF? I kindly told them that they were supposed to be sealed, not chromed. A week later, the parts were ready... well...

Discolouration?

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/2.jpg[/img]

Posted on 15 years ago
#3
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

The grooves are filled with lacquer, not much groove left.

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/3.jpg[/img]

close-up

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/5.jpg[/img]

The didn't think that the inside of the hoop would be visible, so they didn't polish that.

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/6.jpg[/img]

And left a nice greasy finger print on it.

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/7.jpg[/img]

better shot of that finger print.

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/8.jpg[/img]

Big big disappointment! The guy said that the lacquer made it dark, another company did that for them (powder coat lacquer) and that there was no lighter lacquer that he could offer me.

Posted on 15 years ago
#4
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

My hope now rested with the other company. I looked at the stand and realised that all theplastic parts had to come off before I could have it replated. Rubber feet, plastic inserts that slide along the vertical tube, all had to go. At first it seemed impossible, but after 45 minutes, success:

The rubber feet came off quite easily after placing them in a cup of boiled water for a minute or so.

I figured that I could get the plastic sliding piece out if I could remove the vertical tube. That was riveted with 1 rivet, and clamped. The rivet came out quite nice, just filed the head off. But getting that tube out was nearly impossible. I eventueally clamped the tube and held the file to the round part with the rivets and smacked the hell out of it with a heavy hammer. It came loose eventually :D

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand3.jpg[/img]

I could then force the plastic ring out after again warming it up a bit in some hot water. Next the ring with wing screw came off:

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand4.jpg[/img]

The other plastic parts were secured with a small black insert, which I could press out with round file that was exactly the correct size.

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand5.jpg[/img]

Posted on 15 years ago
#5
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

Once the insert was removed, the plastic part slided right out! No glue (luckily)...

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand7.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/stand6.jpg[/img]

So now I had the stand all seperated in parts. No more plastic parts attached! Off to the company that said they can replate it with the rivets installed. I would have this one done to see what that would look like and if the stand could indeed move freely. If it was all ok, the rest of the stands bases would be taken apart and replated.

After way too long (3 months I think), the parts came back:

Before:

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/parts2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/parts3.jpg[/img]

Posted on 15 years ago
#6
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

After:

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/10.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/11.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/12.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/13.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/14.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/17.jpg[/img]

Nice! It was beyond my expectations. The riveted parts moved like they did before and it looked much better than I expected.

Posted on 15 years ago
#7
Posts: 68 Threads: 12

Next job, disassembling everything else:

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/onderdelen/nieuw/1.jpg[/img]

detail

detail

detail

detail

Exploded view of a hihat stand. Now let's hope I can get it back together when all is done...

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/hh1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/hh2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/hiliteexclusive/stand/hh3.jpg[/img]

Asked for a quote, and it would be 1000 euro ($1500), and I even forgot some parts (bass drum T-rods and claws and the hoops of the snare).

Bummer, but I really want to go through with this.

Also, an additional bass drum popped up on ebay and I won the auction!

Also, in the months before, I had assembled from various places several copper mufflers to go with the kit. One for the snare and one for each tom. Like the one on this snare (courtesy by me ;) ):

[IMG]http://www.student.tue.nl/q/j.h.j.willemsen/drumforum/verzameling/klein/1.jpg[/IMG]

This is where I'm standing now. I just sold some stuff to have the rest replated. I think that will take another 2 to 3 months. Can't wait!

Updates will come! Enjoy!

Posted on 15 years ago
#8
Posts: 1212 Threads: 37

AWESOME!!!

Someday, I will have a Hilite exclusive in the black glitter.

I have the snare, it is an amazing drum..

Nice work...

_________________________

MY Dirty Little Collection
Posted on 15 years ago
#9
Posts: 200 Threads: 19

Your dedication to this is really awesome. The end result is going to be breathtaking.

All you Sonor guys are really giving me a case of gear lust. Even as a small child, the Sonor drums were the ones I was most attracted to. They just had a look of class that no one else came near. Hopefully some day I'll be lucky enough to own a set.

Posted on 15 years ago
#10
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