A light sand with 1000 and then 2000 grit, followed by buffing ought to bring them back to a nice shine. It's not too hard, but a little time-consuming. Spray a little water on your sandpaper and sand around the drum one panel at a time. I would recommend sanding by hand so as not to go too fast and sand too much of the clear coat and/or finish away.

Good luck! I see a beautiful finish hiding behind the aged clear coat!

I agree with SlingerLynn. I'm usually a wrap guy... but sure wouldn't want to on this one. Looks too good, even as is!

Check with jccabinets. He's a wood guy. He'll have some good suggestions, too, I'm sure.

Just my :2Cents:

Bill

Excellent suggestion! Talk to the man who knows.

Not to wrap,....

Wow, thanks for the quick replies.

The picture is deceiving, because the finish is really flat. It's like the gloss is completely gone from the shells. Even sanding lightly would probably get into the stain. Decisions, decisions. CryBaby

- Tim

I would recommend finding someone who is good with a paint gun. Very lightly sand to smooth the shells, then spray a coat or 3 of clear. Wet sanding between coats would probably restore these to a brand-new looking shine. You'd be surprised! It may cost you a little for a painter's time, but it will be worth it. That finish can be saved and it is too beautiful to hide with a wrap.

I wouldn't do a damn thing to that finish other than try a little wax.

You will lose a third to half the value of the outfit if you refinish.

I would just use some furniture polish and then play the kit. It's a cool kit! Don't screw with it!

I know everyone's replies said to leave the stained wood and not wrap the drums. :( This is actually my 14 year old son's kit. Remember he was bitten by the vintage drum bug because of a 60's Burgundy Sparkle Progressive Jazz kit at school.

[INDENT]http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=24717[/INDENT]

We talked through the pluses/minuses, decided to wrap the kit and went with a Blue Glass Glitter wrap and the hi-bond tape method. He felt this was better than attaching the wrap with glue in case he wanted to remove the wrap and have the shells refinished in the future. I felt this is a good compromise and the wrap is actually protecting the shells. Even if it is a really expensive protection. :rolleyes: Attaching the wrap with glue would have produced more work in the future and possibly damage to the shells, if he ever wanted to go back to wood.

The 12" tom had one extra hole, which was drilled by the previous owner to attach the Techware mount. I plugged the extra hole and purchased a Maxwell Rail Consolette system. The mount plate actually covers the plugged hole, so you'd never know it was there. The tone controls were also missing, so I ordered two new Gretsch OEM parts.

The 14" FT is on the bench, wrapped and the hi-bond tape is clamped and curing. Next is the 20" bass drum, which had a bunch of little holes and one large one. This will require some additional work to properly plug that larger hole, sand the inside and re-paint. We also have all that bass drum hardware to clean and polish. CryBaby Not my favorite part of a drum renovation project.

If you would have seen the twinkle in my son's eyes after seeing this finished tom. I gave him some sticks, I held the drum and said try it out. He did a couple rolls and said, "You can't recreate that awesome sound!". It's safe to say, I think he's going to be a vintage drum drummer for life.

When we're finished with this kit, I plan to get some pictures of the 60's Burgundy Sparkle and 70's Blue Glass Glitter kits together.

More updates and pics to come,

- Tim