Snare is done! :p Party

A couple of 'before' shots: see below

And the aftermath: see below

Couple of more images to follow in next post....

John

Couple more shots... see below

Let me know what you think so far...

Sound: The drum has a deep fundamental note, it's warm and woody sounding. Reminds me of Gretsch snares, dry and a little boxy, but it's a seriously good sounding drum. Rock solid crack when you hit it dead center. Because of the die-cast brass hoops, rim shots are LOUD! Like my 5.5" Gretsch snare, great tones out on the rims. Thickest wood shell I've ever had on a snare drum. Top quality build from W&A. I am deeply impressed with the design and components of this kit. It's a sweet thing of beauty.

I'll take some better lit shots in daylight. I just couldn't wait to show it off! :p

John

Really nice work and drum. You're a lucky guy!

Beautiful drum John. Good score and your doing a top knotch job.

oh yeah. that's looking great. nice job.

mike

1 down, 5 to go!!!!!!! :eek:

This drum was no joke. I've been working on it steadily for a few days. Lots of time spent standing at the buffing station. Everything had to be done on the machine by hand. The strainer, the butt plate, the heads on the tension rods all had to be done individually. After gluing and clamping the ply separations I went over the bearing edges with bee's wax and 00-00 steel wool. Smoother than a babies booty. I made sure that I completed each step -perfectly- before moving on to the next. Restoration is a cumulative process. It is the sum total of 'all the little details' that makes a piece stand out as a whole when its done. All the odd jobs I did in my 20's are now paying off! Metal shop, woodworking, painting etc. are all skills I now need to do these restorations that give me so much pleasure and satisfaction. I love drums and I really love bringing them back from the dead. I'm saving a rare and beautiful kit and I'm loving every minute of it.

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][SIZE="4"]'Big Blue' [/SIZE][/COLOR]is next! -The 28 incher-. I'm getting ready to rumble!

John

I was going to ask for the "in daylight" view, but you've got it covered, or shally I say wrapped. Looks great so far. Take another deep breath and press on.

Guys,

Not sure if you've seen this link or if it will help. But it can't hurt to look.

Great thread, and post. Keep up the good work.

http://www.walbergandauge.com/

Dave.

Snare looks great John......

.......now on to the beast! ;-)

Hi,

It really warms my heart to see the drums fall into the right hands. I could not ask for more than to have them in John's care to give them new life.

Naturally it was somewhat sad to see them go as they have hung with me for 55 years or so.

Also pleased to see the enthusiastic response from the community.

Will look forward to the restoration.

As far as the provenance, I do not really know, but have some ideas.

My dad was a musician and trumpet player.

We all played music as kids and later and because for some reason I could keep a steady beat I got drums at an early age.

One of the first kits I remember was a white pearl (Ludwig??) kit.

My father had a big band in the late 40's and there is a picture of the band with what looks like those drums.(I'll try and dig up a photo and pass on to John)

Later, this other W & A kit came along. He was in the position, it seems, to collect instruments as the Bass sax also in the picture came my way. The kit was way beyond me with being lost behind all the toms, and besides, my pop got tired of hauling the whole show around where I had gigs, but to young to drive.

I inherited a whole lifetime of instruments when he passed away, and went off the deep end collecting antique and vintage brass wind horns.

Most of the percussion was sold-drums, xylophone, marimba's and a sweet two & a half octave, fold up vibraphone. I still have a set of bells in a broken box and some wooden street drums.

Sorry I am not able to shine better light on the history of the drums.

They came my way in mid-50's, but were lent out to other kids when I moved on.

Sorry to prattle on. - Gus