[COLOR="DarkRed"]Yee-haaaaw...

Sounds like you have a nice lil' project on your hands.

1) OK, hopefully...the lugs and existing hoops and all are CHROME...and NOT Nickel...because (although I like nickel hardware better) vintage Luddy chrome hardware is easier to find and cheaper than nickel.

So...you can post here in the "wanted" section...or try eBay. There's tons of vintage ludwig hardware on eBay.

2) Sand off the black paint. Is it a keystone badge kit ? then the insides of the drums were originally painted off-white. Sand off most of the black paint. Start with 80 grade, go to 120 grade, and stop at 180 grade. Hand-sand them, don't use an electric sander.

And remember to take breaks...and give your rotator cuffs some LUV.:p

You don't need to get off all of the black. If you CAN, and get it back down to the original white, then great....even if there is some black streaks left here and there. If you cannot get it cleanly back down to the original white...that's OK, too...you will probably then need to repaint them off-white.

3) Clean the exterior of the shells. Use a mild dishsoap or even a household spray cleaner to remove the old dirt and stuff. Then, take a second cleaning to it with some automobile vinyl interior sort of cleaner/polish..that will get it's sheen back a bit.

4) See if you can gently sand the damaged edge areas smooth without creating ruts. If not, see if you can smooth it out w/ plastic wood, then sanding. If not...you MAY have to have the edges re-beveled. You need someone who is good with a router or routing table. In the absence of a drum place which can do it, consider a cabinetmaker.

How's that for starters ?guitar3

Can you post some pix ?

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Jay,

Thanks for your reply. You're

comments and suggestions are a good

starting point. :)

I'll try to post some pics in a

little while. But I left the drums

with a local drum shop so they

could put together an estimate for

me.

Their initial estimate was about

$500.00. That's why I started

looking here.

Yes they have the keystone badge

and, they also have a serial number

on them. I never noticed that

until I took them to the drum shop

yesterday. So I don't have them

written down.

My intention is to "fix 'em up" and

play them. But now, I'm wondering,

how much these things could be

worth if they're restored. I'd

still want to keep them instead of

selling them.

I don't know if the hardware is

nickle or whatever. How can I

tell?

The hoops and the tension rods (I

have), are a little bit rusted.

What's the best and safest way to

remove that?

Thanks again for your reply.

Any and all comments or suggestions

are welcome.

Thanks,

corp-mule

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[COLOR="DarkRed"]1) ask the drum shop if the hardware is nickel or chrome ;)

2) OK, well...let's see....I dunno what's missing and what's not, exactly. The sanding down to white/repainting....the dis-assembling of the shells and cleaning of hardware, then re-assembling....is all something you can do entirely...for ...FREE.

the cost is in labor and hours (OK, plus the cost of paint, sandpaper, and cleaners...which is what $20 maybe ?)

3) So the cost of replacement parts, that just really varies. I mean, was the drum shop gonna replace the parts with original vintage Luddy parts ? or just with generic contemporary parts (i.e. particularly the hoops and rods).

I would say if you had a budget of about $200 for acquiring original Luddy parts...heck...you could acquire quite a few vintage parts for that wad of $$$.

4) Then the last issue becomes the bearing edges. Big Q for the drum shop...does their price include recutting the edges where they are damaged...or not ? If it doesn't, then...that's not a good deal, IMHO.

Worst case scenario I would imagine you can find a woodworker locally which can re-rout those edges for about $20/edge. BUT AGAIN, please post a pic of the edge damage if you can...most chewed edges don't need re-routing unless the damage is really extensive....

5) Cleaning rust off of t-rods, washers, screws, plates, etc: I suggest an immersion in DAWN dishwashing liquid for several days (at least 3). Totally cover them in the stuff, in a jar or bucket. Then wash them off and scrub with a fine-tooth soft toothbrush. Most of the rust will come off and the chrome won't be damaged.

6) for hoops...I always use...uh-oh...here we go again...fine steel wool 000 or 0000 grade. Everytime I say that on a forum...the suggestion gets absolutely flamed...but a lotta folks use this method. So either, remember I said it...or forget I ever said it...

Folks will counter that it leaves very fine scratches in the chrome...to which I will say....so fine that, honestly...on a tom or snare hoop...you would literally have to put your nose to the hoop to notice.

So...with that said...others suggest chrome polishes or the like; which reputedly do as good if not better a job.

Ultimately, OK, you may be spending between $100-250 in materials and parts...and it'll take some time...but it could be a real fun project and you could have the satisfaction of having rehabbed it yourself. So whether the extra $250 is worth that jump to have the shop do it...is your call.

A solidly renovated kit like yours with all Ludwig period-specific parts is probably worth about $1500...because of the champagne sparkle.

If you start sliding in contemporary replacement parts (i.e. hoops and t-rods, bass hoops, bass claws, bass rods, etc...) That will drop to about $900-1100.[/COLOR]

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Jaye,

Thanks for the info. I think I'll

be better off doing much of the

work my self. And as you say,

it'll be satisfying.

After I sent that last reply, I

found the restoration info on this

web site. So that'll be a good

reference as well.

I didn't realize this kit (or any

of the vintage kits) could be worth

that much money. That's cool. But

as I said earlier, I don't want to

sell them. I'd like to play them.

My youngest son is interested in

playing the drums now. So maybe

I'll pass them down to him.

Thanks again Jaye,

corp-mule

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[COLOR="DarkRed"]Yes...that's the spirit !

I passed along a set of 60's Slingerland's to my nephew (who already is a far superior musician than I can ever be)...and that is very satisfying, actually....

passing on a classic vintage American -made legacy....[/COLOR]

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I found a picture of what these drums look like.

I'll post my own pictures in a little bit (now that

I have them back in my possesion).

Here's the serial numbers and corresponding dates.

[code]----------+--------+--------------------------+-----------

Drum | Serial | Serial Number Date | Date Stamp

----------+--------+--------------------------+-----------

Snare | 375836 | April 1964 to April 1965 | Oct 1966

Tom | 395086 | April 1964 to April 1965 | n/a

Bass | 396608 | April 1964 to April 1965 | n/a

Floor Tom | 444072 | April 1964 to April 1965 | n/a [/code]

Picture:

http://www.vintagedrum.com/item/Ludwig-3-Piece-4-Piece-Club-Date-Drum-Sets-1960s-Sparkle-Finishes

I'm told -- because of the bowtie casings and

the small number of lugs on the drums, these

aren't worth as much as the 'top of the line'

drums of that era. But they the shells are the

same as the ones used on the 'top of the line'

drums.

corp-mule

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[COLOR="DarkRed"]The badges are sequential #'s (generally speaking, except for the FT) meaning the kit is still intact (i.e. an orphan tom wasn't slipped in there at some point). So that's a good thing.

I disagree with the assessment that it isn't a top-line drum set though.

Clubdates are kinda sought-after...they do very well on eBay. Especially given the Champagne Sparkle wrap..original factory wrap. Nope, that kit has some serious value to it.

I realize that the double-tension lug setup (ala Slingerland Stage Band and Rogers Tower) is no longer...um...en vogue.....young cats just don't like that aesthetic for some reason....but...

There's no accounting for taste....Coffee Break2

They are still worth a good penny...you can do a search on eBay completed listings and see what they go for.....then consider that if the results you are getting aren't Champagne wraps...add another $200-250 to the eBay results.[/COLOR]

The only way the $500 price is worth it from the drum shop is if all of the replacement parts they will use will be vintage Ludwig. If they intended on using generics, they would be making a killing on that job.

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Agreed. The guy at the store kept

the kit for 3 or 4 days so he could

give a more accurate, detailed

estimate.

When I picked them up, the estimate

hadn't changed except to say "it won't

be a dime over $500". :)

That price was for all new generic tension

rods and, the missing hoops. Plus all

new heads. I don't think he planned

to repair other items like the cymbal

holder on the bass drum or, the

mufflers in the two toms.

The "re-working" of the bearing edges

was not apart of that price. He said

he has a guy that's experienced at

that type of work and, it would cost

about $250 extra.

I think the bearing edges on the

hanging tom definetely need work.

I'm not sure about the others.

I approached the entire thing under

full disclosure that I knew nothing

about what's involved. Hell, I didn't

even know what the kit had any

value. So I guess, "they saw me

coming".

I don't mind paying for expertise

and, I don't mind a if they make

money off of me. I believe in

capitalism. I also believe, you

should shop, compare and, try

to keep from being taken

advantage of.

Maybe it's a fair price, I'm still

not sure. But I think I'm better off

just doing the work myself. It'll

be a slow process. But I'm not

really in a hurry anyway.

I'm learning a lot from this forum.

Jaye has been very helpful in his

replies to my posts. And your

comments (as well as others)

are welcome and appreciated

as well.

Thanks,

corp-mule

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