Refurbishing an old kit

[Perry Justus]

I just bought a set for $500 (including shipping and handling). It's
a 1950s WFL, sizes 13/16/22/14. The bass is single-tension, which is
interesting to say the least; the lugs are Club Dates, which leads me
to believe I may be able to convert the drum to a double-tension
model.

There are cracks in the reinforcement rings, particularly on the bass
and floor tom -- HOWEVER, this actually does not seem to effect the
sound. But then, I don't know what it would've sounded like without
said cracks. Is it possible to have these repaired, or, failing that,
replace the rings ENTIRELY with new ones?

I'm prepared to make the long haul with this set, despite its apparent
shortcomings, and I'm comfortable with that fact: the snare, despite
being some sort of 5x14 mahogany configuration (small chipping of the
paint reveals a light outer ply, whereas the inside is without a doubt
mahogany), has a crack (musically, this time) you would not believe!
It actually competes with my Supra 402, in a way, but has no metallic
sound quite noticeably.

I'm typing this for two reasons: a) I wanted to find out more about my
single-tension bass, as well as the aformentioned cracks/gaps, and b)
Everyone here posts about their kits! :) If this post somehow
devolves into a flamewar, then I know I've done rmmp proud in my
limited time being here.

Perry (17 and on his second set)

[bjacoby@users.iwaynet.net]

Perry Justus <pjustus@arn.net> wrote:
> I just bought a set for $500 (including shipping and handling). It's
> a 1950s WFL, sizes 13/16/22/14. The bass is single-tension, which is
> interesting to say the least; the lugs are Club Dates, which leads me
> to believe I may be able to convert the drum to a double-tension
> model.

Sounds like a fun project!

> There are cracks in the reinforcement rings, particularly on the bass
> and floor tom -- HOWEVER, this actually does not seem to effect the
> sound. But then, I don't know what it would've sounded like without
> said cracks. Is it possible to have these repaired, or, failing that,
> replace the rings ENTIRELY with new ones?

Depends on the situation. I repaired the rings on my Slingerland
vintage snare. The prcedure was pretty much probing and prying
the rings with a thin knife blade to find the cracks. Then using
said knife to work epoxy into the cracks. Clamping and drying.
Sanding excess glue to taste. Really brought that drum back to life.

> I'm prepared to make the long haul with this set, despite its apparent
> shortcomings, and I'm comfortable with that fact: the snare, despite
> being some sort of 5x14 mahogany configuration (small chipping of the
> paint reveals a light outer ply, whereas the inside is without a doubt
> mahogany), has a crack (musically, this time) you would not believe!
> It actually competes with my Supra 402, in a way, but has no metallic
> sound quite noticeably.

> I'm typing this for two reasons: a) I wanted to find out more about my
> single-tension bass, as well as the aformentioned cracks/gaps, and b)
> Everyone here posts about their kits! :) If this post somehow
> devolves into a flamewar, then I know I've done rmmp proud in my
> limited time being here.

Flamewar over a kit restoration? Surely you jest! We've got
much better things to do with our time, you non-playing choad!
:-)

Benj
--
SPAM-Guard! Remove .users (if present) to email me!

[-MIKE-]

You can find glue syringes on-line or at a local mom-n-pop hardware
store. These will help you push the glue down into the crack
between the ring and the shell.

Ben uses epoxy and that's fine, if you are needing to build up the
edges and rebuild parts. Plain old carpenters' glue will work for
just reattaching the rings. Synthetic hide glue (dark brown bottle)
is great for this, because it has a long set-up time and can be
"re-activated" with moist heat (insert joke here).

A couple dozen 1-1/2" c-clamps will come in very handy. Also, a
package of door shims can be snapped apart and used as protective
backing in the clamps.


-MIKE-

--
http://mikedrums.com
mike@mikedrumsDOT.com
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

[Perry Justus]

Hey, would this be a reasonably low-risk thing to do? I'm scared to
death about injuring drums. ;) I have visions of clamping the rings
and having them crumble to pieces on me - but I know that's probably
irrational. I can see through some of the cracks (if I place my
finger under the ring it darkens), and it mostly seems to be the
center plies of the rings that are cracked... although a few cracks
are on the inner (or is that outer? edges.

Any idea what ply configuration the drums might be? It's a real light
wood on the outside (the bass drum's duco is flaking badly), and a
beautiful dark mahogany on the inside. Could the *outer* ply be
poplar? I would like to someday restore the original blue/silver Duco
finish.

I've got the snare side on the verge of screaming for its lawyer, but
I'm afraid to *really* crank it down. I've heard of old drums
collapsing/exploding from overtensioning, but with the rings this
shouldn't happen, right? I'm also slightly concerned about denting
the edges when playing towards them or doing rimshots (I've been used
to playing every inch of my Supra with no fears of denting -- it's
amazing how many tones you can get out of a snare drum). Is this all
silly, or substantiated?

Later,
Perry

"-MIKE-" <mike@mikedrumsDOT.com> wrote in message news:<OWudnby0eLLmOtKiXTWJkw@comcast.com>...
> You can find glue syringes on-line or at a local mom-n-pop hardware
> store. These will help you push the glue down into the crack
> between the ring and the shell.
>
> Ben uses epoxy and that's fine, if you are needing to build up the
> edges and rebuild parts. Plain old carpenters' glue will work for
> just reattaching the rings. Synthetic hide glue (dark brown bottle)
> is great for this, because it has a long set-up time and can be
> "re-activated" with moist heat (insert joke here).
>
> A couple dozen 1-1/2" c-clamps will come in very handy. Also, a
> package of door shims can be snapped apart and used as protective
> backing in the clamps.
>
>
> -MIKE-

[Anthony Giampa]

I have a shell that -MIKE- refurbished for me... a 1958 WFL shell. It used
to be 10x14 with rings, and he made it 5.5" tall... he completely detached
one of the rings and stuck it right back on the 'new' edge. I originally had
nickel Ludwig Classic lugs on that drum (have since swapped them with nickel
Ludwig Imperial lugs, really nice 'unbeaded' casings from a 1954
Leedy&Ludwig snare) and I was more afraid of breaking the lugs, than I was
afraid of ruining the shell.

--

--
Anthony Giampa; Imperiai2@cox.net
"Pity makes me strong." -- Conan O'Brien


"Perry Justus" <pjustus@arn.net> wrote in message
news:d0a79946.0308292003.576d160c@posting.google.c om...
> Hey, would this be a reasonably low-risk thing to do? I'm scared to
> death about injuring drums. ;) I have visions of clamping the rings
> and having them crumble to pieces on me - but I know that's probably
> irrational. I can see through some of the cracks (if I place my
> finger under the ring it darkens), and it mostly seems to be the
> center plies of the rings that are cracked... although a few cracks
> are on the inner (or is that outer? edges.
>
> Any idea what ply configuration the drums might be? It's a real light
> wood on the outside (the bass drum's duco is flaking badly), and a
> beautiful dark mahogany on the inside. Could the *outer* ply be
> poplar? I would like to someday restore the original blue/silver Duco
> finish.
>
> I've got the snare side on the verge of screaming for its lawyer, but
> I'm afraid to *really* crank it down. I've heard of old drums
> collapsing/exploding from overtensioning, but with the rings this
> shouldn't happen, right? I'm also slightly concerned about denting
> the edges when playing towards them or doing rimshots (I've been used
> to playing every inch of my Supra with no fears of denting -- it's
> amazing how many tones you can get out of a snare drum). Is this all
> silly, or substantiated?
>
> Later,
> Perry
>
> "-MIKE-" <mike@mikedrumsDOT.com> wrote in message
news:<OWudnby0eLLmOtKiXTWJkw@comcast.com>...
> > You can find glue syringes on-line or at a local mom-n-pop hardware
> > store. These will help you push the glue down into the crack
> > between the ring and the shell.
> >
> > Ben uses epoxy and that's fine, if you are needing to build up the
> > edges and rebuild parts. Plain old carpenters' glue will work for
> > just reattaching the rings. Synthetic hide glue (dark brown bottle)
> > is great for this, because it has a long set-up time and can be
> > "re-activated" with moist heat (insert joke here).
> >
> > A couple dozen 1-1/2" c-clamps will come in very handy. Also, a
> > package of door shims can be snapped apart and used as protective
> > backing in the clamps.
> >
> >
> > -MIKE-