need advice

[franz]

hey... i'm new to vintage drums and such things, and i have some questions.

how much do you think that it would cost to reasonably restore a set of older, beat up drums. i need a second set for practicing with my band and i'm considering fixing up an old 60's or 70's kit that i know of. i'm not thinking of anything spectacular, just something that looks pretty cool and is usable. the blue oyster wrap on these drums is messed up and i would like to re-cover it (red onyx), as well as install new lugs and rims (black chrome). i think that the kit has an 18" or 20" bass, a 12" or 13" tom, and a 16" floor tom (it's not available for me to measure right now). how much do you think it would cost to recover and fix up the drums with new hardware? and also, what are some good and also cheap distributers of parts to fix such a thing?

thanks, any help would be appreciated.

[DeadSkinMask]

hey... i'm new to vintage drums and such things, and i have some questions.

how much do you think that it would cost to reasonably restore a set of older, beat up drums. i need a second set for practicing with my band and i'm considering fixing up an old 60's or 70's kit that i know of. i'm not thinking of anything spectacular, just something that looks pretty cool and is usable. the blue oyster wrap on these drums is messed up and i would like to re-cover it (red onyx), as well as install new lugs and rims (black chrome). i think that the kit has an 18" or 20" bass, a 12" or 13" tom, and a 16" floor tom (it's not available for me to measure right now). how much do you think it would cost to recover and fix up the drums with new hardware? and also, what are some good and also cheap distributers of parts to fix such a thing?

thanks, any help would be appreciated.

redoing drums can get pretty expensive..it mostly depends on which wrap you go with, lugs, rims, updatting mounts, etc etc..

i have dealth with jamminsam and have had alot of success.other forum members here as well have dealt with them.

wrap can run anywhere from 125-500 bucks for a standard 5 piece kit.just as an idea, i rewrapped a 2 kick, 4 tom setup with flat black wrap and it was 300 bucks.

getting all new lugs, tension rods, spurs, claws can run up a price..are the ones on the kit unsalvagable? automotive car chrome cleaner will help restore the shine and remove alot of rust.i would suggest browsing jamminsam, drummaker and various other parts/covering sites to get a few price ideas..

[aaron1]

What kind of kit is it? If it's anything of value I wouldn't touch them in regards of restoration, just practice with them as they are, if it's an older asian kit then proceed at will. Along with checking ebay, there is: drummaker.com, amdrumparts.com. bestdrumdeals.com and a host of others. The price will depend on your deal-scouring abilities and what options you plan to take.

[CARL PETERSON]

If its a practice kit, why invest in making cosmetic changes..?? Just beat the snot out of it and save about 500 bucks....Just Uncle Carl's opinion here.. 00**

[greggp]

The lowest price would come from Lee Custom, and you'd easily be able to meet the $75 minimum purchase. The kit you describe (12,13,16,20) will probably have 56 lugs and tension rods. That will likely run you a minimum of about $3.00 for that, or about $170 (black chrome is more expensive). 6 metal hoops will run about $60. A pair of bare maple hoops is going to cost about $35 from Anderson (the Keller distributor). You would need to round the edges yourself on a router table.

So, for the parts you want, you're closing in on $300 at the best prices, without wrap.

Unless the parts are breaking, and the wrap is lifting, you can bring the kit back for almost no money.

The simple way to clean the chrome parts is to soak them in a solution of Dawn or Simple Green and water for a day or two, and then scrub them with a green plastic scrubbing pad. You'll be surprised how nice they'll come out. The threads on the tension rods can be cleaned up with a brass wire wheel on a grinder. If you want to polish, any automotive chrome cleaner will do a pretty good job. Then, spray the parts down with Super Lube and they'll work great.

To spruce up the wrap, I would suggest cleaning it with Cascade Dishwashing Gel. It will do a nice job of removing the smoke and grime, and it will leave a nice shine. After that, if you want to shine it up more, sand the wrap with wet or dry automotive sandpaper (wet - being careful not to soak the wood plies), starting with 400 or 600, and moving to progressively finer paper (1000, 2000, 3000). You can also use Novus or Meguiar's plastic polish. A Novus kit costs about $25.

If there are cracks in the wrap, you can seal them with acetone. Put masking tape around the crack, and then dab in the acetone using a needle tip glue bottle. Practice on a scrap first.

If you really want black parts, Craftsman is now selling a home powdercoating rig for about $129.

[mikeym]

home powdercoating?!?!?

that sounds like an accident waiting to happen... ::seeing messed up stands and hardware::

~mikeym

[greggp]

You could practice powdercoating on your wife's engagement ring, or a stray cat. :)