Repairing a badly worn and damaged early 60's Ludwig gray marine pearl set.
This set was played and kept in a smokers environment, so the yellow film on the shells was far greater than the photos show. Also the heads and hoops were removed for long periods of time which caused major deterioration and damage to the reinforcement hoops and the bearing edges. Since I did not want to remove the reinforcement hoops due to the possibility of further damage I chose to fill the void and rework the bearing edges. The chip board backer acted as a mold to hold the filler in place until it set hard enough to be filed and sanded.
Here you can see the bearing edge sanded and formed. The second photo shows another repaired edged but fortunately the damage was not as extensive. Note the poor condition of the inside of the shell. Here is the finished, sealed bearing edge and the inside of the shell painted white . Normally I do not like to paint the inside of the shells but these were in such poor condition, they begged for paint. If the date stamp is present on the inner shell I like to keep it exposed. The yellow circles in the final photo show where cigarettes were laid on the shell and the finish burned through but have been repaired by cutting inlay patches that were spliced in. The pattern in the finish helps to hide the patch.
The restored kit. The vintage double tom holder and the vintage bass drum head add a touch of class.
Slingerland shells covered in a Birch veneer.
An experiment with some thick Slingerland marching shells. The original shells were cut on a diagonal. After cutting the shells down, a lap joint was routed into the bottom of one shell and the top of another. The fit was virtually perfect. A nice snug tight fit became even more solid by adding some woodworking glue to the joint. It was important to verify that the shells were square once the 2 shells were put together. The final wrapped and assembled shell.
I love "Hot Rod" flames