Restoration of vintage drums

[hihihi]

hey guys, anyone have any idea or know any guys or shops that help or do restoration of vintage drums, to be excat snares. pm or reply to this post. thanks!

 

[kari_convention]

JS Music is providing the service but its in Msia..

 

[mel80]

Nigel of Drum Resources does restoration of drums. I've seen some of his works and I was impressed.

:: Drums Resources Music Place ::

 

[flam]

I've just won an auction for a 60s Slingerland student model on ebay on behalf of a friend, its not in pristine condition. Might want to send it to nigel, roughly how much does he charge? any idea?

 

[mel80]

I've just won an auction for a 60s Slingerland student model on ebay on behalf of a friend, its not in pristine condition. Might want to send it to nigel, roughly how much does he charge? any idea?

Would be best to give him a call for a quote on the price. Different servicing, different pricing.

 

[kari_convention]

I've just won an auction for a 60s Slingerland student model on ebay on behalf of a friend, its not in pristine condition. Might want to send it to nigel, roughly how much does he charge? any idea?

any pics? share it pls!!

 

[jeepers]

i think you should just make a trip down to nigel's and allow him to have a thorough look through on the snare, then he'll be able to give you a more accurate quote.

i reckon there's major pitting on the hardware?

and yup post some pictures!

 

[flam]

I've just realised that the thread starter - hihihi is the goondu friend that i'm helping to buy the drum for. now, doesn't that sound silly? i've leave it to him to decide if he wants to bring it down to nigel. btw thanks for all the help guys!

anyway, the item has not been shipped yet but here are some photos the seller posted:

 

[jeepers]

looks to me like it just needs a nice polish and a change of skins, might wanna oil the strainer too.

nice finish! if you dont mind me asking, how much did it cost you in all?

 

[flam]

actually theres rust on the tension rods and pitting on the lugs. quite evident in some of the other pictures that i didn't post. thankfully the rust looks like surface rust. but if the pitting is serious, nothing much can be done unless nigel can do replating of the chrome. just hope that its minor pitting and not flaking..

all in all it has costed <$250 so far..

 

[marcdadrummer]

looks like a 20 ply shell.. warm and fuzzy!

 

[weckl-x]

looks like a 20 ply shell.. warm and fuzzy!

Bro, they rarely went more than 3 plies in those days

Here's a great resource to understanding and dating vintage drums.
Vintage Snare Drums online Ludwig, Slingerland, Leedy, Camco, Gretsch, Sonor

 

[marcdadrummer]

they sure looks thick man.. maybe per plies they use thick ones.

 

[kari_convention]

no marc, its not thick plies or 20 plies... the snare look thicks because it have reinforcement ring. you can see the color difference between the ring and the shell.

anyway, nice looking drum.. i bet it sounds as good as it looks.
what are the wood configuration?

 

[weckl-x]

they sure looks thick man.. maybe per plies they use thick ones.

Yup, in those days, the individual plies were thicker.

Kari: Likely to be mahogany-poplar-mahogany. But they did make maple-poplar-mahogany shells too. Maple re-rings.

 

[flam]

weckl-x is spot on about the number of plies and the reinforcement rings. its most likely mahagony-poplar-mahagony. based on the dating of the badge, it should be produced between 1961 and 1962. maple-poplar-mahagony shells only started in '63.

i also use the site weckl-x recommended, its THE site for vintage slingerland and ludwigs. theres even a comprehensive database of all past slingerland catalogs, useful if u want to identify a snare before you bid for it on ebay.

personally, i would want to go for one of the single ply radio kings when i got enough $$. the thought of a single piece of wood steam bent into a drum shell is way radical, looking at all the multi-ply shells that are everywhere today.

 

[jeepers]

with the radio kings going for such exorbitant prices on ebay nowadays, you might wanna try custom drum makers instead. save you quite a sum and you can choose to go with the single-ply steam bent shell.

 

[flam]

with the radio kings going for such exorbitant prices on ebay nowadays, you might wanna try custom drum makers instead. save you quite a sum and you can choose to go with the single-ply steam bent shell.

oh yeah i noticed, drum with the words radio king or supraphonic attached would easily go for >200USD.. hopefully some ill informed seller lists a radio king without the words 'radio king'.. haha, thats how i got my supraphonic for less than $200..

have not explored the custom drum makers option yet.. any websites for me to drool over?

 

[jeepers]

wow supraphonic <$200! sweet deal!

btw, those i know are like pricey. heh.

HighWood Custom Drums & Drum Parts

Oregon Drum - Myrtlewood Steambent Shell Snare Drums

craviotto's another option

like i said, pricey.

thought you might like this:

Vintage 1958 Slingerland RADIO KING 14"x5.5" Snare Drum - eBay (item 140212414574 end time Mar-09-08 19:10:53 PDT)

the dude's in thailand, highly-regarded seller. can save on shipping. wanted to bid on his previous auction, a gretsch 50's snare but went out of my budget in the last 3 hours.

 

[weckl-x]

The best budget option, I've read, for a steambent shelled snare would be Vaughncraft shells. Very reasonable pricing, for the shell alone. When they are clearing blem stock, it's possible to snag a solid steambent maple shell (without drilling/edges) for US$50. You could get them to do the edges and drilling work on it, for extra of course, buy the hardware and then assemble it yourself IKEA style.