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Thread: Refinished Sonor basswood drums

  1. #26

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    Your project looks great ntn2it! If there was a way to precision cut out the badges from the wrap, I wonder how those would look mounted to the shells?

    Good tip on stuffing the lugs. When I tune my Yamaha FT JAW I get some rattle. I'm going to try this on that drum.

  2. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by areFish View Post
    Your project looks great ntn2it! If there was a way to precision cut out the badges from the wrap, I wonder how those would look mounted to the shells?

    Good tip on stuffing the lugs. When I tune my Yamaha FT JAW I get some rattle. I'm going to try this on that drum.
    Thanks for the compliment areFish! Actually, I had thought of that, but they were just a label stuck to the wrap and were very thin (like aluminum foil) and the first one I tried to remove, shredded. I was going to embed them under the lacquer. Oh well. Like I said it is just a kit for me to practice on so I don't have to haul my big one back and forth all the time. I paid $200 for it and if I ever want to sell it, I'm sure I can get that much again, even without the badges.
    PDP MX Series Drums, Zildjian A Custom cymbals, Tama Simon Phillips Gladiator Signature snare, Roc-N-Soc throne.

  3. #28

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    THose look great. If you do your PDP's I put Watco Danish Oil on the wood shells of my PDP's. It really brings out the grain. Then spar polyurethane coats. It will give with the weather and temp changes. Also a UV protector. My old Slingerland lugs had felt around the springs. Cotton balls do work but I heard from some vintage restorers they deteriorate in there over time. Still very nice job. I love the natural wood look.
    Ludwig Classic Maple vintage 1980 Silver Sparkle
    Ludwig Classic Maple vintage 1960 Gold Sparkle
    Ludwig Classic Maple vintage 1968 Champagne Sparkle
    Premier Resonators vintage 70's Polychromatic Red
    Slingerland 60's Vintage. Vintage Sky Blue Pearl
    Slingerland 1972 "Avante" Red
    Camco Chanute vintage. 1973 Silver Sparkle
    Gretsch Catalina Jazz. Blue Pearl
    Sonor Safari. Black Galaxy
    Rogers Londoner V vintage. 1977 Silver Mist
    Rogers Script Badge 9/72 1972 Black Nitro
    Beverley of England 4 piece vintage. Red
    Stewart 1966 Black Diamond Pearl MIJ
    Vintage Paiste 2002
    Vintage Avedis Zildjian

  4. #29

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    good work they look nice indeed!

  5. #30

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    great work! And stuffing those lugs was a smart idea. The rattling/ringing of those springs can get obnoxious.
    DW, Zildjian, Vic Firth, Remo
    http://www.reverbnation.com/jonpnorris

  6. #31

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    Had a set of Sound Percussions that the heat blistered the wraps. The wife and I bit the bullet and peeled it off then did a honey pine finish. I added black Onyx heads. Since the hardware was black it turned out nice.

    https://sites.google.com/site/kroekerta/the-kit
    Last edited by tkroeker; 10-29-2016 at 07:14 PM. Reason: new link

  7. #32

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    I don't want to seem to hijack your thread, but I can't get over how close your new finish on the basswood Sonor's resemble my stain on some '68 beechwood Sonor's. Just wanted to show another positive example of what you can do to old drums even if you don't have a lot of woodworking skill, which I certainly do not.
    I made the mistake of having them re-wrapped in black in the mid-80's. Ruined their value and, most importantly and only in hindsight, destroyed their tone! Since the black plastic wasn't glued evenly, air pockets developed under the wrap and they all sounded dead for years.
    After I had peeled the black off and refinished and reassembled, they sounded better than they ever had in the 30 years I played them. So frustrating!
    The old teardrop lugs did not have a spring but rather had an actual nut that fit into a little slot that the tension rods threaded into. Totally different design.
    They now reside with my brother, who gave them to me when I was 12 and he was 18.
    Pics to show the history of these fine drums.
    How they started out in 1968.

    How my brother used the 14" floor as a mounted tom. Added a Sonor rosewood over beechwood 16" floor and a pair of CB700 concert toms, too. He was enthralled with Carl Palmer at that time.

    After the ill-fated change to black, and additional Yamaha high toms. I was enthralled with Neil Peart at this time, obviously I should think.

    And finally, how they ended up after my refinishing job.


    See what I mean? Very similar shade of stain to me.
    If you have some cheap wrapped drums that don't sound so good, go for it. You might just end up with a better sounding kit.
    Proudly playing:
    Doc Sweeney Drums
    A bunch of snares
    A bunch of cymbals

    Off-Set double pedals

    I think I love to play the drums simply because you get to hit 'em!!!

  8. #33

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    used the cotton ball trick on my vistalites about 30 years ago
    Premier XPK Drums
    10, 12, 13, 14, 16 Suspended toms
    22 bass drum
    5 x 14 snare
    Premier Hardware
    Offset Double Pedal
    Sabian, Meniel cymbals
    Tama Metalworks 6.5 x 14" Black Nickel snare
    Ahead Drum Cases

  9. #34

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    I had to laugh at the comment about using lacquer in the house while the wife is away. I made the same mistake when I refinished my drums. All it took was 45 seconds of test spraying lacquer in the basement. I had to put the dogs in the back yard, open all the windows & doors and put fans in the windows....then pray it would air out before the wife got home from work, LOL.
    -Brian

    "Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"

    Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!

    "I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham

  10. #35

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    Just tell her it save money and you'll be fine.
    Sabian!!!

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