the bass drum rebuild adventure

[pan60]

well as i have said i am not a drummer :(
i got the ludwig bass drum off ebay thinking man did i get a great deal!
but as it turn out it is a marching drum, so that was the excuse i need to strip and re-due.
i thought you guys might like to see what i have went through to get-er-done
it life starts as a twelve lug red sparkle bass then i start to strip it.

[pan60]

i peeled off the wrap and got things ready to see what all had to be repaired and just were i was.

[pan60]

first off one of the hoops was broke.
i lined it up and clamped in a vise to hold it all were it belonged.
drill four small hole to take wood dowels, ( tooth picks ) so things did not move while it was being glued up.

[pan60]

the hoop was then glued and clamped with pins installed.
after the glue set up a cut the dowels flush with a razor.

[pan60]

i used a paint stripper to clean all the paint off the hoops and the glue off the shell.
the holes that held the marching drum hardware were tapered and plugged with corresponding tapered wood dowels.
then i drilled the shell for the new spurs.

[pan60]

any defects in the shell were filled.
the bearing edges were taped to to keep the glue off and help protected them.
and the hardware hole are all taped up on the inside as well.
a not here i did not tape the hardware hole up when i used the stripper the get the glue off and as a result i got some stains inside the shell.
so if you do this tape those hole up from the start

[pan60]

after some sanding and cleaning it is ready for new wrap!
everything was washed down with acetone then i run a tack cloth over everything.

[pan60]

the new wrap as to be applied in two pieces for larger drums as the wrap is only 54'' in length.
i cut the small piece to make up the difference and place two pieces of tape so i can mark the middle of the wrap.
these lines are transferred to the drum shell edges.
the same step was the followed for the larger piece of wrap.
contact cement is the applied to both pieces of wrap and the shell.
the smaller bottom section is installed first.
buy lining up the marks the wrap will go on as it should.
next i applied a bit of contact cement on the edges of the smaller section of wrap to hold the lager sections edges down.

[pan60]

the larger section of wrap is at last applied.

ummmmm glue

[pan60]

the were the re-drilled and the hardware replaced.
all the machine screws and bolts are secured with lock tight

[pan60]

everything is snugged up.
it is time for a brake.

[pan60]

here is the homemade tool for reinstalling the vent hole eyelet and drum badge.

[Brenton]

[ramjet]

awesome dude

how does it sound and what size it it.

nice work

[pan60]

it is a six ply 22'' x 14''' ludwig
i have no clue how it sounds just yet i am still working on clear coating the hoops
but
i hope it sounds good!
i will put up some more photos as i can.

[PhilR]

Good job. thumbsup

How're the bearing edges on that old shell? I modernized my entire kit from a 25 year old Premier set but I recut all the edges on mine.

[pan60]

they look ok to me but i am not really that up on what i am looking for.
their is no dents or dings or any imperfections.
i have a large router table so i could re-cut them. just not sure they need it.
i am planing to wax then real good before the heads go on.
i am thinking a mix on paraffin and graphite.

[Jax]

Hey have you done this before? It looks like you know what to do, but makes me wonder if someone taught you or what...

[pan60]

Originally Posted by Jax

Hey have you done this before? It looks like you know what to do, but makes me wonder if someone taught you or what...

never before this the first for me.
i have a lot of experience in making things and a lot of tooling.
the main reason i started this thread was so other could see what all was involved and maybe feel more confident in taking on the challenge for themselves.

[Cojo]

The new colour looks great! Nice work!

[Jason Poulin]

hey nice work man!





Jason

[Jules]

Digging the build progress!

[pan60]

thank guy's and gals
i hope to get things finished up in the next day or so.

[pan60]

i put masking tape on the back of the warp to mark the width the clamped a straight edge down and use a razor to cut it.
i tried to cut it and hold the straight edge but it worked better with the straight edge clamped down.
then i placed tape on the hoop were i did not want glue.

[pan60]

getting glue on
and applying the strip of wrap.
once again it has to be done in two pieces.
i did the bottom small piece first then the larger section.

[pan60]

a bit of clean up with some mineral sprits remove any glue that might got were it did not belong.
get the tape of and get ready to start putting all together.

[pan60]

at last i am getting this thing together

i hope it sounds good.

[pan60]

i also picked up a speed king pedal.
installed some new bushings.
cleaned greased it all up.
the old grease was hard as a rock and a pain to get cleaned.

[pan60]

i soaked the bearing in thiner them re packed them with new grease.
nice and smooth now

[Cojo]

As new!