evolution of my export - refinished - 56k warning!

[tizzdizz]

Hey, new here, thought I'd get my pictures up. It's not much, but it's mine, and I've put a lot of work into it. Started out with a scratched up blue wrap on it, and a few borrowed cymbals. It's getting there. Next on the list is a throne that doesn't feel like I'm sitting on a brick.

I used an Ocean Blue stain, 3 coats, and then 6 coats of clear, with wetsanding inbetween. I could get them to shine a lot more with just a little bit of elbow grease, but I'd rather play them.

Cymbals:
20" Sabian XS medium ride
16" Sabian XS medium thin crash
13" Sabian Paragon hi hats
6" Sabian B8 inverted splash
10" Sabian AAX splash
14" Paiste Prototype thin china
12" no name splash
LP black beauty cowbell (gotta have it)
Axis single pedal with felt Iron Cobra beater

It's a basic Pearl Export 5 piece from 1998 or so:
22x16 - 12x10 - 13x11 - 16x16

3 years ago:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/drums/DSC00381.jpg

before refinish
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Refinish%20Drums/DSC02684.jpg

about a year ago http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Refinish%20Drums/DSC02700.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Refinish%20Drums/DSC02728.jpg

Back together
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Refinish%20Drums/DSC02731.jpg

Ludwig Acrolite snare that I borrowed from my keyboard player and brought back from the dead
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Taylors%20Snare/DSC03622.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Taylors%20Snare/DSC03625.jpg

result:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Taylors%20Snare/DSC03684.jpg

Most recent pics:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Taylors%20Snare/DSC03664.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Taylors%20Snare/DSC03681.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/Taylors%20Snare/DSC03678.jpg

[incurve]

Well let me be one of the first to say they look absolutely great! The before and after of the snare is especially impressive. Wonderful work.

[jollymosher]

Wow those turned out geat. better than mine even!

[somedrummer]

Wow...That acrolite was scary to begin with, but when it was done, it looks brand new! Nicely done.

[katman]

Great job. Specially on that snare. Looks brand new.

[NUTHA JASON]

very cool. actually you probably stopped the polishing at just the right place since a satin finish doesn't show fingerprints (no dust so easily) so you will have to clean her less than if you had put the elbow grease in.

j

[defunkt]

Congrats on the snare man. That looks awesome, I've never seen a snare in such bad condition.
Also nice placement for the drums (right in front of the tv hehe)

[komodo]

How the hell you get the snare lookin so great, And btw whats the best way of gettin rid of rust?

[millerdakiller]

you did good work with that. Even though I'm not particularly fond of that color(which is simply because I don't like thing's that are plain blue) I can tell that the finish is well done. I really like what you did with the snare, it looks much better. Try mixing in different shades of blue and create a design or something. I think that would make the finish much more interesting and give it much more depth.

[wnameth]

Try raising your toms up a little bit then centering them so there not angled in, i have the same kit pretty much (check it in my sig and i refinished it) i used to set up similar and my drum teacher helped me with that.
LOOKS great i have a supra-phonic Ludwig 1970s snare. I LOVE it.

-Wes

[Drummer Karl]

oh my god, that ludwig snare drum looked horrible before...great job, well done! It is a similar finish but laquered looks always better than a normal wrap, or? :-)

Karl

[tizzdizz]

Wow thanks for all the compliments! Yeah, I'm happy with the results. The finish shows more fo the wood grain in person, but I had really poor lighting. I'm looking for some export toms to expand my setup. I want either an 8", 10", or a 14", or some combination of the 3. An 18" floor tom would be awesome, but I don't see many of those at all. I still have the stain and stuff that I used, so color wouldn't be an issue, as long as it has similar lug design. My plan is to have 4 - 5 toms, and I've always liked the idea of having one to the left of my high hat.

I should be fair and say that the rims on the snare after are different from the before rims. That's probably what made the biggest difference. I ended up just cleaning it up with some of those clorox antibacterial wipes, in the orange bottle. They work great, and make your drums smell like oranges. I'd be careful before trying them on wood...I just used it on the aluminum snare shell. Worked great. After I got the grime off, I just polished the chrome with a dry Tshirt and a lot of patience. I've heard steel wool or a brillo pad might help clean up chrome, but you might want to make sure, before trying it. I haven't done so yet.

I also used the same heads as were on it before, simply because I didn't have the money to replace them. Cleaned them up just fine, believe it or not. Now it sounds great!

I've been fighting the tom issues for a while now. I just can't seem to find a comfortable position for them, no matter what I try. I bought some clamps to attatch them to cymbal stands, instead of the kick. Hopefully that will allow me to bring them closer together, and give more flexibility for placement.

Thanks again for all the compliments.

[tizzdizz]

Figured I'd dig this one up from the grave and not start another thread about my kit.

I found a 10" Remo Mastertouch tom that matches the stain I used on the other drums really well. If you're 10 feet away, you can't really tell. Anyway, I just really wanted a 6 piece, and this tom sounds great.

I also got a snare for my birthday from my wife. It's pictured here. 7x14 Yamaha Nouveau brass. Great tone, ring, and rimshots. Versatile snare.

Also have replaced my old stock kick reso with an Evans EQ2 and the old coated powerstroke 3 (don't ever bother with this as a kick head) with a superkick 2. Both Christmas gifts from my wife.

Had a 4 piece setup a while back:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/new%20cymbals/DSC05052.jpg

and the 6 piece

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/6%20piece/DSC05184.jpg


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/6%20piece/DSC05193.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/6%20piece/DSC05194.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/6%20piece/DSC05187.jpg


And the new snare:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/6%20piece/DSC05189.jpg


Man this thing has had quite an evolution. Here it is 6 years ago after I first got it:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/drums/DSC00404.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/tizzdizz/drums/drumsetc8-05028.jpg

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

Man, buff that set until the audience goes blind. Haha! Looks nice.

[indiadrummer]

cool kit, looks comfy... AND!

I SEE AXIS PEDALS!!! how are they working for you? My friends are gonna buy me some for christmas (5 people chipping in). I cant wait for them

[drummerchick435]

Nice job with that kit. An especially impressive job with that snare!

[gretsch223]

great job cleaning that kit up! it looks nice. How do you like your yamaha brass snare?

[tizzdizz]

Thanks guys!

I would buff it out, but I've been somewhat on the busy/lazy side. Plus I'm not sure what to use. Someone suggested caranuba car wax, but who knows.

The axis is OK. It's just the standard X short board single. I like it fine, but I have regular size feet (size 9.5) and I wish I had gotten a long board. It gives you more board to play on, and I never really thought I'd need it. Hindsight is 20-20. In reality, it's very responsive and the direct drive is very fluid and smooth. It does take some getting used to, and if your kick technique isn't really developed (mine isn't as much as I'd like it to be), it takes some practice to get used to the feel. There's less margin for error, I guess you could say.

The Yamaha snare is awesome. I was lucky to get an incredible deal on it, but even more than that, I was able to find something that I like. I've found myself to be really picky about snare sounds, and this one is so versatile that I can have it sound any number of ways. It responds to different tunings very well. I would recommend it to anyone! It's so out of place among my poplar/basswood (can't remember what these are) exports.

[Pearl Player]

Wow... You really done yourself proud... Very, And I mean VERY nice looking kit. I can also relate to rebuilding a snare, However mine was an Old Pearl Snare. I found that in a garage sale. It was sitting in the mud and grease for several years. Look great now and sounds even better...

You should be very proud of your hard work...

A Very Impressed

Mike

[d.c.drummer]

The re-finish was is high class, and your snare drum actually scared me when i saw it. Now, it looks great!

[maddrummr]

wow...just wow.

That snare transformation is amazing. The refinishing!!!! AWESOME.
Congrats man looks fine and dandy.

[KLittle123]

Holy crap, that snare was beat to hell and back, that was pretty intense.

[tizzdizz]

I thought I'd bring this post back from the dead to say thanks for all the kind words. The kit has been in storage for a few weeks because we had guests over for a while, but after reading this thread again, I want to pull it back out. I think I want to set it up differently though. Bored of the same old same old.

Any ideas?

[Four Sticks]

Maybe try a four piece with just a ride, crash, and hats? I scaled down to that from 2 crashes, a ride, and hats while driving a five piece and I simply love it.

[sio_13]

Beautiful work on the kit... Truly one of a kind. I you still wanna keep the five piece try one up- two down. Thats how I set mine up when I'm recording and it works great- and recently I moved a tom to the left of my hats and it opens lots of new doors...