My new Black Beauty and Drums

matthew

Senior Member
EDIT: Added one new photo of my ludwig bass drum
Edit: June 2010 - Added video of my tama rockstar in action

i just took photos of my drums, including my new black beauty snare! check them out

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1930s Ludwig Bass drum (28") 1909 Bass pedal; Ludwig junior old bass dampener

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQa0b97LW8
tama rockstar!
 
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Nice drums, cymbals and a beautieful black beauty =) I love the cork in the hole on the bass.
What brand are your drums?
 
Very nice kit. I've been wanting a BB for some time now. I prefer the imperial lugs, but the tube lugs fit in better with this kit.
 
I get the sense some serious swing is about to happen there !
 
Beautiful snare ...I guess that's why its called the Black "Beauty", duh.

The tube lugs, die-cast hoops, and Millenium throwoff in brass look really sharp!
 
yikes man that kit is unreal looks like a blast to play, looks real comfortable and im loving the cymbals, im going need some videos of that thing, including the maracas.
 
That is one seeeeeeeeeexy beast, i can't stop looking/drooling, such a spectacular kit.

-Jonathan
 
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That kit looks so damn ragtime! haha, from the sort of beaten down finish, to the percussion, to the corks! looks like a good ol' chick web-esque trap kit!

awesome man!
 
Nice drums, cymbals and a beautieful black beauty =) I love the cork in the hole on the bass.
What brand are your drums?

The drums (bass, floor and tom), are tama rockstars, i stripped the vinyl and stained it myself.

the maracas i painted black and varnished them too.

cymbals = zildjian K constantinoples

go to my myspace blog for more details - Or ask me :)
 
Matt, I'm toying with the idea of refurbishing my black (somewhat marred) Imperial Stars. I don't know if the black plastic can be buffed out to look new and shiny again, that would be the simpliest way to get them spruced up again. What method did you use to get the plastic off your drums? Lots of sanding after? I really like the natural wood finish you ended up with. Nice! And the BB... off the charts. But, does it sound as good as it looks?
 
nice snare man!!!!!!

awesome cork as well!

i didn't know drum stores are now stocking them in? can you get them in brown atlantic blue to go with my kit?


lol


moose

if you are talking about a cork, i didnt get it from a shop, I got it from my a bottle of wine


intheruff

Matt, I'm toying with the idea of refurbishing my black (somewhat marred) Imperial Stars. I don't know if the black plastic can be buffed out to look new and shiny again, that would be the simpliest way to get them spruced up again. What method did you use to get the plastic off your drums? Lots of sanding after? I really like the natural wood finish you ended up with. Nice! And the BB... off the charts. But, does it sound as good as it looks?

unscrew off all the metal lugs and keep all the nuts and bolts safe (dont lose any) and then you have just the drum and the plastic covering. then get a paint scraper and scrap the plastic off. this is at your own risk of course. i tried it on my 13 inch tom first, since i use a four piece (using my 12 inch tom) it would be a loss if i screwed the 13 inch up... so go at your own risk

my experience was positive, though.

scrape the plastic and then sand the wood thoroughly. do it in the line (direction of the grain of wood if possible). use fine sand paper not coarse sandpaper. you do not want to thin the wood, only to remove loose wood that might later get caught and rip off.

then you should stain the drums, choose a stain color of you choice, my experience tells me that they came out a lot darker than i expected, so keep that in mind. i was going for a cream natural wood colour, rather than a red brown.

then get MARINE GRADE varnish and coat the drums. this stuff will strip off the stain so make sure you do at least two coats of stain (allowing the drums to dry properly between each coat, leave them over night each time). then put the varnish on evenly.

the more coates you do of varnish the shinier the drums will be, sort of like gloss finish. no varnish = matte finish.

also when you do the stain get a hand cloth or something and actually force the stain into the crevices of the wood if there are any.

the plastic wont scrape/snap off around the badge, and dont try to bend the badge! just get the plastic off as much as you can around the badge then nail file it away carefully. try not the nail file the wood around the badge or else you will leave a mark on the drum.

thats it. if you need more info please ask. and post pictures!
 
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RIght on Matt, thanks for the detailed reply. Sounds like a ton of work, especially if I were to refurbish the entire 9 piece set. This would force me to put the Tama's in retirement for the project, which I really can't afford to do even though having a great vintage set of Luds that I use only occasionally. Hmmm, do you know if its possible to buff the marred plastic back to a shine? I've never heard of this being done, but the marred plastic is my real problem, even though I'd love to have that natural wood look. I like the color you got from the stain, better than a cream, me thinkin'.
 
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