By: Ken Morrison
This vintage drum restoration project began a number of years ago when I responded to a local newspaper ad and purchased what was essentially a 1964 Ludwig Downbeat set in black diamond pearl (BDP). The set was in marginal shape–the 14- by 20-in. bass drum was peppered with 16 unoriginal holes. A peek inside the bass and toms revealed that the original white “Resocoat” interior paint had been sullied by an awful pinkish-tan enamel. The resonant-side bearing edges had suffered from stints as “concert toms.” And, reinforcing rings on the resonant side had been stripped and stained dark brown. A “collector’s set,” it wasn’t.
Due to the rare sizes and fact that very few vintage drums surface in my rural stomping grounds, I bought the set despite its flaws. The price was fair, and I figured the included cymbals and a mostly original, matching, Downbeat snare made it a good deal. The snare had been spared from the yucky interior paint and still sported its factory date stamp: March 2, 1964. Just three weeks after Ringo’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Ludwig’s Chicago factory was surely buzzing the day this set was born!
As I was carrying the drums to my truck, the natural light revealed an ugly yellow-green hue in the BDP wrap. I thought it might be a 40-year coating of cigarette smoke–a common condition for club-weary drum kits. However, after I got the drums home and did a little preliminary cleaning, I soon realized that the yellow was there to stay. It was some sort of thick varnish or shellac that had been applied in many coats and yellowed drastically with age. Getting it off was going to be tricky, because conventional paint removers would no-doubt ruin the plastic wrap.
I sent a plea for help to the amazingly accessible and always accommodating John Aldridge–vintage drum authority and editor of this publication. I explained my problem and he recommended a tamer stripping agent–Formby’s Conditioning Furniture Refinisher.
I began experimenting on the drill-devalued bass drum. The product seemed to work well at full-strength on the interior paint. Per the instructions, I applied it to #0000 steel wool and rubbed gingerly. The horrible pink coating came off fairly easily. But, it was impossible to remove it without also going through the original Ludwig “Resocoat” white. I’d hoped to return this drum to original condition, but conceded that the interior would have to be repainted. I visited the local building supply outfit with a clean and original ’60s Ludwig tom, and the paint staff mixed up a near perfect match to the Resocoat.
Other than rewrapping, there weren’t too many alternatives for fixing the BDP wrap. This was a very thick and tough coat of varnish and the plastic wrap was even less resistant to scratching and chemical attack than the Resocoat. Seeking the perfect solvent, I tried many different products on the varnish. I experimented with all kinds of strippers, including the citrus variety, and other agents, such as lacquer thinner, fingernail paint remover, graffiti remover, alcohol, adhesive remover–even wet-sanding. Everything I tried was either too aggressive, too slow, or too rough on the 40-year-old wrap.
After all this, I decided to return to the Formby Refinisher. It was effective, yet less aggressive than conventional strippers. I just had to develop a way to slow it down a bit, so I could remove the varnish in layers and stop short of fogging the BDP wrap.
To accomplish this, I decided to dilute the refinishing solution. My testing revealed that 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner was one of the only solvents that did not harm unpainted BDP wrap. It proved to be miscible with the refinisher, so I combined them in a shallow dish.
As one might imagine, this was a very volatile and toxic-smelling brew. It’s also highly flammable. When working with chemicals of this nature, the workspace should be well-ventilated and far from any sources of ignition. I chose to work outside in a breezeway. This stuff will make your fingers burn, if they are not protected, so rubber gloves are also required.
I tested on the bottom of the bass drum. Once I was confident in my chemical concoction, I stripped the hardware off the 8- by 12-in. tom. I started with this drum because it’s small and I was anxious to incorporate it with another Ludwig keystone BDP set. I removed everything except the five-digit keystone badge. To keep the drum as original as possible, I discreetly numbered the lugs so that they could be remounted in their original positions. And, I stored the fasteners in their original holes.
With lugs, muffler assembly and mount casting removed, it was evident that the Rembrandt who varnished this shell, had not bothered to remove the hardware. This was good because it provided 12 baby-lug-shaped examples of what the wrap was SUPPOSED to look like. There was one other plus: The varnish had sloshed onto the lugs and it appeared to have protected them somewhat from pitting. It came off the chrome easily with a little lacquer thinner on a rag. Mounting hardware and washers were easily purged of the interior paint after a short soak in lacquer thinner. An old toothbrush worked well for getting buildup out of inside corners on the hex-head mounting screws..
I masked the badge to protect it, and was now ready to begin the stripping process. I applied the solution with terrycloth rags instead of the recommended #0000 steel wool. The steel wool is faster, but it’s more abrasive and will scratch the soft wrap. Cloth requires more elbow grease, but it works without scratching. The used rags are, of course, highly flammable, so must be disposed of properly.
I worked in small sections, dunking a corner of the rag in the stripping solution and rubbing the shell. As the varnish dissolved, the rag turned yellow with gunk. I added just a little adhesive cleaner diluent at first, then increased the ratio as I got closer to the actual wrap surface. I would rub off a layer, then wipe it with 100% adhesive cleaner to stop any further stripping action. The key is to control the stripping to one layer at a time. During the process, the wrap sometimes looks rough or “burned” by the solution. However, this is actually dissolved varnish that is still clinging to the wrap. Continued rubbing with a 50:50 mix of stripper and solvent will eventually remove it.
Too much rubbing will darken the wrap, however, so it is important to stop as soon as the yellowing and residue are off. The stripping process dulls the original sheen, so I followed by polishing the shell with 3M Plastic Cleaner, a quartz-silica/ kaolinite-based product. Other popular polishes, such as Novus #2 or #3 would likely work as well. The polish gave the shell an almost original-looking shine.
The refurbished shell looked great from a short distance and matched my unaltered set of Ludwig BDP drums nicely. However, when the light hit the shell just right, I noticed that the wrap was covered with a network of very fine cracks. This crazing only affected surfaces that had been varnished. The lug footprints were not affected, which suggests that the old varnish, not the stripper, caused the hair-like cracks. I tried rub them out–first with a buffer and polishing compound, then with very fine (600 and 1500 grit) wet/dry sandpaper. The wrap was more resilient than I expected, and these efforts did reduce the problem some. However, the cracks were too deep to remove completely, and continuing tended to darken the wrap (see sidebar). So, I stopped and gave the shell one last rubdown with the 3M plastic polish.
I completed the restoration by waxing the wrap, polishing the hardware, repairing a couple rub-spots on the resonant bearing edge, painting the interior surfaces “Resocoat” white, and reassembling. Though not 100% original, the finished drum looked great and matched my other Ludwig BDP drums nicely.
Before attempting a similar restoration project, I suggest careful experimentation. The varnish on my drums was incredibly tough and thick. The offending paint or varnish on your drums, may be a different type of product, or a thinner application, and therefore easier to remove. Mine was a severe case that required extreme measures.
Also, remember that some yellowing is a natural condition of older drum finishes. The amount of yellowing will vary depending on how the drums were stored over the years. In other words, don’t assault natural yellowing with chemicals–you could ruin a valuable vintage drum!
As described above, restorations that involve removal of paint, varnish or other coatings can be a long and arduous process. I was tempted to just strip this varnished-slathered tom and try to recover my cost by selling the hardware on eBay. But, I’m glad I persevered. It was a fun challenge that continues to pay off every time I play, or just admire this beautiful vintage instrument.
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Ken Morrison is a writer, photographer, graphic designer and vintage drum enthusiast based in Anacortes, WA.
