THE HOLLINGSWORTH CHIMES

Tracy Hollingsworth is a good friend and fellow drummer who I have showcased here before on The Percussion Fortress Pages.  He drums for a local band called "Weekend Bender" and has a somewhat "heavy-handed" playing style.  Therefore he tends to break things, especially delicate percussion items such as bar chimes.

That is why I begged him to let me take on the Percussion Restoration Project of repairing and refurbishing his poor, abused Latin Percussion chimes that were basically falling apart.  As revealed in this "BEFORE" photo, the wooden frame was split all the way across the back side and beginning to crack in the front.  The separated sliver was held on by the plastic ties, several of which were replacements due to Tracy's knocking out individual bars over the years.  Some of these were rather haphazardly restrung by an unprofessional, obviously, and did not hang uniformly.

With Tracy's permission, I switched out his busted-up chimes for a new set of Treeworks that I let him use for gigs while his LPs were in the shop.  Then I took his set home for a closer look to determine what needed to be done to save this intricate instrument from certain demise.

Upon closer inspection, I ruled out the possibility of replacing the wood frame because of the ornate shape and design, so my only option was to repair it in a way that would enable it to hold up for many more years despite Mr. Hollingsworth's lack of finesse.  The crack was indeed severe and the broken piece was completely detached, but with a little determination, a collection of clamps and some special industrial-strength adhesive I thought the sliver could be reattached without compromising the integrity or strength of the frame.  The split was clean and the wood had not splintered, so my repair job would not involve piecing together a bunch of fragments, just one long, thin strip.

The process took several days.  I allowed the glue to set overnight, then filled in the gaps with wood filler and let that dry for another 24 hours.  Next came the sanding and re-staining stages, followed by the re-affixing of the LP nameplate and the striker hole grommet, and then the final restringing of the bar chimes, all of which took a couple more days or so.  But when all my work was completed, I had a finished product that looked like this:

All of the bars are strung perfectly, the frame has been repaired and refinished, and this set of chimes looks practically brand new!  The operation was a complete success!  I am sure Tracy will be thrilled, unless he has fallen in love with my Treeworks chimes and refuses to trade back!

Viewed from behind, you can see all of the connections on the ties are seated properly so that the bars hang and swing uniformly.  The crack is barely noticeable unless you're really looking for it, and then only when you get up close to the chimes.

One final note: I did try to polish the bars to make them shine like new, but they are made of an aluminum alloy, not brass.  Maybe if I tried a re-laquering process?  I'll have to do a little research and experimentation on that.  I'll get back to you.

***UPDATE:***
I have also placed orders for a case to safely transport these chimes, as well as a new striker to replace the one that has been lost.  The case has already arrived and now I am waiting for the striker to ship.  This final piece was a little more difficult to locate and purchase, so it is a little behind schedule.  The case is a hard-sided Treeworks chimes bag because believe it or not, Latin Percussion no longer manufactures and sells carrying cases.  How lame is that?  Oh well.  This new one I got is more durable and stores the instrument better anyway.


***UPDATE ON THE UPDATE***
The striker has arrived and this set of chimes is now once again as good as brand stinkin' new.  I AM AWESOME!!!!

***UPDATE ON THE UPDATE OF THE UPDATE***
While attending a band concert at my son's middle school, I noticed the percussion section was using a rather raggedy-old set of CP bar chimes.  The set had several "teeth" missing and looked very worn-out and misused.  Realizing the recently-restored Hollingsworth chimes were still on the backseat of my car, I rushed out and retrieved them, and let the young percussionists borrow them for the night's performance.  At the conclusion of the concert, my son's band teacher came up and asked me sarcastically, "So, do you always go around with a spare set of bar chimes?"  After we both laughed at her comment - she at her witty query and I at the thought of my answer to it which would have been, "Actually yes, I do," - I decided what needed to be done.  I donated the chimes set to the band program.  Now Hand Middle School has a nice set of professional bar chimes with a sturdy carrying case.  I just hope the kids don't completely destroy them too quickly.  I gave the instructor my card and told her to hold on to any bars that come flying off so that I can repair them again in the future.

PS - This happened after Mr. Hollingsworth decided he would rather have the Treeworks chimes, so he didn't lose out on the deal.