MORE "MADE IN JAPAN" PROJECTS

Not all Percussion Restoration Projects go smoothly.  In fact, few do.  It seems there are always challenges and obstacles to overcome.

Then sometimes there are down and dirty aggravations that almost drive you crazy.

Take this vintage Japanese snare drum.  This was just another of many snare drums that I have cleaned up and restored.  This is a long and tedious process which involves completely disassembling the drum and hand cleaning each and every little part, right down to the tension rods and swivel nuts.

After all the chrome is returned to its intended clean and shiny appearance, it's time to put the drum back together.  Then I finish off the project with some brand new drum heads.  Here's where I hit a major snag with this particular snare drum.  One of the lugs snapped!  I don't mean one of the swivel nuts popped out of the lug, I mean the lug itself broke apart as I was tightening the tension rod!  Click on the photo for a close-up view.

This is what they mean when they say the hardware on Japanese imports is inferior to American-made drums.  The lug on a Ludwig would never break apart like this.  No way.

So, needless to say, this project is on hold until I can track down a new lug.

Moving on to my next project, I began working my magic on this 12" tom.  Since this drum did not give me any trouble, there's not much to say about it.  Instead, let's just look at the pictures.  Here are the BEFORE shots:

Here is what the drum looks like now:

I think the photos pretty much speak for themselves.....