COOL CHROME SLINGERLANDS

For my next project I decided to begin disassembling the "LudSlinger" kit.  This was a mismatched set of Ludwig and Slingerland drums that I threw together some time ago.  After cleaning the individual pieces, I sought to match them up with similar drums to create uniform kits instead of the ill-assorted arrangment I had.  When I came across this pair of chrome-wrapped Slingerland toms, I made them my next restoration project, knowing I could unite them with the chrome bass drum from the LudSlinger kit.

These rather large concert toms were going for a reasonable "Buy It Now" price on Ebay, so I acquired them without the usual suspense and competition of an auction.  I believe they may actually be marching toms but even so, they will work fine as tom-toms for my chrome Slingerland kit.  The bigger drum is 16" in diameter, 14" deep, while the other is 14" in diameter and 10" deep.  Admittedly these are a bit larger than I would normally choose, but John Bonham would approve.

When the drums arrived, I could see more clearly the poor shape in which they were: very scratched and very dirty.  Time for a thorough cleaning.  Though my professional-grade metal polish cannot erase scratches and rust, it can clear away years of dirt and grime.  This was acceptable for the purpose at hand, for my chrome bass drum is in the same state.  That's the disadvantage of a shiny chrome wrap.  I can bring back the shine, but scratches are permanent.  Fortunately the bright shine is attractive enough to make the scratches seem not so bad.  They give the surface a little texture.  Here is how the toms cleaned up:

And bringing these toms together with my chrome bass drum and the aluminum-shell snare drum featured in an earlier post, the result is a complete Slingerland kit:

Now, if you have a keen eye and some knowledge of percussion restoration, you undoubtably noticed that the two toms are still missing their tension rods and could use some new heads.  All in good time, my good fellow.  The cleaning comes first.  The final touches come later in the mail.  New rods and heads are on the way, and will be installed as soon as they arrive.

Here's the kit set up with cymbals: