AN ADDITION TO THE BLACK VISTALITES

Although my Ludwig Black Vistalite kit looks pretty awesome - and sounds PHENOMENAL as well, by the way - I am not completely done with this project.  I am planning a few more additions before I quit.

Today I added this 12" concert tom.  Here are a few "Before" photos that I took before I completely disassembled this drum and cleaned it.

This drum was in good shape but was a little dirty around the rim.  These crappy photographs taken with my crappy camera don't really show the detail I was trying to capture, but as is the case with all drums, dust and grime collects along the bend of the upper rim, especially behind the tension rods.  A sound polishing removes this filth and makes the chrome shine and reflect again.

And speaking of tension rods, four out of the six on this drum were missing their washers.  This isn't a major ordeal or anything, but a fine detail that I noted and will address when putting the drum back together.

Because this is a vintage concert tom, it is equipped with what is known in Percussionary Parlance as a "Clip Mount."  This is a unique tom-mounting bracket used for single-headed toms that allows the drum to slide on and off the tom holder without the need for wingnuts.  I'm not sure why this style of tom mount is only used on concert toms, but I would guess it's because without the bottom heads and hardware, these drums weigh less and can therefore be mounted in this simpler way.  Or maybe "concert" toms are for "concert" situations, so quick set-up and tear-down is preferred?

Whatever the case, it is interesting to note that Ludwig no longer uses this type of clip mount for their concert toms which on one hand is good, because a heavier-duty bracket securely fastened to an "L"-arm is much sturdier and durable, but is also bad, because finding a vintage clip-mount tom stand is becoming more and more difficult (and expensive).

But I will worry about the tom stand later.  Here are the "After" photos:

The shell and the chrome cleaned up fine, and now the tension rods all have washers.  [Note: I couldn't do anything about the scratch in the middle of the badge, though.]

The clip mount also cleaned up pretty well despite its age, and all the screw heads are now shiny instead of dull and gray.

And here is an extreme close-up of the area behind a tension rod which, if I had a decent camera that could capture such things, would reveal the remarkable improvement my diligent detailing has made.

But I'm not a photographer.  I am the Polish Master.  And I have other drums to clean.....