FINAL TOUCHES TO LUKE'S LUDWIGS

Most drummers do not clean their cymbals.  It's a bothersome chore.  Very few actually spend any effort keeping the shells free of dust and the chrome free of fingerprints.  Who has the time?  But no drummer, and I mean no drummer on the freakin' planet, ever engages in the painstaking task of cleaning and polishing all of the chrome hardware that looks so nice when a drumset is new but over time becomes cloudy and dull with dirt and grime.

That's why you get me to restore your kit, because I do take the time and put forth the effort to make old hardware look new again.  Here are the stands for Luke's Ludwigs all polished up and shining beautiful again as they should.  There is also a hi-hat stand, but it was missing a rubber foot and the clutch so it will not be ready until those parts come in.

The Ludwig straight stand is also missing a vital part: one of the "T-handles" that tightens the top section.  While this doesn't seem like a major problem, it actually is.  No T-handle means the top section is not secured into position, so that as you play the ride cymbal it tends to rotate around on you and won't stay put, which is slightly aggravating.  This part is also on order and will rectify this problem as soon as it arrives.

And here is one last little thing that bothered me so I had to fix it.  The floor tom legs:

What?  You don't see the problem?  I mean, it's pretty obvious that these legs all need rubber feet but look at them closely.  As the song goes, "One of these things is not like the other..."  Right.  Now you see it, huh?  That third leg, the one furthest to the right.  It doesn't match the other two.  That's because the other two are Ludwig legs and the third is not.  Someone did a little switcheroo on us here.

Here I present the "After" picture.  Now I have three matching Ludwig floor tom legs with three brand new rubber feet.  That's much better.  Now I'm satisfied.  How about you?

Here are some nice outdoor shots of the finished product:

So that finishes up the Luke's Ludwigs Project.  I'm all done.  This is a great little kit that has many years of life left in it IF THE OWNER WILL JUST TAKE BETTER CARE OF IT FROM NOW ON.

By the way, I didn't polish any of the cymbals because 1.) they are so dirty it wouldn't do much good and 2.) they are crappy beginner cymbals and need replacing anyway.  So I didn't waste my time.

Now that I am through with this kit, do you know what that means?  It means if there is somebody out there who has a drumset that needs a lot of love and attention, I'm available.  I need a new project.

FINAL UPDATE:
Okay, so these things sometimes happen.  The part for the Ludwig stand came in and it was the wrong one.  It seems I was not thorough enough with my research and mistakenly ordered the incorrect hex bolt.  You would be surprised how many different nuts and bolts and washers and T-handles there are to choose from when it comes to these little parts that hold things together.  No worries though, I have now ordered the correct one and it should be here by the end of the week.  The parts for the Tama hi-hat stand have also arrived and they are correct, so that stand is finished.  Live and learn, dude.