FURTHER ADVENTURES WITH LUKE'S LUDWIGS

Now that I have completed the initial overall cleaning of this red-sparkle Ludwig kit, I now turn my attention to the little problems that need to be addressed and the repairs that need to be made.

The most obvious issue was the peeling wrap on the bass drum and the floor tom.  This has been re-glued and although there is still an "orange line" where the wrap receded less than half an inch (which unfortunately cannot be fixed without re-wrapping the entire drum), the existing cover has been secured along the peeling edges.  The floor tom can be turned so that this "line" is out of view; the bass drum seams are on the bottom of the drum so they do not show.

Another thing that bothered me was the badge on the 13" tom.  It was badly scratched so that the Ludwig logo was marred.  I decided to replace it, a gutsy endeavor that I would highly NOT recommend just any old amateur attempting.  It is a lot harder than you think, and you can end up destroying the badge, the grommet and the air hole, so don't try it.  Most of the time those darn things are glued in there good so that they are not easily removed or inadvertently fall out.

Fortunately I was successful in my remove and replace effort so that now the 13-inch has a nice, new badge:

As far as I could tell from the pile of filthy hardware that was dropped off along with these drums, the 13-inch tom was being mounted on a snare stand.  Just because I felt like it, I tracked down a vintage tom mount and the correct "T-handle" so that the drum can now be mounted off the bass drum.  I also replaced the nut on the mounting bracket with a (female) "T-handle" so that the drum can be more easily set-up and removed.

So those are a few improvements I have made in the past week.  I still have more hardware to polish, but here is a photo of how the set is shaping up, including a Ludwig straight stand that has been cleaned.

Oh, and by the way.....

THEY SOUND FREAKIN' AWESOME WHEN YOU ACTUALLY PLAY THEM!!!