DON'T TRASH THAT SNARE! RESTORE! REPAIR!

This post will deal with the restoration of a trio of random snare drums that were given to me because, in the opinion of their previous owner, they had lost their usefulness.  Well, don't trash that snare!  The misplacedmtnman can clean that drum up and make it look like new again.  All it takes is a little patience, determination and resourcefulness.

The first was a basic, bottom-of-the-line, 5x14" metal snare made by Pearl.  Besides being covered in smudgy fingerprints and consistently dirty all over (the most common depreciation with chrome drums getting along in years), there were a few mechanical problems that needed addressing to make this snare functional again.

After removing the heads, I began to disassemble the drum and found the muffler assembly was completely broken off and missing.  The muffler assembly is a relatively simple mechanism, basically a long threaded rod with an adjusting knob at one end that squeezes the thin band holding the felt muffler, causing it to be raised or lowered accordingly.  It is mounted to the shell with a single nut, bolt and washer.  I just happen to have extra items like this stashed away in my massive hoard of old drum parts, so replacing it was quick and easy.  Some drummers intentionally remove this assembly because they don't need the muffling, but this leaves an inexplicable hole in the side of the drum.  I like to have the knob and mechanism where it belongs, even if I don't use it.

Further along in the dismantling process I soon came across another problem: a lug that was missing a mounting screw, which caused the lug to wobble and rattle.  Because metal snare drums are made of thinner material than a wood snare, the lug mounting screws have to be equipped with specially-shaped washers to make up for the extra space.  Fortunately a little research on the Internet helped me figure out these are called "cup washers," and a quick search on Ebay led me to exactly what I needed to fix this issue.  Whatever I'm looking for, someone is almost always selling it on Ebay.  In this case it was "Lug Mounting Screws With Cup Washers for Metal Snare Drums."  Precisely.  Problem solved.

Having conquered these minor malfunctions, I then ran into a more perplexing conundrum .  The snare strainer was missing the tuning knob.  Oh, boy.  This is not something even I would have stowed away in my plethora of  parts drawers.  Back to the Internet!  In no time I had tracked down an exact match to replace the entire strainer mechanism.  Boo-yah!  I am awesome.

So here now is this beautiful chrome snare drum, formerly an unwanted throw-away item, now a perfectly-functioning, decent-sounding percussion instrument worth at least ten bucks or so.  Who knows?  I don't because I don't ever sell anything.  I just buy, buy, buy.

And by the way, here is the second snare drum I was given.  Not so much a drum, but more of a shell.  Yeah.  This one would require quite a bit of work.  But it's a Ludwig Acrolite!  That's a fairly popular and somewhat collectible snare drum.  It was certainly worth the effort if there was a chance I could save it.

As I have cleverly denoted in the above photo, the shortcomings of this filthy shell were immediately obvious:
     -  The muffler assembly was wrapped in duct tape and, as I discovered after removing it, the felt muffler underneath had been torn off and discarded.
     -  One of the lugs was incorrect; it was a Ludwig Supraphonic lug instead of an Acrolite.
     -  The other lugs were very scratched and pitted, and several were missing mounting screws.
     -  The strainer assembly had a very rusty throw-off arm and also a piece broken off at the bottom.
     -  The butt plate was also cosmetically-challenged, so it might as well be replaced.
     -  No rims.
     -  No heads.
     -  No tension rods.
     -  No wires.

That sounds like a fairly long list of replacement parts to go shopping for on Ebay, but this is exactly my kind of project.  Most people would have the good sense to just throw this dirty old shell away, but I'd rather spend two hundred dollars trying to save a fifty-dollar snare drum, just to see if it can be done.

Here is the drum now, all put back together with all the correct parts and heads:

This is why you do not EVER throw away an old Ludwig shell, even if it seems to be in complete disrepair.  SOMEBODY can take your throw-away junk and make it a perfectly playable drum again.

Snare drum number three is another Pearl.  This little 13x3-inch model confuses me, because the badge says "Steel Shell," but the drum is actually wood (maple) with a black wrap.  I don't know if it just has the wrong badge on it or what, but the only thing steel about it are the hoops.

Anyway, as you can see in the above and below photos this drum is basically brand-spanking-new but has a busted top head.  Therefore in order to fix this drum all I had to do was buy a new 13" head.

Here I have replaced the split Pearl head with a new Remo Coated Ambassador X, which completes this project with minimal effort.  Oh, boy.  Now I have another Pearl drum that I'll never use.  Whatever.

So that, my friendly fans and voracious readers, concludes my three latest snare drum restoration efforts that all came through with smashing results.  Unfortunately, this means that now I don't have any more drums to take apart, polish up or tinker around on.  Therefore I am currently accepting new projects if anyone has any.  Otherwise I'm going to have to go shopping around on Ebay and buy more drum stuff for no apparent reason other than I am a drumass.