THE ARRIVAL OF THE "ROOTBEER STRATAS"

After I purchased and began working on the Sapphire Marble Crown kit, I swore up and down that I would NOT buy any more drums.  The Percussion Fortress is full to overflowing.  Immediately thereafter I stumbled upon these shells and had to have them.  DOH!!

This wrap is what is known as "Rootbeer Strata" and is affixed to these Japanese wood shells: 14x20, 8x12, 9x13, and 5x14.  So that's a bass drum, two toms and a snare.  No floor tom.  Oh well.  The seller also included two matching bass drum hoops that are in pretty good condition.  The challenge now is to track down all the chrome hardware and see if I can get this kit restored to a playable state.  Oh yes.  I believe it can be done.

Lucky for me, I was able to contact the seller to inquire about any existing hardware he might still possess, and he did indeed have most of the important items: lugs, tom mount, snare strainer, etc.  He offered everything he could round up for a flat forty bucks and I accepted.  Hopefully these items will arrive soon so I can begin to inventory what I have and what I need to get this project going.

So now another adventure begins.....

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UPDATE: "HARDWARE?  WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' HARDWARE!"

A very heavy package arrived today containing most of the chrome hardware I will need  to reassemble this drum set.  As you can see from this photo, I have more than enough lugs and stuff which I have laid out in a semi-orderly fashion:

At this point it looks like I am only missing the rims for the three smaller drums, the bass drum cymbal mount, spurs, two Tone Control Assemblies (which I probably have in my stash), one tom-tom clip mount and snare wires.  Those few items shouldn't be too hard to round up.  And of course I will need all new drum heads, top and bottom.  Looks like I am well on my way to restoring this beautiful kit!  In the above photo you can see I already have the snare almost put back together.  Once I have all the drums re-assembled, I will begin taking them apart again one by one in preparation for the cleaning process.  This should keep me busy for quite a while.....