I also think you need to find a way of getting that kit out of the school. Kids really dont have an appreciation for much history, particularly that of 'just a pile of drums'. Its a rare colour - meaning it didnt sell well originally - this also means its VERY difficult to find extra drums for the kit, should anything further happen damage wise. PS. You wouldnt find anything of that quality in a school in the UK!!!!

Re the tear on the tom..

If it were me, I'd carefully slice the wrap between the tear ends & remove the warped piece. Soak the piece in some fairly hot water & see if you can obtain some level of pliancy.. if so you may be able to repatch and clamp it back in to place. If that does not happen square off the missing section & go on the hunt for a small patch of the laminate..

Good luck with it..

It's crazy to leave a set of that value in there with middle school kids..it's like leaving a Stradivarius viola in nose pickin Louies country bar for the locals to fondle....crazy..

And it will only take 1 kid who needs quick cash..to check out Ebay..and strip parts off that set to sell..esp the badges valued at $100- a pop..

Thanks for all of the tips so far. I've completed the mounted tom and the snare. So far, so good. It's really a lot of work. Going to work on the floor tom next. I will carefully cut the bunched up wrap and soak in hot water to soften it up. It's a small section that will actually get covered up by the drum head, but it still needs to be repaired.

Then I need to work on the bass drum hoops. The all of the wrap is off. What's the best way to re-attach the wrap to the hoops and make sure it stays attached?

Thanks,

Tim

I really understand how you feel Tim, but I was in middle and high school band. I had respect for the instruments. In our middle and high school the stage band/ jazz band drummers all had their own sets they would leave at school or we had one guy who let us all use his Black Panther Ludwigs.

We were all friends and I know things are different now. I just hate when the, "we told you so" time comes, as it surely will. Kids today have no respect for teachers, authority, much less a school instrument and at their age don't have the smarts, or grasp what they are dealing with. Even if the asst director or whatever's late husband donated them. They won't be at that school forever and who knows what bozo might replace them and have no clue about that set and let it get destroyed. It is only a matter of time.

Get those out of there and sell them to a pro player or collector who will appreciate them and or perform on them. They will be much more appreciated and still serve the music community by them being enjoyed and possibly heard. Had you rather see a Strad in the hands of a philharmonic first chair player or a clueless 7th grader who may or may not have talent or a future in music. Would you give a 4 year old girl a 3000.00 mink coat?

I feel the music dept. will be well more served with another set, and all the other percussion and instruments they could upgrade or replace with the money that set could bring.

I love this statement, and it is so so true,

"It's crazy to leave a set of that value in there with middle school kids..it's like leaving a Stradivarius viola in nose pickin Louies country bar for the locals to fondle....crazy..

And it will only take 1 kid who needs quick cash..to check out Ebay..and strip parts off that set to sell..esp the badges valued at $100- a pop.. "

Please save that set from it's impending doom!!!

I like the fact you're staying honest and keeping those drums in the school where they were intended to go. Kudos and a nice set. I remember playing K-Istanbul Zildjian 15" Hats on a set in a college nearby on a practice room drum set. They sounded awesome and inspired me to practice the crap out of them. Keep them in the middle school is my vote and if you even think of removing them, make sure the donator and the school is aware of the full retail value of them. That would be the right thing to do. Those drums will last forever, probably, if kept in the band room and simply cleaned up periodically. I was in middle and jr. high school band too. And I felt privileged to play some of the nice equipment they had, as the middle school was originally a high school. The band director is supposed to keep control over the proceedings and in this case he did--there was a fine set of old Leedy Timpani in the back room and no one could play them unless he said it was OK.

I can't believe people are suggesting to put more chinese musical instruments in a middle school band room. But, hey, we're all entitled to our opinions.

It's up to the music director to care for those drums, & make sure nobody F's with them. Definitely go with the oversized Aquarian heads. Beautiful set, great wrap, great sizes....marko

I really appreciate everyone's opinions and advice. I will leave it up to the music director to decide what's best for this drum set. They are aware of the set's value and have other musical instruments in inventory of significant value/and collectibility.

I finished up this past weekend and delivered them on Tuesday. I am very please with how they turned out and the way they sound. I still need to tweak the bass drum and floor tom's heads, but the snare and the mounted tom sound great! The snare has that awesome crack.

I replaced all heads (minus the bass resonant), re-used the original Gretsch Wide-42 Power Snares, replaced one of the missing "disappearing bass drum spurs" with a piece of 3/8 aluminum stock, re-painted both bass drum hoops, re-glued the original hoop wrap inserts, repaired the floor tom wrap damage, went through two whole bottles of Flitz Polish to remove 50+ years for grime from all of the chrome and applied a nice coat of Carnauba wax.

Here are the heads I used:

[LIST]

[*]Snare batter - Evans Power Center Reverse Dot

[*]Snare resonant - Evans Hazy 300

[*]Mounted/Floor Toms batter - Evans G2 Coated

[*]Mounted/Floor Toms resonant - Evans Genera Clear

[*]Bass batter - Evans EMAD

[*]Bass resonant - Original Gretsch head

[/LIST]

A couple band students came into the music room after I was done setting up. The first thing they said was, "That's a cool drum set. Is it new." I told them no, it's the same one that's always been here, just fixed up.

I have attached some after pictures below.

Tim

Wow!

They look perfect! Great job......

Beautiful job, and I agree with those that say they should stay at the school. They should be played, and who better to do it than the kids they were given to?

Side question - where did you find the aluminum stock?