HA! You have it bad... :)

But, you're right. These old kits are much better than the crap available today.

I understand Bill is still working on his house, so is only here infrequently. You may want to send him a direct message.

Have fun with those. You'll have a sweet kit when you're finished.

Fish, on here this morning, and as I mentioned in another thread, I'm sure getting the "bug" again!!

ChristianB, these shells look identical to a 70s Pearl W-5 kit I have. I've also got a CB700 kit and a newer (sorry, a MIT kit) Gretsch BlackHawk kit. I've also got a MIT Ludwig kit, then several MIJ and MIT orhans -- all total I can put together probably 5 kits.

One thing that is really nice about putting these kits back together as "players" kits -- much of the lugs, spurs, FT legs, etc. is pretty much the same as what they use now, so even when you have to use new parts they still can look pretty much the same as when they were new.

Bill

Man oh MAN! These kits are a blast to refurb. Congrats to you on the new fun project. Looking forward to progress shots.

@Bill - I've done the Blackhawks and they turn out great. Excellent baseline as Gretsch kept the quality up on their imports. FWIW, I did a heavy Hardwax on the inners to really impact the reso. It worked brilliantly. Good luck on your run.

Here's the link to the product. Read up on it and you'll see why this stuff is sweet on the inners of these MIJs and MITs. I've used it for years and it really makes a serious impact on those soft and porous shells. Much better than any other method I've experimented with.

http://www.environmentalgreenproducts.com/store/osmo-polyx-oil-the-original-hardwax-oil-pr-16136.html

Do you give yours out to up and coming? Or do you sell 'em? Just curious.

BILL!!!

Good to hear from you! We're just starting 'phase II' of the remodel project, and should be done by September / October. (I hope)

I hope so, anyway!

Craig

RogerSling, thanks for the info, and I will check that out.

I have "contributed" some to special needs projects, but haven't up to this point just given a whole set away. However, unfortunately I've never gotten much out of a rebuilt kit like these. In fact, I refurbed a 70s Pearl W/FG kit earlier in the year and finally sold it for about $250 (just the shell pack, 22,16,13,12; no SD or stands & cymbals). It was a beat-up and abused kit I picked up last summer for $100 -- but it came with a 70s Supra and a 60s 20" AZildjian ride, which I got over $300 on a quick sale on those. So... I had already got my investment back on that $100.

Much of what I have in "stock" is already like that -- left-overs from other finds/buys that I don't have money still tied up in. So... making some of this available for underprivileged "up and comers" is within the scope of possibility...

We started the siding project on our house the middle of March. We're not quite done yet, but all the hard stuff (the really HIGH parts of our older, 2-story home) is done.

We had a LOT of weather problems, so we started ripping out the up-stairs bathroom, and it still sets with nothing more than the demo done. It's not a high priority, but with all of this going on, drums were what took a back seat. I guess between work and the work on the house... well, at my age 2 things going on was all I could handle (physically and mentally).

BUT... like I've already said twice this morning, getting on here reading these thread -- I've got the "bug" again!

Bill

This is very interesting, I'm usually highly skeptical of any oil based product being used on MIJ drums. Vintage MIJ drums were made with highly porous woods like Luan which are densely saturated with natural oils when new. With time these oils dry out and the wood hardens and becomes naturally more resonant. This happens with all woods but most especially mahogonies including Luan (Phillipine Mahogony).

I'm normally worried that using an oil based product like this will actually tend to reverse this process and reduce resonance. If this product actually improves resonance then it's either because once the shells have aged and dried out, other chemical changes also take place that prevent the wood from becoming re-saturated with oils or the treatment is literally only skin deep. Can you tell whether this product is seeping back into the shell or is it purely a surface treatment?

I would steer you to the posted information on the various sites as opposed to restating that info and adding my take. I believe you would find it more informative. I will say that there is some neat info using this on cork. Also check out the hardness factors for floors. It is an interesting product, to say the least.

With all apologies to ChristianB. I did not mean to detract/derail from your original topic.

Would you mind posting some links? I've googled the product but all I see come up is marketing material, which as we all know is not the most objective of information sources.