I will post this first, then figure out how to add the photos
SKIP THIS LONG INTRO IF YOU JUST WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE DRUM SET
Hello everyone! I am new to this forum, and a new drummer as well, so please patronize me with patience and drop some knowledge on me, because I am eager to learn! First off, you'll probably roll your eyes, but I became interested in drums because of Rock Band. Yup, that's right. For my son's 9th b-day back in Feb. I bought a used xBox 360 Rock Band I along w/ a used guitar. Within a week, the whole family was hooked, and hubby was on the guitar, another guitar was purchased, a microphone ..... and DRUMS! I never thought of myself as a girl who had any musical talent (aside from a brief stint as a singer in a shoegazer-ish band from San Jose in the early 90's), yet, somehow I was a Rock Band drum Goddess, at least in my living room! I was soon tearing up Dead Kennedys, Metallica, Lush, Belly, and all the other songs we could download! Santa brought the family RBIII this Christmas, and now I am learning how to play all over again w/ the "Pro Series" which requires more precision and you can't choose between hitting a drum pad or a cymbal. It's a load of fun, but not as fun as... playing the REAL drums, which I have only been doing for about a week or so. I'm hooked!!!!
START HERE TO AVOID LONG RAMBLING INTRO
OK, so a friend gave me all his old "stuff", and I mean "stuff" because it consisted of this:
Pearl Forum Series wine colored shells: Bass w/ no rings or heads no legs and missing some of the hardware, 16" floor tom w/all hardware but the legs, mounted tom (what do you call them when they're attached to the bass, anyhow?) missing They came with a zip-loc bag of "scary", meaning various pieces of hardware, including rusty tension rods, wing nuts, stuff from other drums, and just a bunch of stuff I had not an inkling of what it was.
The drums are Nasty...as crusty as they come. A combination of sticky dried beer, cat hair, grease, possibly spilled water from some sort of illicit contraption used for inhaling certain substances, dead spiders and other mummified insects have created a rather interesting and unwanted patina to the finish.
HERE'S THE LINK TO THE PHOTOS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatchickyoutalkedto/sets/72157625684723918/with/5297405562/
[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatchickyoutalkedto/5297405562/in/set-72157625684723918/[/IMG]
OK, so in the meantime, I picked up an entry level full Pacific set, hardly used, all the hardware, w/ low-end Pearl hi-hat and cx300 crash/ride at the thrift store for $150 bucks, which is a screamin deal if you ask me. A little tuning by a neighbor's talented and knowledgeable boyfriend, and they sound about as good as they can get.
Another awesome neighbor gave me his old Pacific cx series snare, so that's a major upgrade, and I traded 12 CDs (domestic!) for a decent Paiste hi-hat and a crusty painted Paiste ride that has a nice dry sound. I actually like it better than some of the more expensive rides I checked out.
Yesterday, I brought the crusty Pearl stuff down to Guitar center, and a really nice guy who works there helped me figure out what I had, and what I could do to resurrect my Frankenstein set. I am on a limited budget, so I decided to start with the floor tom and bought a Remo Pinstripe head.
FLOOR TOM RESURRECTED
About an hour of cleaning and polishing the floor tom revealed a lovely shell, and hardware that is now almost devoid of any oxidation. I took the legs off the Pacific floor tom, and the skin as well, since the Pearl had the original skin and it's in pretty bad shape. I couldn't believe my good fortune when my neighbor and her boyfriend dropped by, so I was able to have him tune the tom to the rest of the set (which is still the Pacific set). It sounds amazing! $21 bucks for a new drum head, and what looked like a hopeless piece of junk sounds incredible. The neighbor's boyfriend said it had a really nice woody sound to it, said it was definitely worth the effort, and a great instrument.
I have no idea how old these drums are, but I am on a mission to restore them!
HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS
1. Any idea how old these are?
2. How much will it roughly cost to get all the missing parts for the bass?
3. Where is the best place to pick up odd pieces, since I don't need everything?
Thank you so much for reading my lengthy post, and any information or advice you may have will be deeply appreciated. Please forgive my lack of knowledge, as I have only been playing the drums for less than two weeks...although I've been told I can bust out a wicked thrash metal beat, and I have the Disco hi-hat effect down so good I coulda rocked it with the Beegies!
