1966 Stripped & Polished Ludwig Supra

[Purdie Shuffle]

About a year-and-a-half ago I purchased a set of drums that had one of the best sounding Supraphonics I ever played/heard. I don't know why, but this supra just had "It."

The problem was; is was a pitted mess. I decided to experiment so I took it to a local plating shop and had it stripped of the pitted chrome right down to the bare aluminum. I then had them polish the aluminum to a very high gloss. You cannot tell it apart from a chromed shell.

It cost me $175. in total (I already had the brass tube lugs & hoops) to refinish the drum as you see it in the photo. The big difference between mine and any other 60's supra's is; mine will never pit again! As long as I keep it clean and polished, it'll look new forever...

Enjoy,

John

[AZBill]

Wow, man. That's a real killer-diller!! Beautiful.

B

PS - Love the tubes.

[Purdie Shuffle]

> PS - Love the tubes.

Strangely, adding the tubes dried the drum out a little more than it already was. I 'almost' put the Imperials back on. But the sound of this one is so right-on, I didn't want to mess with it anymore. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Thanks for the kind words, it did come out better than I expected.

John

[Powertone]

Beautiful drum. What a great idea to bring back a pitted supra. I actually like the looks of the polished alloy better than the chrome finish! The tube lugs are a great look on that drum. Did you say that you also used brass hoops? Nice job!

[Purdie Shuffle]

Yarp! COB hoops, COB tube lugs.

I really thought that by replacing the Imperials with tube lugs it would 'open' the sound of the drum a bit. To my surprise, it went the other way! This one sounds more like a super-sensitive - very crisp, articulate drum and because it's so articulate, it punishes playing mistakes mercilessly. You can hear every tick of the stick clearly, nothing mushy about this drum. And what a range on this thing! It would make as good a concert snare as it does a rock/blues drum when tuned a bit lower.

John

[mendozart]

Love it!Cool1

[Hoppy]

Looks great. I never really could understand why they chromed these things in the first place as Al is one of the most reflective metals, as your's clearly illustrates.

[Purdie Shuffle]

What I can't understand is; the company knew pretty early on that there was a serious problem with the chrome plating pitting on their proprietary, Ludalloy. Yet, to this day, they continue to produce supra's which; are all going to have bad acne cases in just a few years.

And... people know it and continue to buy them. My buddy, JR Frondelli's tagger says, "Mediocre is the new Good!" Sad, but true...

John

[AZBill]

"Mediocre is the new Good!"

Ha, haaaaaaaa! I love it!!! Can I use it, too? Too funny.Excited

B

[green glass drum]

That drum looks very cool and different.
The tube lugs do a number to my eyes. What brand is that?
Oh yeah.
I've done my last 3 drums with the tubes.
I miss that old 60's and 70's style American lug.
I will look for some beavertails or Gretsch type lugs?
Something old and cool.
SA

[redneckdrum]

I have a couple of pitted Supras.Thanks for the idea

[Purdie Shuffle]

Red- Shop prices at several plating shops before committing to one of them. You'll be surprised by how much prices for the same job can vary from shop to shop. Your best bet is; if you know a good motorcycle shop or vintage car restoration place, they send out a lot of small parts for stripping, polishing and re-chroming. You'll get your best deal/price from them. They'll just include your shell in the next batch they send in and charge you accordingly. Because it'll be part of a bulk shipment of parts, you'll pay less for the same work.

Greenglass - the tube lugs are chrome over brass, I got them from Worldmax awhile ago, and decided to use them on this shell.

John

[GG Vintage]

[QUOTE=Purdie Shuffle;136733].....are all going to have bad acne cases in just a few years.

Purdie, not necessarily. Some do, some don't. I have asked on this forum "why?". The answer seems to be "it depends" on what day it was made, what shop did the chrome, and subsequent owner maintenance. Here's my 1963 Supra...no pits...(well, a couple on the bearing edge you can't see). Not to say that it will never happen, but so far, so good.

[Strangely, adding the tubes dried the drum out a little more than it already was. I 'almost' put the Imperials back on. But the sound of this one is so right-on, I didn't want to mess with it anymore. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!]

Regarding the tube lugs, yes, I have a badly pitted Supra that I had powered coated and installed tube lugs. I love the sound of it. It's actually my second favorite snare (to the original 1963) and the one I now use the most.

[mendozart]

Purdie, not necessarily. Some do, some don't. I have asked on this forum "why?". The answer seems to be "it depends" on what day it was made, what shop did the chrome, and subsequent owner maintenance.

My 79/80 402 has zero pitting, been in So Cal all its life.

[kellyj]

Very nice! Clapping Happy2

The sixties Keystone Acrolites came with a "burnished", unplated shell of the same formula "Ludalloy" material. They are nice looking drums...maybe you've brought out the best qualities of the Ludalloy here?

The Ludwig "Standard" of the late 60's came the same way, with an unplated, all aluminum shell, although not highly polished like this.

Ludwig could have stuck with the chrome plated brass shell of the early Supras but the cost! Plating over an aluminum alloy material has never really worked well for Ludwig but there are some really nice unpitted drums out there..such as the one above.

Looks like you found a nice solution to the most wonderful snare ever! Some restorers have even powder coated (as mentioned above) pitted Supras with nice results..

-kellyj

[Powertone]

The fact that ludwig continues to use that same chrome over ludalloy just makes me shake my head. Kind of like ludwig continuing to use the 5" drum tube lugs on their 6.5x14 drums? And then they use the correct longer tube lugs on their economy 6.5 black magic? What the hell is up with that?

5" tube lugs on the 6.5" BB 100th anniversary? Really? That is the one thing that kept me from buying the 100th. Sorry to digress. Hit a hot button.

[mchair303]

Stripping the pitted chrome and polishing the aluminum shell really paid off on this Supra, but it got me thinking. Has anyone here ever tried stripping the chrome off a brass shell and then buffing or soft-brushing the brass? I've got a badly pitted Dynasonic I used for parts, and this might be an interesting way to bring it back to life. Brass, like aluminum is soft and susceptible to scratches (more than hard chrome) but few of us ever expose our restored snares to the hazards of scratching.

[mfry55]

John, your always thinking outside the box. Your supra looks fabulous. If my 67 ever pits, I'll go down the trail you have blazed. Right now, it still looks new.

[Purdie Shuffle]

Powertone - Re: your comment: ... my sentiments precisely!

Mchair303 - See photo! It 'was' a chrome over brass shell (Oliver Ditson drum circa 1910.) but the chrome had been chemically damaged along the way. There was no way to save it. I took it to my plater and had him strip the damaged chrome and polish the raw brass. You see the results in the photo. The first shot is the 'before' photo the second one is after stripping and polishing.

mfry55 - (Hey bud! Nice to see you posting here!) As I said earlier... I don't get why Ludwig doesn't simply polish their aluminum shells to a high luster and be done with it. They could save all that $ that goes to pay for a complicated plating process (first they have to lay down copper, then nickel and then the chrome,) and, they would avoid all the pitting problems if they'd only polish the raw shells. I don't get it.

*Nice to see a post from an old friend... Clapping Happy2

John

[Purdie Shuffle]

BTW, this is what the 1910 Oliver Ditson drum looks like finished...

I enjoy the challenge of saving worthy drums from the trash heap. This is one I'm proud of. You see what it looked like when I got it.

Note: the only things I replaced were the lugs, of which four were cracked and not replaceable. I used 8 Ego single point mount lugs which were very close in appearance to the originals.

John

[mchair303]

[QUOTE=Purdie Shuffle;136915]BTW, this is what the 1910 Oliver Ditson drum looks like finished...

Absolutely stunning John.

[tamadrm]

Hey John...show these guys the brass Slingy with the beavertails...killer drum.

Steve B

[Purdie Shuffle]

For you, Steve... (I'll try to find some better shots for you. This is all I could find on short notice.)

It's sitting behind my kit right now. Balls to the wall! D' Drummer

John

[Drumsforever]

A great way to save a pitted chrome Ludwig shell!

[Purdie Shuffle]

Hey, Drumsforever! Man, it's like, 'Old-Home Week' around here! How the hell are ya? mfry55 posted in this thread a little earlier, I love seeing familiar names pop up on my screen. Clapping Happy2

It -is- a great way to save a snare drum you love, a favorite supra. But it can cost as much as $125.00. Depending of course on 'who' you're dealing with, it 'could be' much less. The point is; unless it's a 'keeper,' you'll never be able to recoup the investment on a resale.

It's not something you want to do with a drum you plan to flip, or to sell for a profit down the road. But if you really want to save your favorite vintage supra, there's no better way to go. The process guarantees that the drum will never pit again. If maintained, it can look 'new' forever.

DF - Post more often! Good to run into you again.

John

[Purdie Shuffle]

John, I don't know if you remember me asking you about this drum, But I ended up doing a supersensitive shell for a forum member here it turn out awesome as your drum did, I love your supra brother.

Post Pix, Mark! I remember that one... it came out excellent. I bet your elbow is still sore from that one! lol Please, feel free to post pictures of the drum here. It'll be another great example of what can be done with a favorite supra that has terminal acne.

John

[auto.pilot]

I decided to experiment so I took it to a local plating shop and had it stripped of the pitted chrome right down to the bare aluminum. I then had them polish the aluminum to a very high gloss.

This drum looks fantastic. I just picked one up with my orange mod set. It's rough and I may try this technique.

I think a little muriatic bath would take it off.

jim

[JD15]

$35 for a nitric acid bath at the plater, a few beers, a dremmel and here's my prototype. Looks good from 5 + feet away (Still has some pitting - I didn't want to remove too much of the shell for fear it would ruin the sound).

[Purdie Shuffle]

Did you get the swirls from using the roto-tool? How'd you do it? Hold it one spot for a second and then move on? You got a great pattern in the aluminum.

John

[JD15]

Did you get the swirls from using the roto-tool? How'd you do it? Hold it one spot for a second and then move on? You got a great pattern in the aluminum.

John

It was an excercise in patience. I cut out circles out of scotch sanding pads (medium or coarse, I forget). Stuck those onto the rotary tool cut-off wheels with adhesive. They flew off a lot, or wore down, which changed the look of the swirls a bit. Then, like you said, held it in one spot for a few seconds and made my way around the drum. The cirlce part took less than an hour. A few coats of transparent red lacquer (from Stew Mac), then a few clear coats. Sand, wax, assemble and play.

[kevins]

That's groovy baby ....!!

[Purdie Shuffle]

I love it! I'll have to give that a try when the right candidate snare drum comes along. Your method renews the finish and gives the shell a cool, almost 'industrial' look. Nice, creative solution.

Respect...

John

[GG Vintage]

VERY innovative! The transparent lacquer really gives it a great look.

[JD15]

Practice with some step flashing taped to the drum, so you get a feel for the tool and curve of the drum ;) and if you do a lacquer finish wait as long as you can to put the heads and hardware on. Not like a five year old waiting for Christmas like me - chipped the paint with the head DOH

[Purdie Shuffle]

LOL - I'm afraid I'm more like you, 'a kid at X-mas' when it comes to waiting for $hit to dry. I'll have to exercise patience... for a change! :p

John