Old 09-27-2015, 05:38 PM
#1
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Smile Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
Hi. I have 3 drumkits to restore and decided to begin with this "Made in Japan" Tama Swingstar (red badge).

Sizes
Bass drum: 22"x14"
Toms: 12"x8" and 13"x9"
Floor Toom: 16"x16"

The wrap was painted black by previous owner, the real color is a kind of Blue. I need your help to remove the black paint and let the wrap shine.

The kit misses the bass drum spurs and the floor tom legs. The bass drum has 3 broken lugs and a broken wood hoop that I want to replace by the original.

The chrome is rusted in some areas but I think I can make it look good with cleaning and polish.
The shell interiors are OK and the bearing edges are fine, I think.

I took off all the hardware and I'm ready to start the cleaning process.
By the way, can you help me to identify the manufacture year?

Check the photos bellow.














[Edit] Broken image URLs fixed

Last edited by JohnBonham; 01-09-2016 at 07:52 PM. Reason: broken image URLs
Old 09-27-2015, 05:38 PM
#2
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project












[Edit] Broken image URLs fixed

Last edited by JohnBonham; 01-09-2016 at 07:51 PM. Reason: broken image URLs
Old 09-27-2015, 05:39 PM
#3
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project










[Edit] Broken image URLs fixed

Last edited by JohnBonham; 01-09-2016 at 08:03 PM. Reason: broken image URLs
Old 09-27-2015, 10:58 PM
#4
human71 human71 is offline
Vintage Drum Guru
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Montreal, Que. Canada
Posts: 1,880
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
There's always some imbecile who thought he'd make his drums look "cool" by painting over the original finish and totally destroying the drum kit's aesthetics.. With that being said, I would use Circa 1850 Soft Strip to remove the paint, as it is mild and won't ruin the finish that's underneath..
Btw, You have to re-size your pics, as they're taking up the entire page.. Show us the results when your done !
Good luck

Last edited by human71; 09-27-2015 at 11:07 PM.
Old 09-27-2015, 11:04 PM
#5
R.Adam McHugh R.Adam McHugh is offline
Vintage Drum Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Sydney, Orstray-ya
Posts: 622
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
Are Tama lugs Ludwig copies? They look remarkably like some Ludwigs I have...
Old 09-28-2015, 05:01 AM
#6
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by human71 View Post
There's always some imbecile who thought he'd make his drums look "cool" by painting over the original finish and totally destroying the drum kit's aesthetics.. With that being said, I would use Circa 1850 Soft Strip to remove the paint, as it is mild and won't ruin the finish that's underneath..
Btw, You have to re-size your pics, as they're taking up the entire page.. Show us the results when your done !
Good luck
Thanks for the warning! I forgot to resize the pictures. It's fixed now.
I'll post photos of the restoration process later. Cheers
Old 09-28-2015, 05:03 AM
#7
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by R.Adam McHugh View Post
Are Tama lugs Ludwig copies? They look remarkably like some Ludwigs I have...
This Tama hardware is very similar to Ludwig
Old 09-28-2015, 05:53 AM
#8
teverson-sr teverson-sr is offline
Vintage Drum Guru
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 2,197
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
I have a 7 piece concert tom set of similar vintage also awaiting restoration. The silver wrap has delaminated from the inside out and needs replacement. Very rusty/scabby chrome and stands. UGH...
Old 09-28-2015, 06:26 AM
#9
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by teverson-sr View Post
I have a 7 piece concert tom set of similar vintage also awaiting restoration. The silver wrap has delaminated from the inside out and needs replacement. Very rusty/scabby chrome and stands. UGH...
Nothing is impossible. Sometimes a good cleaning and polish is enough to let the chrome shinny. The problem here is the time you need to do it
Old 09-28-2015, 05:14 PM
#10
JohnBonham JohnBonham is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 473
Default Re: Tama Swingstar - Restoration Project
Today I tried to remove the black paint with synthetic thinner.
I started in a place where the paint was weak and I could see traces of the "blue" finish. The paint didn't come off easily and it will take forever to clean 3 toms and the bassdrum.
I'm thinking of use 1000 sandpaper or so to take it off easily but then I'll have to remove the scratches that caused dull effect, I think it will be harder to polish.
I read about Novus (3,2,1) but don't know what type of scratches it can remove.
Can you help me decide what to do? Thanks!











[Edit] Broken image URLs fixed

Last edited by JohnBonham; 01-09-2016 at 08:16 PM. Reason: broken image URLs
 

Tags
70s , japan , restoration , swingstar , tama

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Collapse Forum Rules Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Search Options
Tag Search Advanced Search