John,

That is quite a story, however, there is a substantial difference between line voltage to a lamp and the voltage discharge of a cathode ray tube!

You could plug it into a GFCI outlet that has already been tripped, and safely hit the reset button from a distance.....LOL. If the ground is bad, it will be de-energized in a couple miliseconds. If the GFCI holds up, get a neighbor you don't like that much, and show him your new drum. Tell him he should pick it up to see how heavy the brass is or something, while it is plugged in of course, and if he doesn't have a perm after touching it, throw him out and put it back together and start jamming!

I am with you on the wiring. I never knew about the "red" wire that is sometimes used on house wiring, and when I replaced the old outdoor outlets on my covered patio, my screwdriver got melted and my son got to see me jump high enough to stuff Shaq on a low-post play.....LOL

Totally OT, but years ago, a band I played in carried and set up a HUGE light show. So huge that we had to "tap into" the main breaker box to have sufficient power. In one club, the posts were a bit closer than normal and our singer (who got the pleasure of tapping in) shorted out the main breaker for the entire bar. Skip to the next time, he is getting ready to tap in again and our bass player was there for safety, and as he goes to clip on the clamps, the bass player touches his ribs on both sides and says"BZZZZZ!" From across the bar the rest of the band hears a very loud, "AHHHHHHH!" Followed by a "You sonofa......" The bass player comes running out laughing his head off, the singer, not so much...

Back to the drum and how John is going to leave it to me in his will.. I have a pry bar...

Man I used to see so many bands doing that same kind of thing back in the 80's. "Clamping" into incoming mains with either electrical test clamps or the far worse and most commonly seen alligator clamps such as a what is found on jumper cables is a really horrible idea but there were a lot of people doing it. I always carried a box full or various two pole and three pole breakers and stabbed them in place in a breaker panel unless there was a disconnect readily available.

John, you have the right idea; pull the lamp socket and wiring out and put it in a plastic bag for safe keeping. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Great, we tell the seller not to mess with the drum`s value and the first thing you wanna do it take original value away from the drum.

You`re not thinking this through. You get extension cord, plug drum into cord, THEN PLUG CORD INTO WALL. You wont be anywhere near it and you will then hand me my pizza and grape kneehigh. (I`ll bring the dank)

If you wish, you can remove the assembly, Put the assembly back together and on the bench, plug it in, then plug the extension cord in. Repair it, and know you have a working unit in the bag for future use if you want.

The bulb, easy, put it in a lamp and see if it works.

How many people on this planet have a working light bulb from the twenties

I know your love for vintage drums is there, I`m trying to stop you from doing what we tell people not to do.

John,

When you see how simple it is to rewire that socket to plug with an new short cord, Your fear of the drum light will vanish.

Boys, boys, get a grip please.

1. It's not the 1920's. I don't need to 'heat my calf head' at any gigs.

2. I will be saving any and all of the light fixture parts that are coming with the drum. If I ever need to sell it, I can put the drum back to original condition in 15 minutes.

3. I have 14" calf heads. When I go to remove the bulb and fixture, I'll swap out one of my calf heads for the original. The original heads will be kept safe and stored.

4. I ordered a set of single flange 'Gold-tone' brass hoops and 16 'Gold-tone' brass clips. The original hoops and clips will be stored. I mean, as you are following along, isn't that what you'd like to do? Sit down with this drum and play it. Well, I'll be taking appropriate precautions to protect it, and all its parts as best I can, but I bought it to play it.

5. Mike Layton is sending me a NOS set of Snappy Snares! I will save the gut snares along with everything else and replace them with the Snappy Snares.

I will be using an Evans Hazy 300 on the snare head side.

See? I'm setting the drum up -so I can play it!- not admire it from afar.

It's not going into a case, or on a shelf on display. I'm not a 'museum.' I'm a drummer that got real lucky and I plan to use the drum the way it was meant to be used... as an instrument. The bulb and the fixture are not necessary to play the drum. I will have all of the original parts and they will be kept safe from any additional wear, or effects from exposure to the environment. They'll be sealed. I'll be using the shell and the hardware on the shell, but that's it! I just want to use the drum. If it gets sold in the future, it will be in all *original condition (*as I received it,) and it will have all of its original parts.

Nuff with the bulb already. I'm not Traps the wonder boy and it's 2013 not 1913. NOBODY uses bulbs anymore and I just really want to play this thing. It's the reason why I'm shelling out so much of my retirement funds to get it! lol

John

OK, I understand. From what I`ve read, unless you are gonna play elevator music, you wont like it for modern music.

So, did you plug it in yet? LOL! Just kidding man. Glad to hear you are using it and not just looking at it. I wondered why there was a bulb in it in the first place, so to warm the calfskin eh?

Il, take that pizza~

If I can get it to sound half as good as the one Steve Maxwell plays, I'll be a happy camper.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdbEpUffvYs[/ame]

> I'll take that pizza~

What would you like on it, sir? :p

John