Taking Good Care of Vintage Snare Drums

I have been working on a number of new and challenging restorations lately and wanted to share a few things I have learned. When working on Vintage equipment and especially snare drums there is no hard and fast rule how to go about it.

For me as example-I try as hard as possible to repair and retain the original drum shell, rims and associated hardware, replacing original equipment only when I have to. There are some exceptions to this rule since I am not a drum curator nor a collector -- I am a passionate "rejuvenator" who looks for areas to make things better such as in appropriately paired heads and snare wires.

Additionally, I like to break a drum down 100% for inspection and cleaning. Some basic tools are required as well as a few good cleaning cloths, some Goo Be Gone, Wenol metal polish and lots of patience!

Here is a great article from New Ingberman from Vintage Drum Center on the initial inspection process for Vintage Drums: How to Inspect Vintage Drums and is very helpful for anyone looking for Vintage Drums and the article is just as relevant today as when it was first published in Modern Drummer magazine in the mid-90s.

Once your drum has been inspected and cleaned, it is time it is time to put the baby back together. There may be wrapping issues to deal with, dings or nicks or a badge or a lug or washer is missing. It is always good to take a lot of photographs before and after in the event you have a question or concerns when putting a vintage drum back together.

Here is a great blog post from Vintage Drum Guide with a ton of additional tips, tools and ideas for restoring a Vintage Drum.

I always start with a little extra research and pair the best possible batter and snare heads as well as snare wires in order to bring out the best in the drum. As example - it makes no historical or audible sense to put a clear batter head on a 1920-era Ludwig & Ludwig.

For Vintage snares, I usually go with a coated Remo Emporer or Ambassador depending on the year. I have tried the Remo Classic Fit coated on a number of pre 1960s snares with great success and the Evans Calftone head as well.

For snare wires, Ludwig OEMs sound great on the 1960-2000 era snares or a Rogers Dynasonic as appropriate and also use a mix of Puresound Custom, Blaster or Vintage series Snare wires. As example I had to find a Vintage wire for a 1980s era Pearl Brass 8 x 14 Free Floater recently and did tons of research on that given the unusual strainer and snare wire combination used on those style drums.

Lastly, there may be a few unique tweaks you can make to a snare drum to make it really special and get that “pop” you are looking for. A recently restored classic recording drum: a Vintage Ludwig Acrolite used a clear Remo reverse dot head and Hendrix Sleeved Washers for a dry “crack” and the washers eliminated any metal to metal contact which is great for close-mic recording.

These tweaks while not original to the drum - made for a significant and positive enhancement to a classic snare suitable for recording today.

Finally - I am a proponent of restoration for the player - not the collector - as drums are meant to be played, not stored on a shelf waiting for the price to go up. I add musical value but not always financial value- and I am ok with that.

Play on....