Today I removed the newspaper from the shells. For my surprise the black paint residues drained to the inside trough the lug holes. It was my fault, I should put tape in the holes. It's sad because the interiors were clean when I started this restoration. Lesson learned...

I tried to clean the best I could without damaging the zolacoat.

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/Mobile%20Uploads/20160521_112925-800x450_zpstgavfu8g.jpg[/IMG]

13'' Before

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13" After

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/Mobile%20Uploads/20160521_114624-800x450_zpsqwjdpql5.jpg[/IMG]

12" Before

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/Mobile%20Uploads/20160521_114700-800x450_zpsgcsyxnq9.jpg[/IMG]

12" After

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/Mobile%20Uploads/20160521_120147-800x450_zps2zdmzazv.jpg[/IMG]

I removed the paint from the 16" Floor tom after the 12" and 13" toms. This time I did put tape over the holes. I did it on the bass drum too.

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/Mobile%20Uploads/20160521_113003-800x450_zpszcwn2t7t.jpg[/IMG]

I took some photos of the bearing edges. They have some dings and marks. I think I will sand them lightly and carefully to remove any minimal imperfection. What do you think?

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I tried to use a whiteboard blue marker to mask the white polish leftovers inside the cracks. I think it did the job and I will do it in all the shells.

Before

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/Mobile%20Uploads/20160521_123553-480x853_zpsnts09ajk.jpg[/IMG]

After:

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The bass drum hoops are already clean and ready to assemble. I removed the black paint from the inlays and polished them. The chrome was cleaned and polished.

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Nice job on the hoops! For the flea bites on the bearing edges I just filled with wood putty. Light sand of the edges with 1000 grit. Finish with beeswax.

Creighton

+1 (ten characters ten characters ten characters.....)

I already assembled the toms. I think I'll regret if place the heads and hoops and don't fill the dings on the bearing edges. I talked with a carpenter and he will borrow me a wood filler.

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Updates for you.

I filled the flea bites on the bearing edges with a wood putty (don't know if this is the correct name) recommended by a wood worker.

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/20160525_104631_800_450_zpsziaexzhy.jpg[/IMG]

Twenty four hours later I sanded the excess with a 1200 sandpaper.

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/20160525_121332_800_450_zpsqqelndv1.jpg[/IMG]

The 13" tom is finished and I decided to assemble it while the other toms and bass drum were drying. Some washers were missing so I bought 100 to replace them all and keep some in my spares.

I have 13" and 16" Remo Coated Ambassadors and Vintage Ambassadors, plus 22" Remo Powerstroke 3 and Ambassador Smooth White, I bougth to my Ludwig Superclassic kit. I will use them in this kit, since I want to play it live in the next month. :) Yeah (The Ludwig is waiting for restoration yet)

I will use the Vintage A as batter and the Coated Ambassadors as reso.

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/20160529_195136_800_450_zpso7atgugs.jpg[/IMG]

While I'm putting the tension rods I noticed that the screw wasn't long enough to put higher tensions on the tom.

I realise I had 3 types of tension rods:

short rods with 50% of screw (first in the picture, identical to the Pearl);

short rods with 75% of screw (second in the picture);

long rods with 50% of screw (third in the picture).

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/20160529_201600_800_450_zpskig36mju.jpg[/IMG]

I end up using the first ones. Later I checked the pictures, I took before, and noticed the 13" tom had the tension rods fully tightened. What do you think? Did this tension rods came with the kit from factory?

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/toms_764_600_zpsykkxjmim.jpg[/IMG]

After placing the heads, hoops and rods I was happy with the result, at least visually. I will post better pictures with sunlight soon.

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/20160529_203936_800_450_zpsftt92fod.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/joaojanina/20160529_204034_800_450_zps3dsj6cfd.jpg[/IMG]

Now... I need some advices of tuning. I want a big vintage rock sound. John Bonham is definitely an inspiration to me and I realy like his sound. I know he used high tension all the way and the bottom heads were tighter than the batter heads. Anyway, I know this kit is not a Ludwig, it's just a reference so you can understand what I want. I don't know what I can get from this shells...

I did some tests and I noticed the sound I got was open and resonant (maybe "ringy" too ?).

What do you think about this heads? I already have felt stripes too, I know probably I'll need it on the bass drum front head. I know there are some guys in this forum that know well this kits and others have experience in tuning, choosing heads, etc. Please leave your comments below. Your help is welcome.

Looks great. Happy you took the time and extra effort to do a proper job.

I have Remo clear black dots batter and cheap clears on reso. Don't need much tension to get serious boom. If you are getting a ring may have the heads too tight.

Creighton

You may consider coated emperors for batter side for Bonham sound.

Bonham tuned on the high side, but used big sizes.

A 14 inch rack tom will sound lower than a 13 inch one with equal tension.