Gretsch Restain - Massive Help Needed

onedevilsst

Senior Member
Hi all,

So the situation is this, I now have an 18" and 20" bass drums in my collection. The problem is they are both wrapped, my kit is stained. To make the whole kit a mix and match for bespoke gigs I a gunna restain.

I know the pitfalls, value wise, but its a players kit, i aint selling it, ever so i want it to match.

Luckily, i acquired an old 22 gretsch shell, in a poor condition, so im gunna practise on this first.

I have remove all the wrap, tho in truth, it was flapping off it, anyway, leaving behind thick glue all over.

I have carefully sanded the blocks of gum off, using a hand sander and 120 grit paper. to ensure i didnt push too hard i held the sander loosely, and hung the shell from a rod so it could swing away if pressing too hard.

I hand sanded the rest, methodically with and sanding board that i carved the shell contour into, to reduce the opportunity of flatspots. I used 180 grit paper, and things are pretty smooth.

My problem is the next steps. At high level, its this:

1. Further hand sand with 400 grit

2. Apply stain

3. Have my car sprayer friend to spray the nitro-cellulose lacquer.

However, at step one, I am aware there is still some deeply ingrained glue. how do i get rid of this?

The general consensus is Acetone. But I cant find this in UK hardware stores. Is it the same as the concentrate from Hair and Beauty shops? My lady friends assure me that the stuff from wholesale places is very strong.

Would nitro-morse paint stripper do the same job?

Say it is the right stuff. What do i do with it, then? Apply, then what? does it damage the wood? Do I scrape at it once applied?

Here is a 'before picture' the picture makes it look like a better condition than it is.

Im on a practise run, adnittedly, but it would be great to come out with a half decent shell, for that occasion where i need four bass drums, 2x 22", an 18" and 20", so if i could get it right, thatd be nice...

Anyway, let me know your thughts

Cheers guys
 

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The during picture, you can see the maple natural colour coming out of the right hand side
 

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and the end result, where im up to now.
 

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Nice project. Just a suggestion - hand sanding as you know, is LONG hard processs. It can speed up the first pass of rough sanding with a rotary (not belt) sander, which if you move it around does not make any flat spots. I bought one for $20 to refinish drums and it saves a lot of effort on the tough coarse sanding to get previous glues and stain off.

Your shell will sound great when you're done.

Also have no fear of using previously wrapped drums to make a nice stained one. This Gretsch here previously had a wrap, but the guy i bought it from took it down to nice bare wood. Some of the wood grain under wraps is fine

gretsch2011b.jpg
 
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