AP Drum Co.

AP Drum Co. Dedicated to helping drummers make more music by offering professional drum services and quality gear

Yesterday officially marked 5 years of AP Drum Co. What started as an idea became a reality after a job furlough during ...
02/10/2025

Yesterday officially marked 5 years of AP Drum Co. What started as an idea became a reality after a job furlough during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.

I thought it might be cool to go back and look at all the shell packs I've had come through the shop. I made some collages by brand. It's not exhaustive, but it's a good chunk of them. Nico worked on almost all of them and Nicolas packed and shipped many of them (and without Abby he wouldn't have known how to do it). None of what we've done or where we are would have been possible without them.

Some random facts:

Supraphonics that have come through: 32 (does not include service requests)

Acrolites restored: 26

Vintage Zildjian K's found: 2

Most expensive kit: Sonor HiLite Exclusive

Favorite kit: 1996 Yamaha Maple Custom Piano Black 8x8, 8x10, 8x12, 16x16, 16x22, 5.5x14. The one that got away.

Rides: 209
Crashes: 347
Hi Hat pairs: 326

It's crazy how much gear we've moved. Thank you to everyone who has supported us.

Fresh off the restoration bench: a 1960s Ludwig New Yorker meticulously restored and wrapped in Black Galaxy Sparkle. 8x...
21/07/2025

Fresh off the restoration bench: a 1960s Ludwig New Yorker meticulously restored and wrapped in Black Galaxy Sparkle. 8x12, 16x16, and the hard to find 12x22. Nearly 100 hours went into this kit. I bought it in Austin last year and initially intended to just use it for parts. The shells had been painted inside and out. All hardware had been spray painted gold. A reinforcement ring had separated on the 16". There was ply separation throughout. There were also extra holes and lots of missing/incorrect parts. The solid maple bass drum hoops were warped. But when I realized what it was I had to bring it back to life. This was by far my most involved restoration to date.

The wrap and black paint on the interiors was stripped (fun fact: painted drum wrap is flammable). Holes were plugged with plugs from a 60s Ludwig donor shell. Ply separation glued and clamped. Interiors re-painted with a custom match for Ludwig's Reso-Cote. Shells wrapped with Black Galaxy Sparkle from Jammin' Sam (full glue - no tape). The bearing edges were leveled and re-cut to factory spec with a 1/4" outside roundover and an inside 45. Missing badges were replaced with reproduction badges and correct grommets. All hardware (including interior mounting hardware) was cleaned in an ultrasonic, paint removed, and then polished by hand. Cotton was installed in each lug prior to assembly to prevent spring rattle. The bass drum hoops were stripped to raw wood, soaked in water, and clamped between phenolic table tops until dry to make them level before being re-painted. A small chamfer cut was made on the inside edge of the bass drum hoops to help them seat evenly. Missing parts were sourced, and every effort was made to use correct Ludwig parts where possible. Lastly, it was topped off with brand new Remo heads.

The result is this spectacular kit. It's listed on Reverb, but please don't buy it just yet. I want to look at it a bit longer.

Excited to announce that we have been entrusted with selling an incredible collection on consignment. We loaded everythi...
12/04/2025

Excited to announce that we have been entrusted with selling an incredible collection on consignment. We loaded everything last weekend. It took 6 hours to load it all up in a 16' box truck and a 24' trailer plus several more hours to unload. Had to get the gang back together for this one (plus our buddy ).

49 snare drums. Close to 40 cymbals. 14 kits (Most double bass and lots of Austin Fibes). Hardware. Cases and bags. Over two dozen amps and cabinets. Over 50 guitars. Just an insane amount of gear. We will be posting stuff over the coming weeks. Stay tuned...

Remember these kinda posts? Me neither. The market has definitely changed over the past two years. It's tough to find de...
11/03/2025

Remember these kinda posts? Me neither. The market has definitely changed over the past two years. It's tough to find deals, but I scored a good one this past weekend. Had to drive down to Edna, TX to pick up a big double bass Pearl World Series (10/12/13/14/16/18/22/22) with a Ludwig 402 Supra and Zildjian As. The Fender tube amp was a nice bonus (too bad I only know how to hit round things with sticks). Also picked up a cool mid range Sakae kit. The silver glitter lacquer finish is stunning.

I've got my work cut out for me for the next few weeks. Send me a DM if you see something you want.

Latest restoration: I've had these 1971-1974 Rogers shells sitting in my shop for almost two years waiting their turn. I...
11/02/2025

Latest restoration: I've had these 1971-1974 Rogers shells sitting in my shop for almost two years waiting their turn. I refinished another Rogers kit back in 2023 with the same color and tung oil. I liked it so much I decided to try again. This time I wanted to see how nice a finish I could get using just aerosol lacquer. I wanted low sheen and open wood grain like tung oil but with the durability of lacquer, but I didn't want to spend a ton on a Fullerton-era player grade kit.

The 13" tom and 22" had extra holes from non-original Memriloc mounts. I plugged them with plugs from a donor Rogers shell, re-drilled correct holes for swivomatic hardware, and touched up the interior textured paint. The exterior of each shell was completely stripped down to raw wood, carefully removing all glue residue through lots of sanding and cleaning.

The bass drum hoops were warped and had lots of ply separation. I soaked them in water and clamped them between phenolic table tops to get them level. All of the separation was then glued and clamped. They were then sanded down and the inlay channels were re-cut (and more separation glued). Two coats of minwax "True Black" oil-based stain were applied to all of the shells and bass drum hoops followed by 4-5 coats of semi-gloss lacquer. The finish isn't perfect, but it's respectable.

After refinishing the shells, I leveled and recut the outside roundover on the bearing edges. The original script badges were installed with correct nails. All of the hardware was cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner and then polished by hand. All lugs were filled with cotton during assembly to prevent spring rattle. I had to use about a dozen bass drum lugs from a 1977 donor drum so they have the C-clips on the lug inserts, but everything else is period correct.

Overall I'm pleased with the result. On to the next one (a 1960s Black Galaxy Sparkle Ludwig New Yorker hint hint).

Latest restoration: late 1970s Ludwig Stainless Steel Big Beat. These beauties came from Thibodaux, Louisiana and were i...
08/11/2024

Latest restoration: late 1970s Ludwig Stainless Steel Big Beat. These beauties came from Thibodaux, Louisiana and were in need of some serious cleaning. Each drum was completely disassembled. The shells were polished inside and out. All hardware soaked in the ultrasonic, rinsed, and then polished by hand. Bass drum hoops were sanded down and a slight 45 degree relief cut made on the inside edge to help them fit modern heads. Then they were refinished with new silver sparkle inlays installed. Missing tom hoops and tension rods were replaced and then everything reassembled.

It's now ready for another 45 years of awesomeness.

Haven't had a big haul like this in ages. Had to go all the way to Houma and Port Allen Louisiana to get it (about 14 ho...
14/09/2024

Haven't had a big haul like this in ages. Had to go all the way to Houma and Port Allen Louisiana to get it (about 14 hours total). Picked up a late 70s Ludwig stainless steel 4 piece plus a Supraphonic as well as a Tama Starclassic, Artwood snare, roto toms, bags, cymbals, Axis double pedal, and a bunch of stands.

It's time to rearrange the shop to make everything fit. Shoot me a DM if there's something in the pile that you want.

I usually only de re-wraps for customers, but once or twice a year I get a wild idea and spend WAY too much time and mon...
05/08/2024

I usually only de re-wraps for customers, but once or twice a year I get a wild idea and spend WAY too much time and money making a kit absolutely spectacular. I've always wanted to do a green sparkle and these orphaned 1970s 3-ply shells were the perfect candidates. I pulled all the stops.

All shells were completely stripped and the bearing edges leveled. The 13" tom had two holes plugged with material from a donor 3-ply shell. The 22" was a poorly refinished mahogany thermogloss. It was sanded down inside and out. Jammin Sam green sparkle was applied with 3M Fastbond all around (no tape). The wrap seams were notched to help drum heads fit better. After the wrap was installed all bearing edges were re-cut to the factory profile, sanded up to 1200 grit, and sealed with tung oil. All lugs have felt or cotton inside to prevent spring rattle. Badges were reinstalled with proper Ludwig P20991 grommets. 1/2" inlay channels were cut in the original bass drum hoops and then painted prior to green sparkle inlays being installed. All chrome hardware was cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner and then polished by hand. Aside from the tension rods and one hoop on the 13" tom all hardware is original and period correct.

Definitely going to be hard to let this one go....

Just finished this Gretsch project for a repeat customer. Turned some previously re-finished/modded square badge shells ...
24/07/2024

Just finished this Gretsch project for a repeat customer. Turned some previously re-finished/modded square badge shells into a killer round badge set. All shells were wrapped in beautiful blue sparkle and edges beveled. Each shell also got new Gretsch round badges.

The deep 12" rack tom was cut down to a traditional 8" depth. Existing holes were plugged with original shell material from the cut off. New lug holes drilled. Interior silver sealer touched up. Wrap installed. And lastly, the edges were re-cut to match the factory profile.

The 14" floor tom had one extra hole which was also plugged and touched up before getting wrapped and edges beveled.

The 20" bass drum had a total of 22 holes plugged including the 6 original holes for the Techware spurs plus 16 holes from poorly placed aftermarket Gibraltar spurs. After getting wrapped the spur holes were re-drilled in the proper location.

Finished everything off with some white satin flame bass drum hoop inlays.

"Happy birthday, America!" from Drummer Dave.Here's wishing all of you a safe and happy 4th of July. Please don't climb ...
04/07/2024

"Happy birthday, America!" from Drummer Dave.

Here's wishing all of you a safe and happy 4th of July. Please don't climb on any roofs (like Dave did).

First attempt at refinishing brass was a success! This 1991 Yamaha SD-493 needed some serious love. All of the existing ...
18/04/2024

First attempt at refinishing brass was a success! This 1991 Yamaha SD-493 needed some serious love. All of the existing lacquer was stripped off, and the badge was removed. The brass got wet-sanded, polished, and then re-lacquered. All of the chrome parts were cleaned in the ultrasonic with evaporust and then polsihed by hand. A few missing parts were sourced (thank goodness someone had a roller guide for sale). The bent butt side plate and throw off lever were straightened. Lastly, new heads and proper extended wires were installed.

It's still not perfect, but it sounds lovely. These are a must-have for any serious snare collection. It will get listed soon. Check the online store or send us a message if interested.

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