The last box arrived for the snare!!!!!!

Well I got home and there was a sexy little package with my name on it. I opened it up and the first thing I saw…REMO 13” POWERSTROKE 3 head. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!? I was steaming. I rip that out of the box (thinking, “Man, that was light”) and see an Evans box for a 14” Hazy 300 snare side (that’s right) and then a Evans head but it’s not in a box. Just a loose head that says Power Center Rev. Dot (that’s right) so I checked the REMO box…empty. Just filler. I also got my hoops, double checking that they are 14” but 8 lug not 10 and they were right. I see that they sent me all 16 tension rods and I had forgotten but I got an air hole that actually works! Woooo hoooo! i did take 2 plyers to see about opening the old airhole up and i got it. it is not cross threaded, just bad machine job. i could probably tap and drill again and clean out the grooves but the pliers didn't really damage anything so i think that if i put them on the Pearl kick drum, that will work fine. that evening i started to sand the snare shell. i got it just about completely smooth. there are a couple areas that i need to hit again and then i can start to wet sand this weekend. i will start with 600 wet and love to assemble it this weekend but i don't know that it will go that smooth or that i will have that much time or arm strength to get all done. the one last thing that i have to work on is the badge. Jeff was in to my work today to drop off something actually WORK RELATED and then we got to business. i showed him the stuff that Rob designed that is very cool. some great ideas. i will finish the snare and just add these whenever i get around to them. well i think that is it for now. hope everyone has a good weekend. till next time.........

Thee order hath been placed. 2 hoops, Evans G1 Power Center Reverse Dot head, 1 Evans Hazy 300 snare side head, 16 1-3/8" tension rods and they are sending me a new 1/2 air holes at no charge. i do not have to send the other one back so i might see if i can get it into my Pearl kick to make it look nicer again. after i tore off the old red covers, i never put airholes back in so this would be nice to have. if not, no biggie. it can live another 14 years with out an air hole. the specks that you see in the picture are metal fleck. not dust. please click on the picture for a larger view. she is very nice. mind you, this has not been sanded yet. my best recolection it is 10 coats of paint, and 15 coats of clear.
Okay, the picture here is just to post a good color pic of the Green Giant's 13" tom. These are not museum condition but i love these things. i got 20 minutes to play on saturday and remembered quickly why i bought them. i do need to detune the 13" for my liking but i have it set up for a very jazzy kit. it is very clear and really rings. the pearls however, well, they need love. As you can see the velvetis coming off of the shell. now it has always had a little bit of that, but after may gigs and sitting in very humid rooms for long periods of time, it has only gotten worse. For only the price of 7500 cups of coffee, you too could adopt this kit. it would send you letters and show you exclusive pictures of the new kit that would be replaceing it. Don't let this kit die. Wood. it lives. it breathes. it loves.

New day, new post.

Hello all. Good weekends were had at the Kattau household. Saturday E. and i ditched the kid and went to South Bend to do a little shopping. Picked up a Primus DVD (interesting, but not what i was looking for. 2 stars) and another Jonny Lang CD, still impressive stuff, 3.5 stars. Went a couple other places, but no great things happened. That evening E. and i met Bronson and his mad scientist girlfriend for dinner at Olive Garden (the Steak Gorganzolla Alfredo is just wonderful) and then we went to go see Wild Hogs. Good movie. not GREAT but good entertainment.

Sunday i picked up Layla and we got to play outside. she loves it out and i couldn't be happier....except i really get tired of pushing a swing, however, i know one day i will really miss pushing a swing so i have to tell myself to take it while i can get it. Then Layla and i were out for a bike ride, which last year she didn't really like, but this year we did about 5 miles and she was mad when we were headed home. Rob was coming over so he joined us (again, at the swing) and he got to see the new snare shell in the light of the sun. after he left and the family ate lunch, i took each drum out in to the sun and took digital photos. as you can see on the sidebar that i loaded each of them. i am missing a couple. my Hand Hammered steel pearl shell is missing cause it is still at practice, i will get that this week and for some reason this pctured Luwig 1960-63 10x14 snare wouldn't load. but it will in this page. i also took a picture of both of my 13" toms from both kits. i will get those up shortly. the above snare is the best candidate for a makeover. i am still planning on finishing the Brass one which should be done by the end of April. i will place my last order today and i need to get one piece replaced. the air hole they sent to me, looks great but Rob discovered that it won't unscrew so it must be cross threaded. good eye Robbie! Well i think that is it for now. i will be back later today after i get things ordered.

This is Rob, he is my special friend

Well, after Rob beat the crap out of the snare, it has been repainted again and we are starting to clear coat again. that clear that ran took some elbow grease and dry 220 grit to get it back down. THANK YOU ROB! i got it repainted Monday and got the first 2 coats of clear on today. tomorrow coats 3 and 4 will go on then i will snad again. PEACE! I'M OUTTA HERE!!!!!!

Hello again

Well, it has been a little while since the last post after doing what seemed like 40 posts a day. the snare is doing well. i will admit that i wasn't in love with the first clear coat that i did on the shell so Monday when i went to put on coat 2, i really laided it on there, and also had a NASTY CASE OF THE RUNS. Man it was a nasty one. i have talked over and over (and over and over)with my paint guru, Rob and he tells me to shut up and wait. so we are waiting. on Thursday night i will begin to wet sand the wickedness that is paint run. i started looking at my first snare that i ever built again for positive renforcement. i'm good enough, i'm smart enough, and darnnet, someone likes me. I will be taking the shell with me on Friday to show to Rob so he can help fix my boo boo. this brings me to my next joy. I am taking a vacation day Friday and Elizabeth, Layla and i are headed to see my sister and aunt (who live 8 houses away from each other) We will leave Friday morning sometime and get down there around lunch. I think that the only major plans are to go to the Childrens Museum on Saturday and then that evening Elizabeth and i will join Rob and Stacy for some fine dining.

Well i think that the only other thing to report on is that baby that we have coming. We have set up a date for May 21 to have baby number 2 removed. We have another ultrasound on the 22nd of this month to see if we can get a 100% on the sex. right now they are guessing girl. If we can't tell, thats fine with me. We never got to know with Layla and that was the best surprise in the world. Well i think that will do it for today. I did have band practice last night. that went till 11:30 so i got home late again. Running was out of the question but since i won't work Friday, i will pick up the extra day there. Till next time. B.

Me vs. Paint, Round 2

Well, we went to paint today and it looks the same. I sanded last night with 1000 grit. got a lot of the orange peel out of it and really did a pretty good job getting it flat. i will sand tonight and start dusting tomorrow. i still need to figure out what i will do for my clear coat. i would rather use automotive but i hate to ask someone that i barly know to do it, plus, he won't use as much as i will. i just don't know if i trust the Krylon to be heavy duty enough but it looked really good on the sample pieces that i shot. this has gone very fast compared to my first snare. i think that i am a little more confident in my sanding technique and that is a big difference. i found a great heavy spounge to use as a backer and that is all the difference. i really cleaned off some problem area's. if i had all the choices in the world, i would make Rob sand it. sander professional. that is an A1 sandman. oh well, this has been fun and i like keeping track of it's progress. Thats all for today. B.