Restoring Deagan Instruments In the right hands, restoration can seemingly transform something that has long been neglected and nearly worthless into a beautiful and functional instrument. This set of Deagan #102 Song Bells is a good example. In this photo, the instrument has been fully restored.

Following are before and after photos of the instrument. Before restoration, the bars were out of tune and the metal plating was worn away and pitted. At some point, the frame had been painted black but the paint was chipping and the wood was becoming damaged. The resonators and frame had been also been painted but the gold paint was dull and flaking. One of the resonators also had a slight crack in it. But aside from the missing metal end piece plates, the instrument still retained most of the original parts. The fact that this instrument was nearly intact and so rare made it a good candidate for a full restoration. The bars were replated and tuned to A442. The frame restoration included replating all the metal pieces and the frame, replacing the felts, rubber feet, and missing hardware, sanding, refinishing, and staining the wood end pieces and keybeds, and disassembling, replating, and reassembling the resonators. The crack in the resonator was also repaired. The frame restoration was completed by Salazar Fine Tuning and the bars were replated and retuned by Century Mallet Instruments. Click photos to enlarge.