Refurb a Kelon Xylo

petepemberton

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Mar 9, 2008, 12:04:39 AM3/9/08

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Anyone have any idea how to paint or refinish Kelon? Also looking for a
low cost source for rubber spacers. Can trade for Moon Gel.
--
______
PP

floatdude

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Mar 9, 2008, 9:27:16 AM3/9/08

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What make and model of Xylo is it ?

mdcsi...@sprintmail.com

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Mar 9, 2008, 10:26:19 AM3/9/08

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I don't think you can 'refinish' Kelon.

I've seen medical tubing frequently used as replacement spacers.

Mike Myers

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Mar 9, 2008, 11:11:56 AM3/9/08

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Pete Pemberton wrote:
> Anyone have any idea how to paint or refinish Kelon? Also looking for a
> low cost source for rubber spacers. Can trade for Moon Gel.

I've had Gilberto Serna refinish/repaint several Kelon instruments for
me. He uses some special painting process and the bars come back
looking brand new. He can also get you fixed up with those spacers as
well as take care of any tuning or repair that you might want.

Century Mallet Instrument Service
1770 West Berteau Ave.
Chicago, ILL 60613
773-248-7733
Owner: Gilberto Serna

vitsy

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Mar 9, 2008, 11:21:30 AM3/9/08

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"Mike Myers" <mmyer...@aol.com> wrote in message
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I'll second that, Gilberto is the man!

Vits

petepemberton

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Mar 9, 2008, 10:11:27 PM3/9/08

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It's one of the old marching styles with three C's and only two Bb's.
M67? Not wanting to put much money into it, not worth it.
--
______
PP

floatdude

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Mar 10, 2008, 9:26:11 AM3/10/08

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That model of marching xylophone uses black rubber grommets, 1/4 but
the wider model of grommet from like ACE Hardware. Your going to take
all the bars off to do this, and use a small screw driver to reinsert
the grommets into the flat parts with the hole in it.

Also restring it too, get some 1/4 parachute nylon cord from a army
surplus store, green, black whatever or get it at ACE Hardware too.
Too small of string the bars will move too much and hit the frame, too
thick and it will not sound right either. Melt the ends of the cord
with a lighter.

If your trying to save money don't worry about how it looks just how
it sound.

Vince Schaefer

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Mar 10, 2008, 1:04:46 PM3/10/08

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"vitsy" <vi...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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This is not to take away from the idea of using a pro as has been
suggested. There might be a way of getting the color to penetrate that they
might use, which would certainly be better than painting. But if you need to
go low cost, here's an idea.

I've painted one or two in my time......I know the idea sounds horrid,
but it's not so bad. I used basic spray laquer. Cleaned well before
starting. Made sure to be really even and light, with two coats. Worry
mostly about the perfect coat on top of the bars. The sides will get enough
overspray. (make sure you have two inches or so all around the bars when you
lay them out to paint. Eventually the paint will wear will you hit it, and
you might notice a little paint chip on certain mallets..Lexan obviously
will dent any coating.
The thing is; the bars I painted were marked everywhere, especially corners
and edges, mostly from indelicate transport. You'll probably take care of
the instrument after you paint, so after time, when the paint starts to wear
off where you hit, it'll still look way better than it looks now.
Use rustoleum gold (or silver or copper) for the resonators. You'll need
at least 8 thin coats. Lot's of shaking during process and consider
consistent angle and direction. Then at least four coats of clear.
When teaching poor outdoor ensembles, this comes up a lot. Sometimes the
instrument just looks so bad, and doesn't sound all that bad, and there you
go. IMO the sound doesn't change
Vince