Here's some shots of the snare alone, and a couple of it sitting with the "new" Club Date 12" tom...

Here's the 10"x15" marching snare that will become the floor tom:

And here's the bass drum...

Now that the pics are up... My plan is to add a rail consolette to the bass drum. I like vintage drums, but I'm not so crazy about vintage hardware. I generally don't like DW, but a lot of their accessories and small parts are pretty nice. I saw their rail consolette on a set this past week, and I *really* dug it. I'll add it, and fly the 12" tom off of it, either using a R.I.M.S. mount or possibly a modern shell-mounted bracket, if I can find one with a matching hole spacing to the original on the tom.

In keeping with "lightweight and easy to transport", I'm going to add a ride cymbal mount to the bass drum. Again, I'll be using fairly modern hardware to do this. I don't feel bad about it since the bass drum isn't really collectible. Scotch bass drums from the 60's aren't exactly in high demand... :p

The bass drum spurs will be pretty cool. I'm going to use fairly stock "fold out" spurs, but rather than using a bracket attached to the drum shell, I'll be using a pair of DW hoop-mounted cowbell/percussion mounts. These things clip onto the hoop using an actual bass drum claw. They clamp onto the back side of the metal hoop on the head and are rock solid one in place. Rather than use the supplied L-rod that comes with them, I'll just substitute in the spurs. Quick, effective, and that's a few less holes I'll need to drill... ;)

I'll probably R.I.M.S. mount the 15" tom as well.

Cant wait!

Interesting to see how you are going to use that club date 12" tom! Glad it is going to work for you. I hope whatever mount you use, you are not going to mod that drum since it is still original!

Anyway, what a unique configuration for a set! I am curious to find out how an 8x26 works out as bass drum. Looking forward to seeing work in progress!

Really cool project!

i have to say, the only thing I don't like about the DW rail is how heavy the whole thing is. Have you checked out Steve Maxwell's rail system?

Good luck!

Ludwig has a newly-designed rail mount that might be worth a look. It seems like a good design to me, and is not too expensive.

No worries... I won't change out the existing mount unless it's a replacement of the original, or something that bolts on in its place using the existing holes. And that's only if I decide against using a R.I.M.S. mount, which would negate touching the mount at all.

As far as the kick goes... I'm expecting a deep note with short sustain. It should be fairly controlled. I'll either be running coated heads or Fiberskyns (I'll have to experiment to decide which is best), so it won't have a lot of overtones to begin with. I'll tame it as needed with adhesive-backed foam weatherstripping tape. I recent started using it and now prefer it above all other muffling methods. I was able to tame my 36" bass drum with it. Now the Superkick on my other 26" sounds like crap, so I'm about to swap it out for a coated Emperor with weatherstripping. I think that'll work well on the new 8"x26" as well. It's great because you have so much control in terms of placement and how much you want to use.

I had briefly checked out the Maxwell, and just glanced at the Ludwig.

I'm pretty sure the Ludwig is just a rebranded Gibraltar, as most of their "heavy duty" hardware tends to be. Not a fan of Gibraltar gear, though I do use one of their racks.

The straight-up Gibraltar-branded version differs from the "Ludwig" in some ways.

Gibraltar:

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/index.cfm?fa=partsdetail&curcat=2&bnd=11&cid=104&sid=464&pid=1991

The Ludwig:

http://www.ludwig-drums.com/drumkits/liverpool4.php

The Ludwig appears to be a 4-hole design, whereas the Gibraltar is the 2-hole version. Hmm...

Neither really look *that* bad, but I see a couple of features that turn me off.

Namely the big fitting in the middle (on both). It just seems under-thought. They just slapped a drum stand fitting in there so it could go up and down, and swivel side to side.

The Ludwig's upper appears to be a pretty standard Gibraltar uni-ball tom mount (not a fan) and the Gibraltar appears to use gear/teeth (even less of a fan). And like I said, that method of height and side-to-side adjustment by using a cymbal/snare stand fitting in the middle section seems kinda cheap. I like the DW's ability to swivel in any direction from the same fitting (similar to a ball's movement) while being more secure.

Either would probably work fine for my application, but both appear to be just as bulky (if not more so) than the DW.

I'll probably still run the DW, although, just in typing this post, I had to do a little research which has led me into a weird place. I just realized that not all Club Dates have rails, and when they do they're center-mounted on the top of the bass drum. I'd really prefer an offset rail. Since the 26" will be quite a bit taller than what most folks used, having the rail at top-dead-center on the bass shell might not be ideal for tom placement. One panel over might be too far. However, the center-mounted lugs of a Club Date don't allow for the offset, 1:00-1:30 positioning of the rail on the shell the same way Classic lugs do.

I suppose if top-dead-center doesn't work, one panel over will... The great thing about using hoop-mounted spurs is that the "top" of the drum can be changed as needed. I can just rotate it one panel over and reattached the hoops. :D

And hey, I will consider the Maxwell. Looks basic, but well-made.

Still, I've got some thinking to do now... Thanks, guys.