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First off - Welcome

Second - Cool1

Nice score there. Shame about that added mount, but it will be an awesome player. Those shells are killer - some might say the most desirable that Ludwig made, but I'm sure all the Luddy guys have their favorites. Awesome finish too - I've got a kit in that finish and it certainly has its following.

So, some more good news is that the bass drum hoops are easily restored with some patience and a some spray paint. There are several threads on how to do this. The T-rod and bass drum claw are easily obtained, so no worries there. Find yourself a nice old speed king pedal - they can be had relatively inexpensively, but just make sure to find one that isn't too worn out. Keep us posted on your progress!

Regarding your questions:

1) The heads look good, but you'd be best served to put them aside (but keep them) and put on some fresh heads. The old ones will sound a bit dead.

2) Geab a speed king as I mentioned. grab a nice period correct 14" Supraphonic. $200 is about the going rate, but you might find one for less if you are patient. I don't mind the flaking ones if the price is right - they sound just as good.

3) Clean the wrap with a very diluted mixture of mild soap and water... damp cloth, not wet. You can follow up with car wax and they'll pop! I also really like Novus plastic polish - search for threads on here, it really works wonders!

4) Grab some new heads. The resonant might still be fine. If you want a punchier sound, try a felt strip, or try an Aquarian Superkick 2 or an Evans Emad 2. It's all personal taste. A good drum shop will actually put some heads on your drum and let you test them out in store before you buy.

5) If you're not worried about originality, just buy some aftermarket ones at your local drum shop. To avoid mistakes, bring in one of the top ones and match the length.

6) As mentioned above, very easy to find. Just be patient. Not patient? - FeeBay will work for that.

7) I'd use them, but that's me. Just don;t thrash on them and they'll be fine.

8) I'd put the heads back on the bottoms. Totally personal preference, but it also keeps the shells from going out of round (may have already happened, but hopefully not).

9) You will get a different answer from everyone on this. Again, a good drum shop will let you test a few head combinations in store before you buy. Start with the basics (Coated Amb's top and bottom, Emp top and Amb bottom, etc, and go from there. All depends on what you want to hear out of them. They're small sizes (ultra cool, btw), so I wouldn't get into the deader / pre-muffled heads.

10) Repaine the hoops (see other threads on this), and then you can always use the special rubber hoop saver type things that are sold in stores if you wish.

11) Head on over to your drum shop and grab what fits and keep the originals aside. If you need originals, then they are also available, but will cost you a bit. I you prefer function, go for the new ones.

Welcome

Great kit to start out with, really nice complete set up. Sad about the extra bass mount, but such is life.

To clean it up I'd use a lil dish soap, hot water and a terry cloth wash rag that is just barely damp on the wrap and a once over on the chrome. DAMP is key here no need to flood the surface.

On the chrome try some windex soaked paper towel to being back the sparkle.

The bass hoops are a quick easy resto. Pull them off, get some painters tape to cover the inlay and rattle can the black parts...well..black.

If you really want to bring it back to glory, disassemble the drum and all its hardware. Clean and wax the drum shells and use some chrome polish on the hardware.

Then re-assemble.

The missing stuff is easy to obtain, make an add in the wanted section here on the forums.

As for heads, what do the playing areas look like? Pitted? If not then you should be good after a proper tuning. But...heads are a wise investment. Coated Ambassadors up top, clears on the bottom.

As for the bass drum "metal drum" sound, I'd put a strip of felt on the batter head to kill some of the resonance then play with tuning. You "could" put a pillow in it, but then it gets all dead.

The Pearl pedal, while not "correct" will do the job. If it works right no need to change it out. However a good Speedking Pedal is a wonderful thing.

Hope this helps.

Nice find! Darn, who put that ugly ass mount on there? Take that off. Rather have holes than that. The holes won't be that noticeable and you can eventually possibly fix them so they won't look bad. The hoops are easy.

Sand them off a little. I would not worry about getting all the paint off unless you want to do a lot of work that won't really be noticeable. Put masking tape over the wrap insert. If you can't find the eaxact tape to cover just the insert strip, cover it and carefully use a exacto knife to cut then strip off the excess tape. paint them. I have restored several pairs of hoops like that and I used the $1 Black gloss paint from WalMart. They looked brand new.

Wow, the most desirable! Very cool. I just went for what I liked.

Very interesting about the paint. Very different from the guitar world where you NEVER touch original finish. I can definitely handle the restoration of those.

I think I will keep the bass heads for now; they have no dents, aren't even discolored. But, I would like to do the toms. My budget is limited, so the bass will have to wait.

Concerning the pedal and the snare, I would really like to get both at some point. The kit doesn't look right to me with the black Pearl Export it has now, although cosmetic issues like that aren't super high on the priority list. The Pearl sounds good to my guitarist's ears though. The pedal I wanted to see if it functioned well or was an antiquated design. Seems that people like it fine, so it is on my to do list now. :) Time to start saving for the snare. Is there a certain depth for the 14" snare? Not sure if they made several depths etc... Thanks.

Good to know, thanks. I will do the toms (top and bottom) as soon as I can.

Ha, don't know why it didn't occur to me to bring one of the top ones. :)

Cool.

Is Amb or Emp a brand or model? Ambassodor and Emperor? Sorry, guitarist. :) I did some quick reading on Evans and Remo...

Cool, didn't know drum shops would have them.

Thank you for your time, I know it took a while...

Shawn,

Thanks for replying. Interesting to hear that the original Pedal is a wonderful thing. Knowing next to nothing about drums, I figured it would be an old design and not used other than for vintage-ness. I will keep your ideas in mind. Thanks.

Very excited about finding them too. I have no idea who put the mount there. It is a pretty old school looking mount, sort of a ball and socket design that uses a drum key to adjust it etc.

I am a woodworker as a hobbiest, so I am looking forward to redoing the hoops. I will search for old threads when the time comes, but did you use primer or just spray right on the wood? Gloss/semi-gloss?

So weird as a vintage guitar guy to be rattle canning a vintage piece. :)

Hang on to those hats !! That color sound perfect for Rock !!