Yeah I hear your point Kev, but like I said, it was free and it's not so much that I wanted an MIJ kit -(how do these things sound anyway?) I have a Bonham copy kit (not Ludwig) and a mongrel set already (and mainly I am a guitarist). It's just been sitting around my house for the last 10 years in this state, so I figure i'd see what my options were. If anything, I'd like to get the kick working. It'd be a nice option from my 24".

You might want to take a tape measure and see if they are in round,or use some heads and see if they will fit,and go from there,they don't have to be perfect, you just want to make sure you can seat the heads and tune them.If looks and originality aren't that important and you just want a smaller quieter kit to record/play with you could kick around and find rims t rods and such and find a way to mount the toms while keeping expenses down.I don't have a lot of exp with mij kits but I have heard with decent bearing edges they can sound good,and be tweaked to record well.I like the wrap and the lugs on those, it would be cool to bring them back to life and get them making music again.You are definitely on the right forum to find the info and resources and help to get an mij kit going.And by the way welcome to the forum!

It should be easy to find some lugs and/or some drums with the lugs on them, or a floor tom, so you could complete that set. Another option would be to take one of the rack toms and pull the lugs from it and put them on a floor tom shell. You could rewrap entirely or keep looking for a matching floor tom.. but that would be a remote possibility.

I had an Apollo set that I sold last year that looked like that. It had the matching snare. I spend lots of time finding lug inserts and putting standard-pitch tension rods on it, because part of it was the old Japanese tension rod threading. I may have some of the older lugs still around. I know of a possible source for parts or another restore project, basically what you've got only in yellow satin flame. Somewhat rough but restorable condition. No floor tom if I remember correctly. The brand may or may not be Apollo, back then I've seen several stencil brands that used that hardware type.

Well one thing is sure, the hardware stuff you need will be able to be found from folks on this site. My personal kudos to MIKEY777. However, not to slight jonnistix's earliest post, but that floor tom is going to be tough. You'll find one, but odds are it's going to be the wrong wrap. Re-wrapping that entire kit will kill the cool of the vintage wrap and you'll have a gob more money in it than if you just advertised on the site that you wanted a sixties MIJ kit. Take that kit and either part it out or store it while you wait for the floor tom to show. That could take a while.

May I throw in my 2 cents here?

First of all, PLEASE DONT PART OUT THESE DRUMS!!! These are great looking drums with a desirable wrap and they will sound good when complete! No one here would part out a Ludwig set just because it was missing a floor tom, would they? These drums also have a more rare type of mounting hardware (the crest shaped mounting bracket is hardly ever seen, most have the flat tab mounts.)

You have a zero dollar investment in these cool drums so far, so why not put just a little bit of money into getting these 3 drums into good playing condition? Some decent used hoops shouldn't be that expensive and the teardrop lugs (if you're missing some) are out there. We haven't seen pics of the bass drum (please post some if you can) so we dont know what you need there, if anything...

If these drums fell into my lap I would get the missing hoops/lugs, polish the lugs, and very carefully clean the wrap. Apparently satin wraps are a bit more delicate than other wraps. I'd try to find a gentle cleaner with as few harsh chemicals as possible, and dilute it even a little more with water, and clean the shells using a spray bottle and lots of clean dry rags making sure not to leave any moisture on the wrap.

If the edges are mostly in good shape, I would just give them a very light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them out a little (this will help with tuning.)

Unless you are a dedicated 5 piece player, I wouldn't worry too much about the mounting hardware. I almost always mount my rack toms on a snare stand. You could probaby play this set right now with the 12" set up to your left on a snare stand and the 13" set up as a floor tom to your right on a snare stand.

As for the floor tom, I'd be patient and keep my eye on ebay. Or, you might find a cheap MIT orphan floor tom somewhere and see if the blue fire satin wrap from Jamminsam.com will match your drums. (They would probably send you a free sample.)

Whatever you do, please dont part out these drums or re-wrap them! If you decided that this project isn't for you, sell them all together to a MIJ enthusiast.

You can get new, unfinished wood hoops for about 40-45 for a pair delivered from www.aitwood.com and go to http://www.drumfactorydirect.com for other stuff, like T-rods, claws and inserts. Mikey will have other parts.

Thanks to all of you for the advice and encouragement!

Pounder-So are these T-rods an odd size to find? The shells still have all the original lugs. What are the specs?

cn679- Yeah basically that is my whole intent. I got them for free and i've got enough time and money to get em going. The blue Satin Fire wrap at Jamminsam looks like a perfect match (although quite a bit newer looking). I think what i'll do is find a floor tom with matching specs and just recover it. BTW the wraps on my shells are starting to come up at the seams-what is a good way to secure them?

jonnistix-Thanx for the links! Thats a good price for the hoops. Any opinions on 10 ply vs 12 ply and materials?

Well, I'm "cheap..." so that is my preference. The only real diff is gonna be the strength of the hoop, the 12 won't warp as easily. As for the T-rods, yeah, they are a pain to find the exact right Star rods and claws, so again, find the ones you like at the website, along with the swivel nuts and save yourself a lot of grief. I use a little bit of epoxy, it is fast and holds far better than anything else. You can get the lugs for a floor tom to match from Mikey, he has a few of them, and they are one o\f my fave designs.

Are you comfortable taking the lugs completel\y apart and cleaning each little piece? If so, go to my youtube, folow the link below, I have How-To vids.

As far as your question on the t-rod's Yes they are a odd size metric--but i have them--On the floor tom it would be a 16x16,I think "Kevin's" said he had all the lug's in a above post--just fine a floor tom and re-cover it..Oh as far as the blue satin wrap---i have that at the shop along with 4 other color's--red,white,gold,yellow, in roll's it's new old stock from the 60's-70's...Mikey

These seem like reasonable lines of thinking. Find any good 14" or 16" floor tom shell, load it with the teardrop lugs and wrap with the same wrap and you're good to go, for the most part.

About cleaning satin flame (or moire) wrap: I have experienced this. You will have limited success but they will look much better, as long as there's no moisture damage from under the wrap between it and the shell. The suggestion to use a mild detergent (like Palmolive) is what I did, and that in conjunction with a very soft bristle tooth brush, going small sections at a time. The rag idea has limited benefit, because the wrap has very small grooves in it, where the dust and dirt get lodged. The soft fine bristle brush can be gently used and will get the dirt off, then you can spray the soap/dirt/water off and wipe dry/air dry being sure to avoid the shell or lug holes. You'll probably need to remove the hardware for a better cleaning.

Just be aware that this wrap is very fragile and more caustic cleaners can and will damage it further. Plus, scratches can't be removed on this type wrap. But if they're cleaner, they can look very nice under the lights from a few feet back.

All this being said, if the wrap is really damaged in more than a few places (chips, profuse cracking, moisture bleed underneath) it may be a good idea to re-wrap it, or just sell the drums to a more aggressive, self-assured Japanese-drum restorer. After all, you did get them for free. That can mean you can determine the best use for yourself for them, even if that means selling them quickly to someone else.