I finally finished this kit. It was indeed a nightmare, and I will never buy a spray painted kit again. The bass drum did end up being maple, and was originally a natural finish. I found the remains of the clear lacquer under the layers of primer and paint. I stained it to a decent match (the difference is less noticeable in person). I wanted to leave the lighter maple color, but they were too stained by the citristrip. There's something else that I'll never buy again-- citristrip!
In general I'm happy with the way it all turned out. The wood looks ok, and the drums match fairly closely. The interiors are back to a granitone type paint. Most of the drums were originally granitone interior, and after stripping I found a good match with a Rustoleum stone spray paint. The repro badges worked well, they are on the 12", 13", 14", and 16" toms. The bass and 18" toms are "real" badges (many thanks to Purdie Shuffle for the badge on the 18"). The previous owner did some strange redrilling and moved the badges, mufflers and mounts around on the rack toms. For now I just have everything where I found it.
The setup in these pictures if 24/14/16/18. I've been playing a 4 piece for a long time, but I think I can get used to 2 floor toms. But I can't say I love the sound of the 18". I actually tried out 24/13/14/16 with the 14" on a snare stand in the first floor tom position. I may end up playing it that way. This is my first 24" kick, and I'm loving the sound of it. Now I have to decide whether to keep this or the near mint blue oyster Ludwig (bowling ball) kit that I recently finished cleaning up. If that one had a 24", it would be a much easier decision, but it's a 22".
Anyway, here are the pictures:
[IMG]http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/potsy24/70s%20Mystery%20Ludwig/IMG_3268.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/potsy24/70s%20Mystery%20Ludwig/IMG_3269.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/potsy24/70s%20Mystery%20Ludwig/IMG_3267.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/potsy24/70s%20Mystery%20Ludwig/IMG_3280.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/potsy24/70s%20Mystery%20Ludwig/IMG_3276.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af5/potsy24/70s%20Mystery%20Ludwig/IMG_3272.jpg[/IMG]