After 29 years, reacquired my Duplex Spirit of St. Louis set!

[sksmith2500]

Believe it or not, I reacquired my long-lost Spirit of St. Louis kit, minus the snare!!
Long story, so I'll try to keep it short.
Over on the drumforum.org is a member named "DuplexTim". Well, Tim is local to me, and post about finding a SOSL bop size kit in need of serious restoration. I IM'd him with some details about the set I sold back in December 1992 when I got laid off, and the coincidence was too great. These were the drums my uncle gave to me in the late 1970's, and I used when I was learning to play. Tim wanted to finish them, so we decided to keep in touch and he would give me first refusal should he sell them.
Well, a few months go by and right after Christmas, I received an IM from Tim asking if I was still interested. I couldn't reply quickly enough and a price was set.
I drove the 2 hours last weekend and picked up these beauties! While I wish they were still original, they weren't in the most beautiful shape when I had them, and they really fell into disrepair over the preceding 29 years. So, I completely was onboard for rewrapping them, and Tim did a fantastic job!!
I just received a pair of W&A cymbal arms and one W&A cymbal stand, have another on order and a hi-hat stand on the way. Need a W&A "Rocket" snare stand and a stool. There are a couple on Reverb at the moment that I looking at.
I still have an original 18" crash A. Zildjian from when my uncle gave these to me. There were 13" A. hats, a 14" A. thin crash, a 20" A. ride and no-name Chinese cymbal with rivets, probably an old Wuhan. The Zildjian's were stolen from a practice studio in the early 2000's. the Chinese cymbal was garbage. I'll find some suitable replacements as they come along. I cracked the 14" in my overzelous youth.
The snare is needed next, drop me a PM if you have a line on one.
Now, drum ****!!! (disregard the modern cymbals, I just had them out so I put them on the stand

[mlayton]

Great story. Congrats on getting them back. They look fantastic. Enjoy!

Mike

[grantro]

Originally Posted by mlayton

Great story. Congrats on getting them back. They look fantastic. Enjoy!

Mike

+1 with Mike!!

Cheers

[amosguy]

Sometime it goes around and back again.

Great story and happy drumming.

[O-Lugs]

Good LORD those are COOOOOL!

[jmcohen]

Congratulations! I see why they were so special to you. Great story and outcome.

Josh

[idrum4fun]

A great story! Your drums look fantastic in your chosen wrap, too! Congrats on getting them back!

-Mark

[BEC]

Wow, beautiful kit!

[leedybdp]

Beautiful drums. I have two questions. 1. What is that white line on top of the bass drum that runs from edge to edge? 2. Is the rail consolette fastened to the batter side hoop of the bass drum?

[idrum4fun]

Originally Posted by leedybdp

Beautiful drums. I have two questions. 1. What is that white line on top of the bass drum that runs from edge to edge? 2. Is the rail consolette fastened to the batter side hoop of the bass drum?

I have a feeling the "white line" is just a reflection from the light between the curtain and wood frame behind the kit. The rail consolette appears to be bolted to the metal batter hoop. I hope the OP weighs in to let us know for sure!

-Mark