Bowtie,

Welcome, welcome to the forum. You're in good company here with lots of experts on vintage drums. Your dad left you an incredible part of his youth when you discovered this set in storage, and I know you realize its value goes way beyond the evaluated monetary value anyone can put on it.

I hope you heed our experts' advice in this thread. Several things mentioned already should be re-emphasized:

1. Do not attempt to make repairs or clean these drums without asking for advice first. Simple amateur mistakes like scrubbing the chrome or cymbals with steel wool can result in serious damage, and certain commercial cleaning products can react negatively and damage the sparkle wrap.

2. Do not be tempted to start selling off individual pieces despite what might seem like (to you) unrealistically high offers. That 14" champagne sparkle floor tom will command some very serious offers by itself. A big component of the collectability of a set relies on the original, matched pieces staying together.

3. If you are compelled to sell the set due to financial need, do not let someone, including your local drum shop, take advantage of your situation. Post more photos of each drum (and the date stamps inside) and our Ludwig experts will estimate a fair market asking price for the set.

4. Even if you don't play, set up the drums, sit behind them, and imagine the joy your dad had playing these before you were born. It's no different than sitting behind the wheel of the car he drove, or going fishing with his favorite rod and reel. There's no price we can put on connecting with our dads.

Don't be stranger. Keep checking in here.

Beautiful chamoagne sparkle downbeat set! Sizes are 14x20,8x12,14x14 and 4x14 downbeat snare drum. around the mid 60's Ludwig just offered the same set with a chrome supraphonic snare drum as it was just easier to match drum sets with a metal snare drum. That snare drum from your set is much more desireable. There are probably date stamps inside the shells of your set and they will be in red ink. I would not be suprised if you have the first year run of champagne sparkle too. Ludwig started using that color around 1961 so that is cool. Not sure if I have ever seen that color on anything earlier however as always I could be wrong.

I am sorry for the loss of your dad but hopefully you play and the will be your set. BTW it looks to me like that pink head was supposed to be some sort of band logo head but it is on the beater side of the bass drum. A nice cleaning, some new heads would make that set a beauty! Just make sure you read about how to care for them cleaning wise and good luck!

WOW! that's all I can say.

The bass drum is 14"x[SIZE="6"]20"[/SIZE] (8 lugs per head is a dead give-away, if it had 10 lugs per head it would be a 22")

Wish I could write stuff like this, very well put!

Excellent kit! Love the wrap and one of my favorites. You dont need to remove the heads to find the date stamp, 95% of the time you can see it through the vent hole.

Nevin

I did in grade school and the first year of Jr. High. Wished I would have stuck with it. Got into motorsports and lost interest.

I just realized you cant mutli quote in this forum.

Thats what Im trying to decide at this moment. I have never thought about trying to sell them but at this point I hate having them laying around. I dont want to take the chance of rodent damage or some other form of damage. I think it would be a waste to see these just hang around in a attic. I have other things like pocket knifes, guns, watches, ***lery ect that belong to my Dad that I would never think about getting rid of. I think I would rather know somebody else is enjoying playing these. I would think my Dad would to but Im still up in the air. Not sure at this moment.

Im not going to take anything apart at this time to look inside. What I am going to do is look inside this evening with a electronic borescope.

I also want to say thanks for all the info and comments from everyone. I will keep you guys informed about what I find on the inside with the electronic borescope.Excited

There is nothing I can add that hasn't already been said. That is a fantastic kit and a great link to your father. Keep us apprised of what you find and how you choose to proceed.