My COS Star snare as that badge.

As for heads, I highly suggest going to your local GC, or whatever you have for a drum shop, preferably a mom-n-pop, but whatever you have. The reason I say the Z-100 is because it is less $$ than the Amb, the coating is much stouter and Roy Burns has made these heads specifically to meet the needs of 3 ply shells of the era, no matter the maker. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with him. I sent an email to them extolling my appreciation for a good, high quality, new head design. He assured me the new coating is more indestructible than the Amb ever will be, in other words, NO CHIPPING. I have bought several NEW Amb and the within a week, the coating has flaked. I hate tat, spend 15 bucks on a head and within a week the coating is flaking. And they will not replace them, so you out 30 bucks. Try one on a snare, tey are usually around 10 bucks to boot! Make no mistake, they are great heads, and if you do any brush work, you'll really like this coating. They are the same thickness, 10 mil, but they are more "supple" right out of the box, they don't stretch as bad as the Amb does, so you won't have to "seat" the head and then play for an hour and then re-tune.

OK, I looked at the interior shots. These are 9 ply shells. The Z-100 will work as well as any other head, but I still think they will sound much better. I need to ask, what style of edges do they have? Looks like none, but I know pix are deceptive. If they are round-over, take a few minutes to lightly sand them smooth. Don't go crazy, just take some 220, and lightly go around the edges 3-4 times. Smoothing them will make the heads seat better. If you have no edges, you will need to work on that. A simple roundover will suffice until you can get a better idea of what you want.

I don't know... there was definitely something else there that was skinnier, about an inch or slightly more in width... if you zoom into the picture on Flickr, you can see where one of the holes is next to the "new" mount, and the discoloration (just like in the front where it looks like a cymbal mount once was). Although I have to say the mount flange does look era-authentic... just not the ball-joint part.

I'm going to beat on them this weekend and see how they sound at good playing volume. Yes Sir

tubmyk, I'd leave the mount that is there as it is era correct, just not the correct one. Finding the other will be a pain because they made, between all the builders, about 6 different ones and they all look similar. Just get the replacement tube and arm from Mikey777 and see if someone out there has a piece of red sparkle wrap. Push like 5 or 6 toothpicks in the hole, round off a piece of the wrap and carefully glue it in place.

After going over the phots of the drums listing..The only thing i see as far as the tom mount is someone re-placed the one on the bass drum to a 4 hole one.the right one would have been a 2 hole mounted part..Also the on bass drum the big round hole near the front lug was for a straight cymbal rod mount the one under that hole someone tryed to move the mount from the first....Mikey

Thanks everyone for all the help and tips!

I think at the moment I will leave the kit alone, clean it up real nice & change the heads, etc.. and just play it. I will want to find a nicer snare to go with it though; the Magnum isn't really that good (I could always use my Yammie stage custom wood snare for now) and a nice ride because I still use a Sabian B8 which honestly sucks. But I like the old school tone of the toms! Down the road, you know the obsession just keeps you on the lookout so who knows; I may end up finding a real nice Ludwig or something when Im not even hunting...

Mike, if you watch ebay, you will likely find one of the COS snares that should be with this kit. They typically sell, depending on condition, for 15-75+ shipping. I'm telling you, it is one of the best budget snares of all time, bar none. It really sounds like a much costlier snare. Study the pix of the other kit, look closely at the COS snare on top of the pile and that is the one you want. Some of them, as I stated earlier, are in fact brass, and if you get lucky and one shows up on your stoop, you will likely use it as your main player, they are that good.

See the stack of drums by rculberson, it has the proper snare on top (actually his is a Pearl stencil kit, but if you can find one of those snares for cheap, you will not regret it), from this thread:

http://vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=25725

I'm really excited for you and your new drums. There's nothing like '60s/'70s drums...and they look just incredible. Please keep us informed with updates and newer photographs! Heck, maybe even a recording if at all possible!