Hey Everyone,
I got the DUKE kit today. I took some pictures. They aren't the best, but here are some details:
The kit is indeed 20/12/12/14 with the matching 14 inch snare. All of the hardware appears to be original to me. The Ts and Claws are all there, all of the rods have their washers, all of the hoops match, the bass drum hoop inlays are all there, the wrap is in really nice shape, the mufflers all match and aren't missing any parts, the snare throw works great and is indeed a "dual" type of adjustment system (adjustable butt). Minor scratches/minor rust or pitting here and there on the finish and metal parts but they are easily fixable. The floor tom legs are all original as well as all the thumb screws. Both of the bass drum folding spurs have their rubber booties as do all 3 legs on the floor tom.
The lugs and hoops need a good cleaning, but there isn't a ton of pitting. Mostly just gunk from years of dust and sweat. The heads are questionable. It seems like the bottom snare head, both bass drum heads, and the bottom head on one of the 12 inch toms are original. The combo of heads they chose as replacement are pretty funny. Power Stroke 3 clear with clear dot on the RESO of the floor tom, and a pinstripe reso on one of the 12s. The tom batters are all Evans Genera G2 clears in decent shape. I am definitely going to put some coated heads on the batters and clears on the resos. The snare batter is a REMO Legacy LA with Reemlar. Never heard of that sort of head before. Anyone?
The drums sound.......really good actually. I didn't spend much time tweaking them. Just set it up as a 4 piece (it is really hard to get both toms up comfortably with the rail mount system) and ball parked them. They look like 6 ply shells. Definitely Luan. I am excited to get them tuned up with some good heads.
As for extras, this is where I think I really scored on this deal. The set came with cases, and the cases appear to me to be late 70's or early 80's Ludwig hard cases. I am not sure, and will post in the USA section about them, but all (but one) of the cases has the blue and olive Ludwig logo sticker in the corner, and the one that doesn't appears to be a custom case. It fits BOTH 12 inch toms stacked on top of one another. Inside that case it says: "Manufactured by The House Of Quality Chicago Illinois" and has the exact same buckles, straps, and handles as the Ludwig cases. SO the cases are vintage Ludwig 14x20/6.5x14/14x14 and 18 or sox12 that might just be lacking the sticker.
The kit also came with a cool Ludwig throne. Kind of a "two up one back" tri-pod sort of design. I dig it, but it isn't super adjustable. I am guessing 70's on that one. The stands are: Modern Tama swivel leg hi hat stand in like new condition, an old Camco flat base cymbal stand that has sort of a curved top tube. Never saw that before. The other flat base stand is a no namer. The cymbals are 18 inch KINGSTON, 16 inch KRUT, and 14 inch Ludwig Standard By Paiste (Germany).
All in all, I am stoked. Here are some pics. I will put some more on separate posts below.
-Ad
