Almost two years ago I found this 20" bass drum in my local Salvation Army store. I didn't know anything about drums at the time and both the badge and label were missing. The only clue I had was the Gretsch script on the cymbal arm mount. The price was so low I couldn't pass it up. When I got home I did some research and found out that it was a Stop Sign badge from about 1971. The drum was missing some parts, tension rods and hoop on one side, and a Ludwig mount had been added. At first my intention was to just quickly flip the drum but pretty soon I felt compelled to put the kit back together. I slowly gathered parts and more matching drums. The 18"x16" floor tom was just a shell when I got it. The 13" tom was an ebay score, and the snare, by far the hardest piece to find, magically fell into my lap via Craigslist.

Just about complete. I fitted an original Gretsch double tom mount in place of the Ludwig that was there when I got the bass drum. Easy enough. Just had to enlarge the bolt holes outward slightly. No evidence of the Ludwig mount remains.

Added a 20" Zildjian sizzle ride, a Gretsch hihat stand, and a floating action bass pedal.

I just need to attach the badges to the floor tom and bass drum, hunt down a flat base cymbal stand,....and, oh yeah, practice!!