Just put the finishing touches on this kit and thought I'd post a pic and recap the story...
After glimpsing a tiny hint of B/O badge in a dark and blurry photo ad on Letgo ($200 OBO for a "grey and black drum set") I took my 10 year old daughter along for the 20 minute ride to take a look. We pulled up to an open garage filled with junky music gear and three long haired young guys using an old van seat as a couch and vaping giant clouds. My daughter said "This place looks sketchy Dad, let's leave now." I assured her that musicians are (for the most part) harmless creatures, but had her wait in the car anyway.
The kit for sale was in fact a B/O COW 12,13,18,22 that appeared to be mostly there. Dirty, but not abused.
Here's where the story turns bloody...
The young guy selling the drums had set the toms on the rack, but did not tighten down the nuts, not knowing this, I leaned over to take a look inside the shells. The 13" tom swiveled down and the bearing edge cracked me on the bridge of the nose. When I stood up (seeing stars) I felt my face and I was bleeding like I'd been stabbed. When I went out to the car to get a napkin, my daughter saw my bloody face and completely freaked out "Dad, I'm calling 911, lets get out of here now!"
In the end, I was able to calm her down and make the deal for the drums $150, and he tossed in a decent Pearl COS snare. I wouldn't recommend bleeding-out as a negotiations tactic, but I think it worked in my favor this time.
So here are the numbers...
$150 for the kit and the Pearl snare
+$25 (Ebay) for replacement bass spur and new rubber feet
+$75 (Ebay) for NOS chrome dot batter heads for toms
+$70 (Ebay) for replacement front bass hoop
+$30 (Ebay) for 10 claws and T-rods
+$70 (DFD) for batter hoops for all three toms
+$20 (local shop) for reso side 18" head
+$10 (Lowes) spray paint for bass hoop refinishing
Grand Total $455
The veteran restorers on the site know this lesson well...a "nearly complete" vintage kit can be pretty expensive to actually complete. The parts for this one were relatively easy to track down, and I got lucky to find a bass hoop with the correct silver sparkle inlay. In the end, I think it could fetch double what I have invested, and I had a good time doing it, not to mention a good time playing them. They are heavy as heck, but that mass makes them sound big and punchy!
