KapperDog,

My four legged 20" bass drum was part of a 1965 Hollywood 5-pc kit. It had a double clip mount for a pair of 8x12 toms. To boot, it was in Oyster Black Pearl with a Supraphonic 400 snare and 16x16 floor tom. I sold the kit in 1975 after I got married for some extra money since I still had an oval badge Camco kit that I was working with. I learned my lesson and still have the Camco kit even though I've bought and sold dozens of other kits since.

A Pakistani Air Force pilot training at a nearby US airbase bought the Ludwig kit, so I don't guess any of us will ever see them again.

Hey Kapper, for what it is worth, and please, take this as my input only. There is a 14 MIJ floor tom on Japan ebay right now that is a three ply shell. It can be had for about half what a poor example of a Lud (in poor condition), and they do sound great. I have one that is indeed a very good drum. After I reworked the edges, and put quality heads on it, it sounds like a cannon. I know everyone that has never given these drums a second thought as being less than desirable, or even sub-standard, has never taken the time to put one to the test. I am very successful with these drums, and suggest this to you ONLY as an intermediary until you can find the proper one, and it is BDP, in very good condition.

For what it's worth, please don't blast me, I am only making this suggestion as a stop gap, and if you don't think it is worthy, that is cool.

WHAT??? How DARE you!!!.

LMAO..just kidding bud. I'm an open minded type. I'll consider any input.

And, actually, I have no problem playing a mis-match until I find the right match. It's all a learning process for me and you don't learn if you don't experiment.

I don't even mind playing a mis-matched floor tom that's a different wrap. Maybe a silver sparkle to contrast the black pearl. LOL

It's all good. I just love playing. I'm one of those that can't get enough.

I have only been playing 28 months and I have owned 25 kits. LOL

LOL

I have another question for anyone who might know.

I took the kick drum shell to a well known drum shop locally. Not Guitar Center type. This guy is a drummer in a national band and has been building drums for decades.

Oddly enough, when I arrived, the Ludwig rep was in his store.

Although the Ludwig rep did not confirm, George (the drum shop owner) said the 2 rear spurs were added later because the were spaced differently than the front spurs.

Everything was even and well spaced but the spurs on the batter side were slightly closer together that the spurs on the resonant side.

Now, it would seem to me that this would be the proper way to place these spurs to properly distribute the weight and if Ludwig had done it, they might have placed them in this manner.

However, he seemed pretty sure that Ludwig would not have spaced them this way and that the spacing was a sure way to tell they were not factory stock.

Not that it makes any real difference because the shell has extra holes anyway which kills any real collectivity but I'm still curious about it.

Since I can't find any 4 legged kits in the catalogs, I have to believe that he's probably right.

Just curious if anyone has any comments on that.

Well, I finally finished.

That was an incredible amount of work. A lot more than I originally anticipated. I had no idea there were soooooo many pieces. The kick drum alone had 204 separate pieces.

And I clean, polished and waxed EVERY ONE OF THEM. LOL Practically wore out a toothbrush. LOL

And, for anyone who wants to know. The way to make nickel shine like a mirror is FLITZ. Great stuff. Nothing even came close when it came to the nickel. Brasso was great on the chrome but was a total failure on the nickel. Only Flitz worked. Great stuff.

Didn't turn out too bad for my first try. I must say, it's looks real real pretty for a kit that's a half century old.

I guess I could say the same about my wife. I wonder if I buff and polish her, if she would shine like this.

Ah... nevermind. Not sure I have that much wax anyway. :)

Big kudos to the people here in the forum and all the posts that made it possible for me to know how to do this. Thanks to all.

I'll be taking this to a gig this week. I can only hope it sounds as good as it looks.

Thanks again gang.

Hey gang, this is the next outfit that I'm going to put on eBay.

I am keeping this snare. Turns out, of the 100+ snares that I have owned, this one is in the top 3. Go figure, a 6 lug Pioneer over my Slingerland single ply maple Gene Krupa (that I just sold). LOL Just goes to show.... it's all what you like. Drum making was so obscure in those days that every drum sounds different. I have probably owned 20+ pioneer snares and they were all different. None of them were really "great". I had one White Marine Pearl Pioneer that had almost no snare bed at all. I could never get that drum to sound right, no matter what I did. Somehow, this one is just perfect. LOL

Also, I added a Blue and Olive 16" floor tom to this set. The wrap matches perfectly and you would never know it wasn't a part of the kit to look at it (except the badge). I was tempted to pull the Blue and Olive badge and replace it with a keystone. LOL Albeit, I'll probably sell the floor tom separately anyway. It will bring a pot of gold on eBay.

I really really really really hate to get rid of this one. Look at that beautiful mahogany interior on that kick drum. This thing has the most wonderful thunderous sound. I must admit, I like this kick drum better than my new Tama Bubinga 22x20 canon.

This was my first vintage drum set. And, this was the first set I restored. I put my heart and soul into this one. If I remember right, I counted over 200 pieces on the kick drum, alone. I polished and shined and waxed and babied this set like no other I have owned since. And, like I said, the snare is now one of my favorites.

This has really been on the shelf since I restored it. I stated collecting drums so fast, that this one fell to the wayside. And, I started playing 5 piece outfits more than 4 piece so I don't think I ever gigged this outfit. I pulled it out the other day and I am using it as one of my practice kits to see if I want to go back to playing a 4 piece or if I want to stay with a 5 piece (at 60 years old, the less I haul, the better LOL). Both bands I play in play mostly high energy rock so my 5 or 6 piece outfits seem better suited. Plus, I'll probably keep my Slingerland 12/14/20 for the times when I need a smaller "jazz" kit (if ever).

I can't tell you how much I DON'T want to sell this.

If you read the previous posts in this thread, you'll see that the kick has 4 extra holes where the tom mount was moved. And, I don't think the 2 back legs are original (not sure right now). So, it's not a collector's dream, for sure.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post them in the for sale section. I'll probably end up splitting this up and selling the floor tom separately from the kick and rack tom. What a shame. I'll post it here first because I would really like to see this one get a good home where it will be appreciated. And, eBay is not the place for that. Vintage drum forum is a much better place for that.

I am pretty sure that the rack tom and the kick are inner and outer ply mahogany. The floor tom is probably maple. I'll confirm all this tomorrow in the for sale section.

I'm really sorry that I'm not including the snare, This would make an incredible sounding 3 piece (if anyone still actually plays a 3 piece outfit). But, there's no way I'll part with this snare.

I'll post some current pics and info tomorrow but I just wanted to toss out a heads up in case someone was looking, specifically for something like this.