Thanks, vibes! Like you, I don't like the vintage mounts, and I don't like the thought of all that weight on the bass drum.

Originally I was planning on restoring this set and reselling it, but... NO WAY! I like it too much, and I've always wanted one, so I'm keeping it. I still plan to find a matching snare and vintage hardware, but I'm also looking at making the set playable for me without drilling or cutting.

I've ordered Gauger RIMS mounts for my 12" and 13" toms with a PDP tom stand, and I'll set them to the left of the bass. I'll set the 14" on a snare stand as a second floor tom. For daily playing I like PDP hardware, but I'll continue to pick up vintage Slingerland hardware as I find it.

Hopefully I'll be playing this set in a week or so!

I had the same intentions as you. I was going to sell mine, even had a buyer lined up, but the more I kept looking at the shells and how nice they were I decided to keep them. Plus all the configuration options. Glad I did keep them. Mine are larger sizes . 14"x24" bass, 13" 14" 15" toms and 18" four leg floor tom. I just can not conceive of putting three toms that size on a bass drum. I think your going to like the toms on rims with the double tom stand. I do that with some of my sets and can keep my ride in the traditional position.

I have a low Tama double floor tom stand I use with four different set's to mount a tom next to my regular floor tom. I have never used my set at a gig with all the toms, but I have set them all up as I would use them all. Two up toms on snare stands, 15" on rims on the low Tama stand by the 18" floor tom. The last gig I used them on a few weeks ago was one 13" up, one 18" down. Bass, snare. Have also just used the 15" as a floor if I don't want to take that big 18" floor tom. Have also used the 14" up and 18" down. I also use a top cymbal rod in the back tom holder to hold a Splash or smaller cymbal.

Vibes, your set is GORGEOUS! (And it's the same color as my '77 Ludwig was!) And I had my high school set configured much the same: 12" and 13" to the left on a stand, splash cymbal on top of the bass and 16" floor to the right.

I have new heads on the bass and floor toms and they sound fantastic! I can't wait to get the rest of my set put together!

I'm excited for you. Make some good pics of the whole set up. I just wish I had the opportunity to play mine more. I try to rotate my sets but most of the venues I have been playing lately can no way accomadate a set that size. Just doing a jazz gig right now so just using my Sonor Safari, or Jazz Catalina Jazz set.

And here is the assembled set. I was able to play on it yesterday... wow! My playlist:

[LIST=1]

[*]"Corazon" - Woody Herman

[*]"Against All Odds" - Phil Collins

[*]"More Than A Feeling" - Boston

[*]"Beginnings" - Chicago

[*]"F.M." - Steely Dan

[*]"Tempted" - Squeeze

[*]"Smoking Gun" - Robert Cray

[/LIST]

And yes, I probably have dated myself. Cool Dude

A few notes:

[LIST]

[*]This was originally an Avante set, but the weight of the toms on the bass was not something I was comfortable with. And it looks goofy. So, I've decided to make this a playing set instead of a perfect restoration. The riding toms are on a stand with Gauger RIMS mounts, and the 14" is on a snare stand. I still have the original Avante gear though.

[*]The cymbals are all Zildjian. The 16" crash (circa 1970/71) and 18" Constantinople (early 1970s) were actually part of the set, along with 15" hats (1950s). But I already had 14" Zildjian Mastersound hats, so for now I'm using the top 15" as a crash. The ride is a 20" Zildjian Custom A, and the Zil-Bel makes my granddaughter laugh.

[*]The hardware is PDP. I've owned PDP sets and I can get good used hardware for very cheap prices. I'll look for Slingerland stands as I can, but I selfishly wanted the set playable now!

[*]The bass drum is actually backwards, with the "front" facing the drummer. Oops.

[/LIST]

Again, I can't begin to thank everybody on this site for your encouragement and the depth of knowledge! This project started as just a way to use some free time, but I had to relearn and relive some of my youth! Thank you everybody!!!

My only disappointment: the set was in too good of a shape to start with, and I really didn't do any true "restoration." But after playing last night, I'm very happy.

Making your granddaughter laugh - now THATS what its all about my friend!

- John/levelpebble

WoHoo, looking good ! Yeah, guess you'll have to put that head on the other side of your bass drum. You should check out getting that 14" down even with your 16". Gauges rim off a cymbal stand, or the low floor tom stand like mine by Tama. They look great though. That is a fine set of drums !

Thanks, levelpebbble and vibes!

Vibes I originally set it up with the 14" level with the 16", but when I started playing, I had a problem reaching from the 13" to the 14" during fills. So I raised the 14" a couple of inches in order to slide it a little closer to the 13", and then moved the 16" closer too. My fills are better and the height difference isn't bothering me at all, since I play matched grip instead of traditional.

The bass rims are still scarred up, but in automotive terms we would call this a "survivor" and I'm going to just leave it alone. I'm enjoying playing again, there is a throaty reverb in these drums that my new sets just didn't have.

What you can do is put masking tape over the insert strips on the bass drum hoops, then carefully follow the indentions on both sides of the strips with a exacto knife and pull off the tape on each side. Then all that is exposed is the wood of the hoops. You can just lightly sand them. I always just made sure I got any loose paint off. I didn't worry about the paint left on, then spray painted them black with that black gloss spray paint that's a couple dollars from Walmart. Let them dry and remove the masking tape over the inserts and they will look new.