Quite a project. You ended up with a very worthwhile outcome, especially if measured on a sonic basis. They look great too.

Thank you Dan! I agree, it was probably worth it, although it did cost me a few hundred dollars and I'm not sure I would get the money back if I sold the kit. For now I'm keeping it.

My goodness you did fine for a keeper kit

enjoy

I almost forgot: the bass drum hoops looked sad, part of the inlay was coming off and the paint was flaking. I used some regular glue to fix that, then i cleaned the paint and sanded it lightly. I put some masking tape over the inlay and spray painted the hoops. They came out real nice and it really adds to the looks of the kit.

Great Resto Sir. What would that nail have done for the leg mount? It is on the wrong side of the mount. Anyway great job.

I know, that nail ... there are actually three holes in the spur, maybe the top one kept it from falling off when lifting the drum?

Nice job, Mattias.

I guess this is a Superclassic kit (22"x13"x16"). It would be nice to hear a higher tuning demo.

If I was you I'd look for a second hand rail consolette replacement and a cymbal arm as a finishing touch of the restoration. Congratulations!!!

Morgatto, the sizes are 20, 12 and 16. From what I've read, those sizes were common on the European market.

As for the rail consolette: the bass drum came with two, and both are working well. Since I only have one tom, I removed the one to the right and covered the holes with chromed plates from the consolette. These plates also cover heavy rust stains.

I know these rail mounts are sometimes ruined because they are tightened too hard, which can result in the metal clamp losing its P-shape. This had happened, so I put the mount in a vice and gently pressed it back a little bit. It works perfectly well. I added the Gibraltar mount simply because it really improves the sustain of the tom.

The cymbal arm I'm using is some unidentified thing, it cannot be adjusted but it works and I think it is cute. A proper one is expensive, and I probably wouldn't trust it to hold a large heavy ride cymbal anyway. But I'm thinking for super small setttings, I could use just bass drum, snare, hihat and a small riveted cymbal mounted to the bass. If I ever get back to playing in a band, that is.

20, 12, 16 was a very common configuration in the US, as well, though I'm not sure Ludwig showcased it in any catalog. Lately, the name Super Beat seems to have been adopted as a contraction of Super Classic with Down Beat, which were two of the very commonly cataloged and purchased Ludwig sets. Ringo Starr used both. To my knowledge, Super Beat was not a name Ludwig used for the setup.

Certainly a lot of sets have shown up with that configuration. Those may have been either dealer or owner ordered or reconfigured by subsequent owners over the years. A lot of Rogers kits were issued in those sizes and at one time called the Buddy Rich Headliner with an L arm on the bass for a ride cymbal or Swingtime with a straight hex rod on the bass.

Mmmm. Rivet cymbal on a bass drum arm is not a good idea, unless you want to hear sizzle every time you kick the pedal. Specially on recordings...