I stopped by there today...the drum is definitely sold to someone. I asked the clerk about it and he said it was gone and also how amazed he was that there were so many inquiries about a "junky old drum". He said that the shell was flaking badly so the previous owner just sprayed it with flat black paint. I pointed out that even a flaking shell sounds the same and $100 for a 6.5" Ludwig was still a good deal despite the condition issues.

The sales clerk mentioned that they have a "new guy" scouring the area for vintage drums and then bringing them in to sell to GC for resale. No idea who that might be. Seems like a bit of an odd business plan to me , flipping them to GC. I'd think the local MGR would pay more...heck, I'd probably pay him more for his finds than GC.

Thanks for the update K.O! I got my....."Sorry but our online store screwed up and sold you a drum that was already" sold e-mail yesterday. So I am strangely relieved to hear that it was pitted out underneath that black paint. Still an awesome drum for the money though.

At least the pitting means it wasn't a brass one.

I almost stopped in there last week when, I assume, the drum was still available. At the very last minute I opted not to stop as they seldom have had anything of interest in the past. If I had stopped I know I would have most likely bought it anyway but I'm relieved I didn't miss out on a brass one by such a thin margin.

Still...strip off the paint, get it dechromed and the aluminum polished and it would be quite the bargain for $100.