Hey Barry; A couple of pics of each shell like the ones on this page would help, preferably of the area where the plies meet;http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/drcjw/article_3_shells6.html If you take pictures of all 3 shells we can compare them and argue about whether or not the bass drum has been altered. Also, a measurement of the re-rings in the bass drum would help. The area behind the badge looks good, no gouges around the grommet which would indicate it has been removed. It is still possible but they did a great job and replaced it with the proper grommet. Here are some pictures of the clip on spurs your kit likely had, a bass drum cymbal holder including the piece you are missing and the bass drum tone control in my old RKs, which could account for a couple of the extra holes in your drum.

Hey Mike,Then inside of my bass drum looks like the one in the pictures. Same bearing edge and same re-rings. I have all of the pieces for both cymbal arms, just didn't assemble the kit when I got it home.I have an old digital camera that does not take very good close up pictures. Here's a couple more. The re-ring is 1 5/8' wide. Both ends of the drum look like this.Cheers

Can we get a pic of the grommet hole?ThanksKev

Hey Barry; Just took a good look at that really nice '49 RK kit on Mark's site. I agree with you on the lug spacing differences between the bd and the ft. The T-rods used on the bd are much longer than the tension rods on the floor tom, coupled with the fact the bd shell is only 14" depth vs. the ft at 16" depth which leaves the lugs spaced pretty close together. That and the fact that the re-rings measure correctly for bass drums of the time would suggest it is a genuine factory drum. With that being said, looking at your pictures of the bass drum interior, there has been a few hands in there. Lots of scratches, a couple extra holes. Extra hardware. The grommet doesn't look like mine, (pic attached), and appears to maybe have another grommet pushed into the wood from the interior surrounding it. Has it been off the drum? Who knows? I personally think it is the original badge, because it fits into the timeline with everything else and is the proper badge for the era. When you start to line up the parts on your kit and create a timeline everything starts falling around a couple of years. Off the top of my head from having reread all this stuff in the last couple of days; You have the large bt lugs without the "shelf" that the second generation lugs had added. That change happened '47 - '48. The double flanged hoops debuted in the '48 catalogue. The floor tom legs were introduced in '47. The badge on the bd was used '46 - '48. The picture of the '49 RK kit shows the oval badge, newer lugs w/shelf. Stamped Slingerland washers fit the time. The shell construction fits on all 3 shells, re-rings are proper for the shells. The tone control felt colour and shape fits. We know for 100% 14" x 20" bass drums were available in '49, (thanks Mr. Cooper!). Whether or not it appears in a catalogue is irrelevant. It would simply be one more piece, (albeit a nice one), in a pretty complete puzzle. An awful lot of stuff fits. Is it definitive proof? No, but it's a heck of a fine start. I can't wait to see it all cleaned up and finished. I'm a little bit jealous.

Man...you guys are a bunch of drum scientists figuring this one out! Cool thread and cool drums!

I can`t see design or factory putting that badge that close to that mount !! I`d need to see several examples to think otherwise !! That`s just **** poor workmanship !!