Welcome! to the forum. Nice kit! Now, the little attachment to the front side of the hoop is actually designed to keep the drum from creeping when played. These bass drums will run from you, and the anchor is there to eliminate this. It can be used for carpt, spilkes down, and wood, rubber feet down. The set up is approximate and as you play, you will want to experiment with moving drums around until YOU feel comfortable with the location of each. That is one seriously nice set of tubbies.

As for the Ludwig hihat, get a cymbal felt and use it, it is a match for these drums, the TAMA, although a great piece of gear, is not era correct and will not look quite right with these drums. Drum keys are your friend, buy a box full, you will lose more than you will ever imagine. They are necessary, and many parts can only be adjusted using them. And for the most part, any drum key will work, so get a few cheap ones, until you get the hang of carrying one in your pocket at all times, and then get the real nice vintage Ludwig one.

That is a fantastic-looking Hollywood kit!

Thank you for the great info. My hands get "really dirty" when handling the hardware. Even though the drums may look clean in the pics, they probably have not been cleaned in some time. I'll take a look at some threads on cleaning them up a bit. Luckily for the drums, I believe they have been stored in leather gig bags for some time. I am inclined to wipe the wraps with a damp paper towel without removing the lugs, but I'm not going to do it. When I get up the energy and proper cleaning supplies, I'll do it the right way. I am just scared about all of that hardware/lugs etc. I also plan on obtaining some better protection than the soft leather gig bags I have now.

So, can anybody tell me about that bass drum damper mechanism? I've seen it used on the front of some people's bass drum. Is it more commonly used on the kick pedal side? Do you use it when you play?

Also, can anyone comment regarding my setup. High much room between the bass drum and the toms? I don't want any drum on drum contact to accidentally happen! Does the crash cymbal, (the smallest one I have besides the hi-hat) go next to the hi-hat and tom? I'm pretty sure that large one I have on the right is called a ride cymbal, but for all I know it's a large crash. And does the Ludwig Speed Pedal just attach like I have it without any other tricks. Its seems to be staying in place just fine. I don't want to ask any more dumb questions here so I'll just say thanks for your time. I'll check out the many threads that more than likely answer these and other questions I'm sure I'll have. It is great to check out the pics of other kits to get a better idea of what I should or should not be doing.

Now I just need to find a place to play that doesn't mind loud drumming "noise". Cool Dude

Nice kit! Leather bags have value. The kick muffler is not necessary. With the batter head that is on there a felt strip about 3" wide on the left side of the front head should provide all the muffeling you need. As for tom position, put them above the snare to where they are comfortable to hit without them touching any other drum. Make sure they can't move. Check out Bob Gatzens tuning vids on you tube. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum about cleaning and preserving this fine instrument. Good luck.

That's a SWEET looking kit! Nice snag!

I'll bet it will sound GREAT with some coated heads on it...Yes Sir