Good point. I thought what happened here is that they drilled for a cymbal mount that's telescoping and instead put one on for an L-arm.

Also wondered why they'd maul the tag; or place one there knowing that if a mount was added it'd be skewered. Guess: they made the shells 1st and then filled the order when it came in. Sloppy tag placement nevertheless.

My attempts at a response to Hobbs do not seem to go through to him through the usual channels. In the response, I offer my apology to him for taking our disagreement too far for this forum. I might be proven wrong about my opinion about the asking price. I'd be interested in finding out the result of the "for sale" listing.

None of the holes for the cymbal mount are factory. All of them were done after the paint job. The lug holes and spur holes were there before the paint job.

This used to be what we refer to as a virgin bass drum. My opinion on virgin is anything not needed to make it a drum. The rule of age is when they used clip on spurs, no holes other than the lugs or dampers. After the advent of attached folding or tele spurs, the term virgin became no mounts or cymbal holders. You`ll find most people on that same page.

Again all the holes for the cymbal mount were done after the paint job with a low speed drill bit. I don`t think the cymbal mount is factory for that reason. There is paint in all the holes except the cymbal mount holes. The center hole is screwed up and angled out and will not hold a pole mount without moving around, and that`s why I think they went with the L arm.

I`m sorry, Did I say paint ? That`s semi solid stain.

The RLS on the tag looks factory too. I wonder what it stands for ?

So, I think this is important : that ROGERS paint was applied AFTER holes were cut.

That said, is it not possible that it's still factory + that the cymbal mount was just added later by request, or to fill an order? FTR : I don't consider the cymbal mount detrimental to its "correctness" - + this has nothing to do with my owning it. I'd still kill for the 12/14!

Probably employee initials. I have on 1 drum per kit : a Dayton w/ "RLS" (on 12 tom) + a Fullerton (on metal snare) w/ an "F"; + a Cleveland Tower kit w/ "RLS" (12 tom) + "S" (bass).

There`s a small, very small chance it was done,...no,,..change that, the person that screwed up the large hole, covered the hole and his tracks with the L arm.

The lug holes are no doubt done with a jig and high speed drill. The add on`s to order, would be side stations with pneumatic drills or electric drill that have very high speeds too. That assures clean holes and longevity on the drill bit. Factory stuff.

Those look done with a store bought low speed compared to commercial grade motor. I think the factory would plug the big hole or can the shell.

Yea, probably inspector or final assembly person.

I think that the shells were wrapped, drilled then the inside finish, or the stain would not be inside the holes.

Maybe someone stained it after factory too. But the sticker doesn`t appear to have been removed and re-attached. It`s possible, I`ve seen it done .

Found another clue. I understand the different washer prints because the hole are close to the rings, but the one imbedded into the ring for the spur, is painted and peeling,...How`d that happen ?

They wouldn`t put a drum with spurs on it into paint station. I don`t see that happening.