Steve gets some of the best stuff I have NOT found.

To be continued..

Rare indeed.

A wonder if that was a special order at the factory, or if it was modded after?

It looks like the Rogers mount on the bass drum was the first mount there, no extra holes. If I remember right, weren't the North/South holes on the Rogers Rack Tom Bracket the same hole spacing as a Ludwig? The Rogers Bracket could be covering the original Ludwig hole pattern on the Rack Tom. I see a tone control on the batter side of the bass drum. Did Ludwig offer those on Bass Drums? I'm looking to see if there are any leg bracket holes that have been covered up. Also, the spurs look a little odd for Ludwig, no? That's why I'm thinking this was a modded floor tom, that was retrofitted and cut shallower. If it was originally a 16" x 16", that means 4" would have been cut off. Maybe that was enough to cut off both leg bracket holes? Or maybe one was cut off and the other is hidden by the front head? Inlay could have been taken off a larger bass drum and cut to size to be reinstalled on after market hoops, of course. It also would be very easy to turn the Keystone badge on the bass drum 180 degrees. Isn't it odd that, if it is factory, that Ludwig would be using Rogers parts (tom arm and bracket)? I know that Ringo used to use a Rogers mount on his Ludwigs, but I just assumed that was a mod done after the drums had been received, not at the factory.

Also, I wonder what color that wrap was originally? Either that's a special wrap, or it's Sky Blue Pearl or something that has severely been weathered. I would love to see it with a lug or two removed.

Interesting none the less. Too bad Steve is probably asking about $6K for it!

Looks like Oyster Blue Pearl, right?

It's a pure jazz kit and a thing of beauty. I can almost hear the sound of it when I look at it. Tune those toms -up- a bit and whango-de-tango jazz Heaven.

John

I don't know but looks like a cut down pre-serial 16x16 based on the tone control and badge orientation. And badly faded OBP I think.

They sold it as a legit 12x16. Steve's pretty much on top of things. If it wasn't an original construction, I think he could have figured that out pretty readily. Some dealers worked the drums that way to have happier customers back in the day.

I had a late 60's Gretsch 18, 12, 14 about 5 or 6 years ago. I bought it from the original owner who was in his 70's. He'd bought it new at Jack's in Boston. Slingerland Set-o-matic mount - all original. Someone eventually took it off, patched the holes, drilled two new holes and then said the rail was the original setup and they had restored it to original condition. Go figure. Fact is, the Slingerland set-up was superior and the set was worth just as much that way as with a rail.

Looking at this set I say, if you want 12x16, you've got yourself a smoking cool set faded oyster blue pearl and all.

And here are the details, because that bass drum was made factory 12"x16" BUT was modded by the shop that ordered it.

" 9/14/16 UPDATE. See below. In our Chicagoland store. 630-237-4997. This is probably the coolest Ludwig set I have ever seen. Absolutely remarkable. Here's what we have here. Oyster blue with an 8x12, 14x14 and believe it or not a 12x16 bass drum. The wrap is 100% original and chrome is good. Each drum is very even in color and condition, AND, the serial numbers on all 3 badges are so close that this had to be a factory order. Now, my guess is that the 12x16 is a tenor drum that was ordered as-is and then built to be a bass drum by adding the spurs and tom holder. The spurs are Slingerland, which is ingenious because the extra height these spurs provide would be needed here. The tom holder is Rogers swivomatic. Also ingenious since you need the height for the 12 to be in a reasonable playing spot. Back in the 60s and 70s a lot of pro drum shops would order items like this and then do the work on them in their shops. Al Duffy used to do the same thing at Frank Ippolito's NY shop in the 60s and 70s. They would order in the shells with no mounts and no spurs and then build to the customer's specs at their shops. I witnessed that first hand many times at Frank's.

The 12x16 still has the factory tone control in it. The 16" bass drum hoops have original matching inlay. Interiors are white painted and have all aged the same. This set has clearly been together from the beginning. This is not something that was done by adding the bass drum later on. At $2400 this is a great deal since the 14x14 and 8x12 toms are super rare by themselves in this finish. Amazing kit.

9/14/16 UPDATE: A good friend and fellow vintage drum collector, Todd Remmy, contacted me about this kit. He said he knew the original owner, a fellow named Ron McCurdy. He said that Ron ordered this set from a Cinn based drum shop back in the 60s. The shop was "Drumsville". Thanks Todd! "

Figured I'd see what they had as info with the kit, and well they included all the info.

If it was cut down, the T-rods will have to be as well or they will go deeper into the casing. After chrome, the cut end will be rusted or not covered. If the whole rod is chromed at that rod size, it`s factory.

If Steve is calling that Oyster Blue, then that is some SERIOUS aging and UV Fading. Must have been surrounded by windows 24/7!

Echoing what I said before, I would love to see it with a lug or two removed.

Also, seeing that he's Steve Maxwell, wouldn't you think he would have a non-rusty Swiv-O-Matic mount around somewhere for the photos?