Here's a vintage drum story I hope you can appreciate.

I recently bought a 1966 Champagne Sparkle Club Date kit off the bay. You may have seen it a couple weeks ago. It had a matching Pioneer snare & a BIN price of 1400 OBO.

I offered & received a counter offer of 1300.00 with shipping included. Seller was located in Albuquerque NM. I was hesitant at first but it was real nice & that was not too far of a distance to ship.

I usually don't buy without seeing a kit in person.

I accepted the counter offer, made payment & sent a message to seller asking him to pack very well (even explained that a drum in a drum needs packing & why).

Well, last Thursday the 2 boxes showed up & I was absolutely speechless on the condition they showed up in.

The drums were packed so poorly I was amazed they were not completely destroyed all together. NO packing between the drum & outer box.

Rather then bore you with the ugly details, this story has a happy ending.

As I was packing these back up to be returned for a FULL refund Friday night (the 13th) I was talking to my wife, saying this is so sad to be sending a kit I looked for so long back because of this person's carelessness. How could they possibly be so negligent? (I have photos of the packing job as well). It was a sad evening indeed until I walked over to the computer & refreshed the local San Diego CL musical instrument page. Then that feeling hit me, my jaw dropped & there it was... Located just a 1/2 hour from me was one of the top 2 kits on my bucket list, a 1965 Ludwig Downbeat in Burgundy Sparkle for 1000.00.

I quickly made the call. At this point the ad had been up for maybe 2 hours. I found out I was #2 guy. #1 guy had an appointment to see the next morning at 8. If #1 guy does not show up or respond, I'm next.

Not good enough for me. I want this kit. I've been looking for this kit forever & I just got screwed over on the other dream kit. I text seller & offer him 1100. He says hang tight, he is going to contact #1 guy to see just how interested he is. #1 guy says no. I'm in. The ad is pulled as I confirm our meeting time. His phone/email continues to ring off the hook (even as we do the deal on Saturday morning).

Saturday morning I drop the damaged Club dates off at the post office to be returned for my refund. I did not want to do that & really was disappointed with the entire experience.

But then I drove & picked up the kit and once again, life has an amazing way of working out for the better.

And on an even happier note, these drums were bought from a fellow drummer in my local music scene. We play with many of the same folks, at the same venues & even shared some festival gigs together.

What a small world huh?

He was really happy the kit was going to such a Ludwig fan & fellow local drummer as myself. The kit will continue to be an active part in the San Diego music community.

So that's probably my best score ever, and on Friday the 13th.

How's the kit?

Barely any fade. Some seam lifting on the tom & FT but nothing that cannot be fixed. Structurally sound with all original bottom resonant heads & front logo head. No major dings, scratches or damage.

Front bass drum T-rods not original but those are an easy find. Date stamped May 26 1965 in bass drum & tom. White interiors. FT date stamp April 26 1965. White interior. White felt BB mufflers on both.

This is a matched kit, SN are: 164631 BD, 164616 Tom, 165170 FT. 20/14/12.

All original hardware decent & L cymbal arm included. Inlays there & hoops good. This was & will remain to be a very nice players kit. The plan is for a full restoration.

I'm going to do one gig this Friday with the kit AS IS (as it's tuned up REALLY nice now) before it's stripped, cleaned & brought back to it's original glory.

I'm still pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming..

A vintage drum story I hope you can appreciate.