You're correct, it's up to you based on your personal taste. I know many purists wouldn't touch the hoops, but others would. Personally speaking, I think it depends on the drum. If it's truly a timepiece from the early 1900s or something, and restoring it might reduce the value, I might not touch it. But if I had your kit, I'd probably paint the hoops eventually.

Case in point: I've owned a 1969 Rogers for about 17 or 18 years that's in really good shape other than some dust and dirt. Lately I've considered disassembling it to clean it up, and if I do that I will likely paint the hoops. It would really make the kit look new.

All the holes should be precisely drilled to accommodate any of the lugs. This was true even on my cheap MIJ kit.

I'm a big fan of the sharpie usage on original hoops. Done this many times.

WAY TO GO!!!

Estate sales have a serious creep factor for me (when it is obviously the sale of a recently deceased person's belongings) and are too often claustrophobic and smell funky, but it sure pays off when you find something like that for $60. Note to self (or nearest surviving relative)...don't hire that company to run my estate sale. Estate sale professionals that don't know that vintage music gear is valuable enough to research a little? Really? Do your job people!

Anyway, hang on to them as long as you can young man. They will increase in value more than any stock you could invest in.

With regards to the sharpie, is there any good way about going about that, or pictures of what it might look like when done?

And with regards to the estate sale creepiness factor, thankfully this one was just the result of the owner's of the house moving out. No skeletons inside the bass drum when I opened it up.

Also, can anyone recommend good (but ideally not super expensive) cases for drums? Want to be able to keep them protected without breaking the bank.

After receiving my nickel plated floor tom in the mail today, and really giving the mounted tom a good thorough cleaning, I can definitely see a difference between the hardware. I'm pretty sure it's chrome. :D

Now they won't match entirely, but I don't think that's too big of a deal.

It was your day and your time to get a gold sparkle Ludwig kit! The (nearly) matching FT on eBay seems to prove it.

Some estate sale (thrift store, etc.) professionals are better at it than others and too bad about that. The only time I would ever offer more than the asking price would be if it were the actual owner selling it and I liked their vibe.

Hang that tom from the rail and let's see some photos of the kit in battle configuration!

Although nickle has a different hue than chrome, when cleaned properly, you can't tell from 5 feet away, if the nickle is in good nick! I have a Jazz Fest I thought was chrome, as I disassembled it, I began to suspect it was nickle, so I pulled another drum out to compare, sure enough, it was nickle. So clean it had me fooled!

Great find BTW, you've given new life to a set obviously sitting for a long time. Enjoy them, you can't go down to a Guitar Center and buy a kit like that!

Also, don't buy the bad mojo comment. You just happened to be the lucky recipient. Could have been some idiot that would have made lights or tables out of them.

Unfortunately, no matter what I've tried on these nickel ones, they're just a bit too tarnished and I'm a bit too eager to get these things to a point where I can bang them. They've been cleaned and polished, but not to the same extent that the chrome parts got. I'm not too worried though, as you can't tell unless they're directly next to each other.

Only the bass drum is left, and I'm hoping to have that done by tomorrow; Sunday at the latest. For anyone interested, I did decide to stick with the original calfskin head on the front of the bass drum. Is there any reason not to? I know putting old heads on the drums is usually a no-no, but it's just a very cool front to have on there.

I put old period correct heads on my sets often. I like calf of the drums in which they came on from the factory. I'd say a big yes on yours.

Having that calf head on the bass drum is very cool. Just be aware that calf heads are organic and their tension can change with the weather. On a damp day they will loosen up or on a dry hot day they can tighten up (and if already under firm tension possibly tear). That is the main reason calf heads fell by the wayside as plastic heads that didn't have this issue were perfected. Nothing beats the sound of real calfskin heads but they do require a bit more effort on the part of their owner.