Hey Mark!

Truthfully ... in ALL the research I have done over the decades, and all the countless pics I have seen of Buddy .. many never in print .. I have never seen him playing a Slingerland 80N in BDP ... never. Now, that isn't to say that he may not have "played" this set somewhere for some function/clinic/store appearance, etc., ... but certainly NOT as his every night tour set of drums. NEVER HAPPENED. And if it did, where are all the pics??!! Pics were taken at like EVERY performance by Buddy, many by guys like us!, and not one has surfaced in all these years?! BEAUTIFUL set of drums!, but ... I sincerely doubt Buddy ever played those on even a remotely steady basis, as there would be more evidence. The same has to be said about the DW set that Buddy supposedly "played". There are no pics of that happening! ... at least that have surfaced, and you gotta figure, it's been what, 34 years since he allegedly gigged on those DW's? Where are all the pics?! Same with these I think!

Tommyp

Somewhere on youtube I know I saw a clip of Buddy behind a black set of DW drums. It was obvious they weren't his drums but a set provided for the occasion by whatever TV show it might have been. I don't know if I could find it again or if it is still even available. It was many years ago that I stumbled upon it and the only thing I remember about it was the oddity of seeing such a thing. Of course it was just a one time thing on one song for one show, not really a "gig" and certainly not Buddy's drums.

I'm pretty skeptical about that BDP set myself. Certainly it is an 80N Buddy Rich set but that's a far cry from being a set he actually used a "dozen" times.

K.O.!

Indeed. There's just NO EVIDENCE, and that ... is the rub with his claim. You know, I saw a vid/clip of Buddy on YouTube more than a few years back where I was blown away to see him playing on a set of black ... YAMAHA'S! I should have saved that to my hard drive as I believe it is now long gone. Was that the one you saw? Or was it for sure black DW's? I know you know all the differences between companies and lugs, etc ... but odd that I saw him on a set of black YAMAHA'S! All this goes right back to what we are saying here: Buddy "played" on many different sets and snare drums during his incredible career .. but .. the one's that count are the one's he played on a STEADY basis. That is the key! My Buddy Rich snare drum collection is based on that exact parameter: The drums HAVE to be the models he played consistently ... period. Same with full drum sets. Indeed.

Tommyp

What kind of fries me is that Larry Ochiltree states in his text that this BDP kit was used 12 times and then says in the video that he has pictures of Buddy playing the kit. If ANYONE had seen these pictures, I have no doubt it would be you, Tommy!

The story sounds great, but you need real provenance to back it up! And, I'm wondering who this west coast person is/was that offered a substantial sum to purchase the kit from Larry. I have no idea who Larry Ochiltree is, but listening to his video does make it seem authentic. The only problem is that, like you and K.O., I need more to prove this!

While doing some internet research on this, I stumbled upon this website. At least it has some nice pictures of the BDP kit! http://wbckfm.com/battle-creek-drummer-to-play-rare-buddy-rich-drum-set-at-wine-fest/#photogallery-1=1

-Mark

Agreed Mark! You know, WHY not SHOW those pics then? What's the big mystery? Again, I don't necessarily doubt his claim .. but .. let's see the pics then! No one I know has EVER made mention of this particular set. Also, 12 times? Hmmmmm... NOT what I would call on a steady, night to night, basis. Being 1968 Slingerland's, perhaps Buddy DID play these for a bit while his set was being readied? He did start with Slingerland in 1968 of course .. still .. there would be pics! I have some shots of Buddy on his 1st Slingerland set that have never been seen in print. I got them from the photographer's son actually. They were taken in England during rehearsals for his upcoming show at The Maltings. I will tell you this ... the drums ARE 1968 Slingerlands, but the tom mount is the Slingerland rail consolette. That's how early these pics are! By the way ... the drums are WMP! :)

Tommyp

It was so long ago it's hard to say for certain but as I recall the thing that struck me most about the clip was the fact that they were DW drums since I knew that Buddy had supposedly said he didn't like the round lugs. I can't help but think that if Buddy had lived a few more years that eventually DW would have made him an offer he couldn't refuse to get him to play their drums.

There's a good chance that I have this clip saved somewhere but finding it might be of needle in a haystack proportions. I used to download all the Buddy youtube clips I could find and then burn DVD compilations of them to give to my former drum teacher who became a close friend. He was a huge fan of Buddy but not computer literate so I'd gather up the better clips for him. I did this up until the point when it became nearly impossible to know which ones I had already done and which were new. So I might have this clip stored on a DVD somewhere (I'd delete them from my computer once I made a disc). I'll give it the old college try and if I happen to find it I'll repost it to youtube so I can link to it here. Don't hold your breath though as those burned DVDs are not in any particular place and if I do have it it could be on any of them. My friend kept his copies nice and neat but he passed away a couple years ago and I have no idea where those ended up.

Odd, that I remember this, and many other clips of Buddy playing oddball sets on various shows but I don't recall ever seeing video or even a picture of Buddy behind a BDP set. If I were bragging up such a set and had pictures of Buddy playing them those pictures would be front and center.

For example, I own this set now (left to me by my aforementioned teacher) and.....

There is a picture of a badge with serial number 224xxx. That number would seem to high to have been used in '68. More likely '69. In an old post to TommyP, DrCJW states that mid '68 would have serial around 175xxx. The highest documented '68 serial I have recorded is 197xxx.