The cymbal arm in the middle of the bass drum is not very practical unless you're playing with no rack tom and you decide to mount a cymbal there. My only gripe with the 20" otherwise a great sounding drum.

I have a 1959 trans badge New Yorker bass drum with the cymbal post on top and the badge one panel over to the players right side. The cymbal mount is right where the badge would normally be. Looks kinda cool.

I also had a WFL club date kit just as this kit's badge is placed. with this center post cymbal mount.

Sorry for the delay guys, was busy doing yard work all day.

First thanks for all the insight. This is great !

I have attached 2 pictures of the mount on the bass that holds the tom and the diamond plate on the tom itself. That is what confused me as the hoop mounted tom holder like Chromeo shared is what is in all the catalogs and advertised for what should be on the New Yorker set.

I am also very confused as to why the vent hole and badge are where they are.

I love the sound of the drums, I played them when I first got them and am excited to play them even more and share the project when I am done.

I want to make sure as I restore it that I put the correct parts onto it and also know what I have.

CTMichaelV

When I first got my 20" bass drum I suspected that it was a factory reject that was drilled incorrectly. LoLoLoLo

I suppose they wanted this bass drum to have a cymbal arm at the very top and gave that priority over the badge. I think it looks very cool this way.

What size is the rack tom with your set, Micheal? The blue sparkle looks great!

Here are a few more shots of my 20" bass drum with mounted 13" tom. Also pictured is a Ludwig Universal Model 4 x 14 snare. Notice the cymbal arm and badge position on the shell. I think it's a similar configuration to Michael's.

You could order a set in whatever configuration and with whatever sort of mounts and positioning you wanted. The catalog configurations should be considered starting points but lots of drummers knew what they wanted or needed and ordered accordingly. For example a drummer might like a cataloged set that uses a hoop mount tom mount but prefer to have a rail type instead. He could easily specify that change and Ludwig would build it accordingly (or the dealer might put the rail on for him).

The cymbal holder and badge placement is typical. Since the cymbal holder went in the badge's normal position the badge went over one panel. My guess is that they installed the badges before the other hardware and therefore had to do this (otherwise they could have easily stuck the badge ahead of the cymbal mount). There is at least one set shown in the catalog this way so it's not some sort of one-off anomaly.

Your set looks like someone may have used the "Combo" outfit as a starting point but specifying the separate lug shells in place of the club date style (same actual shells for either, just drilled differently) with a 20" bass drum in place of the 22" and a better snare drum.

Looks like you've found a very cool set there, don't get too worried about what outfit name (if any) might have been attached to that particular combination of drums. The drums were all the same and an 8x12 tom sitting on a stack in the factory could end up in any outfit that called for one...or any outfit configuration a drummer figured out for himself. The late 50's was a great time for Ludwig with nice build quality and they tend to sound great.

The Tom is a 13" that has a beautiful sound to it. As far as the center cymbal mount, your right, not the ideal place but I can use it for a 8" or 10" splash.

I did not know you could order a set and have the various requests for configurations, hardware, etc that is great to know and helps me realize that it really doesn't matter if it is a New Yorker or what it is. It is the blue sparkle ludwig set I always wanted since I started playing.

Thanks for all of everyone's help, please keep more info coming to educate me.

When I was at the CT Drum show everyone there recommended I join this forum and I am glad I did.

Now I will start reading up on restoring the set. I started to read the posts and will start a thread there as I venture down that path.

If anyone can point me in the right direction or to one of the forums guru's of restoration that would be great.

Thanks a million !

CTMichaelV

My WFL has a 13" Tom too. Great shells! Welcome aboard VDF. I'm relatively new here too. I've learned so much about vintage drums and cymbals here and we all chip in and help each other out. I've had the most random, miscellaneous stuff positively identified within minutes by the members here. Cool1

Oddball-- I have seen the badge in that place-- Fellow forum member drumfx has one that i wanted to buy from him for small gigs.. It's not uncommon..