L-D I think you where more than fair! answer me this, the sellers photos are very detailed wouldn't you agree? you sell on ebay I sell on ebay, how did king not see these flaws when he was photoing the drum, and what was he looking at for the description, But I think you where very fair!
He only did a closeup pic of one lug. He claims they weren't cracked when he shipped it. There was almost no tension on either of the heads and when I took them off to clean and totally inspect the drum, 4 of the lugs were very visably cracked as well as evidence to where the shell had started to collapse under tensioning. He had to have known otherwise he wouldn't have said keep the drum.
Now I had thought about fitting regular bow tie lugs to it for a brief moment, as they would fit, but when it was apart to clean off whatever was on the inside of the shell (car wax maybe??) I had noticed the shell damage and also the fact that the shell would distort in any direction just from simple handling. Lets just say this one was one of my great blunders as well as Ludwig's.
I've been keeping my eye on this seller's stuff for a while over the years. I have to tell you that from what I've seen, about 40% of what he sells IS actually mint. The other 60% is stuff reconditioned with a power buffer and incorrect wing screws. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen "spur-lok" hi-hats (not the actual name of these mind you) and speed king pedals polished to a high luster...something that the factory never did. And yet people still leave him positive feedback! Hmmm I don't know about the rest of you but I'd like my vintage gear left original and not power buffed! Clean yes, over polished no.
