The hardware and lugs are definately Pearl copies.Kits like that were made with hundreds of different badges.I don't know about German manufacturing law,but in the US, as long as the drums are assembled here,you can say"made in the USA"I suspect things are similar in Germany,because I would bet those drums were made in Tiawan or China,and assembled in Germany,although I couldn't be certain.

In the US we have a couple of products what will kill black mold.One is called Kaboom,and the other one I have used is called CLR.Unfortunelately,they are both liquid based,and will cause the wooden shell to swell,if the wood is allowed to absorb the liquid.

I would say,if you can get the mold out,without destroying or warping the wood too badly,then go for it.Good luck.

Steve B

Trisodiumphosphate (TSP) with warm water. Don`t be afraid to put some in, when the water is ready your hand will feel soft.

Don`t soak the whole drum, just the pillow damage, then come back before it dries and apply more with a kitchen scrubber and wipe to ...wet. let it dry completely to raise as much grain as possible. Because the mildew has deep penatrating power, it may be into multi layers. After the drum is completely dry, looking whiteish from the TSP, 220 cloth sandpaper around a sponge to conform, and lightly sand away til you realise you have to stop. In most cases, the stainning will still be faint, then you can beeswax it or whatever and put it on display so others can see why you don`t leave the pillow in the BD !!

Tip, sand the re-ring area cross grain, a little bit wide on both sides, then sand with the grain to blend and finnish !!

Oh, you can buy the TSP at the supermarket or hardware store !!

Chlorox bleach will kill, & eliminate mold, mildew & fungus quickly. Wipe some on, wait a few minutes, wipe off several times w/ clean fresh water. Repeat this process, let dry. Don't soak, just use a fairly heavy wipe.

The Badge says Percussion since 1861. That`s a long time !! Longer than Sonor !!

I'm not old enough to confirm the "1861" statement, but I know that Lefima is an old brand and they have been manufacturing drums since at least the 50's.

I have come across quite a few Lefimas in the 70's and there is still new drums sold here in Europe with the Lefima name on them. The drums in the picture are supposed to be from the 50's.

-As for the bass drum, it looks like a Pearl copy from the 70's but it is probably not made by Pearl. I have never seen lugs from Pearl that are so flat on the top as these are. My guess is MIT copies from late 70's or 80's.

/Johan M

That is a way cool kit in your post. I`m try`n to figure out what`s holding the center tom tom ??

Lefima has had a bit of a roller coaster history. They do indeed date from way back----no reason to doubt 1861 but since they were in East Germany after the war, they fell prey to the managed economy , forced expropriation and consolidation with Trowa( the company that suceeded Sonor, in the same factory). Lefima continued in production after the merger but produced drums much like Trowa and the later post merger Tacton. A lot of the parts were the same , the shells the same but there were some differences. Eventually the company departed for the West and started anew-----a very similar story to the Sonor one but taking place later . Here is a guess on these drums. I have never seen any like this but perhaps they bought the parts from the orient to get an entry level kit on the market, during the rebuilding phase. All other Lefimas, I have seen, have distinctive lugs unconfusable with any others( except Trowa in the 50's and 60's---which are the lugs on the white kit pictured ).They haven't made kits for at least 20 years and now are concentrating on developments in marching and orchestral instruments, which has been their forte. They are one of the world's leading Tympani makers and responsible for quite a few innovations. I have a couple of Lefima snaredrums(one East German and one West German); both very very good.

I agree, very cool kit! See that curved tube like piece on each side which serves as the other tom mounts? Looks like the third tom is connected to a straight piece of tubing that connects the 2 side pieces. Reminds me of the crash bars on a Harley Dresser.