Another error I've found is with the spurs. The right spur position is fine in that when it lays against the drum it lays under the lug, but the left spur has been put in a completely different place as it lays on top of the lug. Again, this could be a factory error. Has anyone has encountered this before??

Also I found a number of things scribbled inside the shell including what looks like "22" scribbled in chalk, and "62-50" written in pencil. The guy at Steve Maxwell's said the "62-50" might imply it's from 62 but he wasn't sure. Any ideas? :)

What does the top inside of the BD look like ? It will say where the original placement of the rail and cymbal mount were. If nothing but those holes, Someone busted a virgin.

Have you tried switching the BD spurs around from side to side to see if they fit better, I can accidently put mine on incorrectly to land on a lug. They should splay forward to lift the front hoop off the ground.

Most likely a virgin kick as mentioned..

Not the most common area to place both items...

However not unusual...I wouldnt relocate...

Just use a different racking system for the Tom..I.e. Snare std or R.i.m. Mount ..

The CYM mount is ok to use where it is...

Play them out for awhile...if ya do sell dwn the road...no harm done.

All the best

The rail mount, while folded down, is all set up to how the last player used it I'll bet. Link at the top of the rail, L-arm jammed all the way in - it would set the tom at a real old school angle and height. I'd try it first before changing anything. If it don't suit, like RnS says, use an alternate method.

As for the cymbal bracket, that guy knew what he was doing, because with the "factory correct", centered placement, the cymbal is either too close or too far away...IMHO. A lot of MIJ kicks have the bracket there, so you can have the knurled horizontal part of the L angled away from you and get a nice placement. They were cheap, but they weren't stupid. :)

Gorgeous drums!

Mitch

That's a fine looking vintage drum. Please don't drill that bass. You can find one that already has extra holes to do that with. Just my thoughts here.

Mike

That's exactly where the rail consolette is located on my 1948 - 1952 WFL's.

That was one of the standard spots to install the rail at one time. In the earlier fifties that was pretty much the normal rail placement (check out pictures of Buddy Rich from that time frame). That could easily be factory. My '59 New Yorker set has the rail placed like that and that is the original factory placement. That's where the '62 catalog shows it on the Super Classic set...

The cymbal mount may be factory too. That type bracket first came into use right around 1962 and it is possible that the factory experimented a bit with the placement of it before deciding on centering it. The earlier design was completely different so there would have been a transitional period. Interestingly Ludwig won't place the bracket in the center on current production drums but more like what you have there.

Another possibility is that the set was purchased at one of the major drum shops that ordered their drums without hardware and then installed whatever the buyer wanted wherever the buyer wanted it.

The spurs are probably where the factory (or maybe the dealer) put them. Those don't work all that well (IMO) and the placement might be an attempt to improve their function (or just sloppy workmanship, not that uncommon, especially on the spurs).

In any regard if it were my set I'd leave it alone. Not because of what it might do to resale value (which will be hurt) but mainly because it is what it is and that set has been like that for fifty years so why screw with it now? If you can't get the tom where you want it then find another "no-drill" option like a floor stand or a RIMS or ATLAS mount off a cymbal stand.

The markings inside the bass drum are typical factory markings.

Chances are very good that all that you see is original and "factory"

But they are your drums....