The kit that got away

We all have tales of fantastic drum sets that you just missed out on . Come on folks fess up and tell us your regretful tale.

The tale for me involves a Noble and Cooley Star series kit . The toms on the kit were all steambent maple and short stack style toms . The bass drums were regular multiply maple shells . This particular kit was for sale at Songbird Music in Toronto . It was up for sale for $1650 Canadian . Unfortunately for me at the time I was married to an extremely frugal Woman that threw nickels around like manhole covers and had a death grip on our bank accounts . It took me a couple days to convince her to let me buy the kit and when I got back to Songbird the kit was gone . It has bothered me all these years as these kits are very rare and collectible .

So cool to see this! Don't know if it's the same kit he used on the Dire Straits - On Every Street World Tour (1991 i think), but the sound of that kit is one of my favorite drumkits ever! During that solo on 'Calling Elvis' with that percussionist he does a fill and those toms just sing...
Every time i watch that dvd or listen to the cd i tell every one to shut up so i can bask in that sound haha
 
this exact kit....

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a "Ray Era" maple satin finish with the wood hoops and the black stripe. They had one in the local drum shop for a few years back in the 90's, and I just never committed to saving for and buying it. Sooo frustrated now!!!

I would love to get an Ayotte kit someday (if i can justify spending that much on a kit haha). The one below still is one of my favorite kits ever. Just something about that fade and the beautiful wood hoops.

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So cool to see this! Don't know if it's the same kit he used on the Dire Straits - On Every Street World Tour (1991 i think), but the sound of that kit is one of my favorite drumkits ever! During that solo on 'Calling Elvis' with that percussionist he does a fill and those toms just sing...
Every time i watch that dvd or listen to the cd i tell every one to shut up so i can bask in that sound haha

I believe Chris Whitten was using a N&C Horizon series kit by the time he was with Dire Straits . This is a maple ply shell with an inner ply of African Mahogany .
 
Back in March of this year after researching and deciding and looking for over 18 months and the day before I picked up this excellent condition used 6 piece Tama Starclassic bb in molten brown burst , I lost out on this Tama NOS starclassic bb 7 piece in Smokey indigo burst. I was completely crushed and the wind was taken right outta my sails . I saw it on reverb and started calling the shop as soon as it opened that morning . Busy line, ...busy line ?. 10 minutes later I got through to the shop only to find out it had just been sold ?. I believe the guy was waiting at the shop door when it opened . 10 minutes !!!! 10 damn minutes I missed it by and with the free shipping this NOS kit was only 2 hundred more than the used one in total after paying for the shipping. I love my 6 piece and the finish but would rather have had the NOS 7 piece kit . But I think I’ll be ok , at least that’s what the therapist keeps telling me ??‍♂️?.

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Differences aside from mine being used and the indigo burst being new ..... is obviously the finish and the extra 13 inch tom.
 
holy shyte...that is my dads EXACT kit...the one sitting at my country bands practice place right now...what year is that?

hopefully it's not the same kit! do you live in Syracuse? haha. the description said 1954. I didn't ask questions.- just immediately messaged her and said I would take them if they were available. unfortunately someone beat me to them. she said she would let me know if it fell through to which I replied with a higher offer knowing there'd be no way anyone would pass on them, but she never responded. they were marked sold earlier today :(.
 
hopefully it's not the same kit! do you live in Syracuse? haha. the description said 1954. I didn't ask questions.- just immediately messaged her and said I would take them if they were available. unfortunately someone beat me to them. she said she would let me know if it fell through to which I replied with a higher offer knowing there'd be no way anyone would pass on them, but she never responded. they were marked sold earlier today :(.

sweet. his is a 55...exact color; lugs; hardware etc...

that sux that you couldn't get them though. Hopefully they went to some place where they would be respected
 
Hi everyone,
I'm new here - came across this thread while searching "Noble & Cooley Star Series".
I own a Star Series kit. I bought it new in about 1993 from the UK importer in Royal Tonbridge, Kent (can't remember the name of the company).
I Just wanted to let you know that this kit is something amazing... I bought it as a shell pack of 10" / 12" / 14" / 16" / 22" in white laquer finish. It was the only new Star Series for sale in the UK at the time, and I paid £2000 for it.
SInce then it has appeared on many, many records, and I still have it set up in my studio today.
These drums are nothing like anything else I have ever played - if you take both heads off and gently tap the shell you will get a very strong note. All the toms resonate like a piano! So, when fitting heads, if you make a note of the "note" of the drum, then tune the resonant head to it, then the batter head, you get a drum that will resonate for literally 5-6 seconds! Obviously this is not advisable in the studio (or live), so I tune the reso head down a fair bit and use zero rings on the batter heads which creates a really amazing tone (you have to dull them down to control them!). ALL the Toms can also be tuned from very low to very high and sound amazing.

I think the bass drums from these kits were made by Keller, but I'm not sure. It kind of makes sense because Noble & Cooley were only making single ply steam bent snare drums at the time, and used the same moulds for the Star - hence the short dimensions of the toms.
I am led to believe that there were only around 26 Star Series kits ever made, so I guess I'm the custodian of a bit of drumming history! I'll never sell my kit, and will pass it on to my son.
Anyway guys and girls, I hope this was in some way interesting!
Peace.
 
Probably not worthy of this thread but I recently dithered on an early 90s Pearl Export set in mint condition with all hardware, new heads, and Sabian B8 cymbals for $500. Not the deal of a lifetime but I think pretty solid and when I think about it I have pangs of regret for not pulling the trigger.
 
This thread convinced me to go today and purchase a good deal on new cymbals--a little steep for me, but a good deal on the cymbals and I now I have FOMO.
 
The one that got away for me was an indigo-colored Ayotte wood hoop kit with matching snare. 10/12/14/20/5. I played it at a shop in Syracuse and couldn't get the sound out of my head. It actually sat in the shop for a while. Amazing kit.

I've certainly sold kits I should not have sold, but that's the one I should've bought but didn't.
 
In the old days it was a sporting chance to keep manually bidding as the seconds tick down. That is rather cold hearted to have a program do it.
Some real estate auction platforms avoid this sniping by adding more time during the last 3 minutes every time a bid is placed. That allows the actual highest market price.
 
We all have tales of fantastic drum sets that you just missed out on . Come on folks fess up and tell us your regretful tale.

The days when you could pick up any "player condition" round badge, Jasper-shelled Gretsch bop/Jazz kit for $400-$600. :cry:
 
All the Guru kits I now can't buy
 
I saw a set of 40's vintage Radio Kings but had just bought N&C CDMaples and my funds were nil. The same guy had a set of Hayman drums too, I wouldn't mind having those also.
My first 2 snare drums were a 1961 blue sparkle Ludwig Downbeat and a Black Diamond 1958 Gretsch anniversary model. Both were in Harry Cangany's book among the top ten collectable snares. The Lud was stolen and the Gretsch, with matching bass drum, I traded in on a kit, ignorant of their value.
 
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