Vintage Corner: "Set the Pace" silent practice drumkit by Ralph C. Pace, 1960's

I just obtained this, thanks to the guys at Revival Drum Shop (who know my love affair with practice pads and offered me first dibs on this one at a very affordable price).

Ralph C. Pace was a drummer, inventor and music teacher based in New York who patented a quiet practice kit for use at home.
He built each kit by hand at his home in White Plains, cutting, sanding and assembling the wood pieces, and shipped them to drummers all over the country who found them an invaluable tool for silent practice when the occasion required it. He made perhaps a few hundred of these kits at most, between the late 1950's and early 1970's.
A number of professional drummers endorsed his product; and parents wondered why they'd bought their child a real kit when they could have gotten this instead. As you can see from the photos, the kit is designed to be adjustable so that a drummer can approximate the height and width of his/her actual drumkit set-up.
                                                                            
  

A fully-functional version of this kit is rare and very hard to find, and I've seen one perhaps every other year or so listed for sale through a vintage drum specialty dealer.

This one, as you can see in the photos, needs some restoration and/or refurbishment before it can be used again. I have decided to make it usable again, utilizing replacement rubber tops that may be a little softer than the originals were. I will probably cut four tops to size, and put one back while I decide if I want to remove the one top that's still there or let it be.
And since practicing at home on my actual kit poses problems for my freelance writer wife, I will probably use this kit quite a bit more.

I'm pretty excited about this find and will share more photos once it's ready to rock. Happy Drumming!