Once in a blue moon, someone will catch a black drum on Long Island, NY. Never a red drum. Same in New Jersey, never a red drum, sometimes a black drum. A red drum usually never travels farther north than southern Viginia.
i would go with yamaha, better quality. and the hole in the front of some bass drums is to allow a bass drum microphone to be inserted near/in the hole. good luck with the drumming!
RE: Answer # 1 No investment counselor is going to be able to appraise a vintage drumset. In addition, you would not appraise the value of each part unless it is a complete mixture of different drum parts. If, indeed, it is the original Ludwig set AS...