Nick Mason, the man behind the drum kit for Pink Floyd, has stepped in to save a favorite childhood haunt from closing its doors. Foote's is the music shop where Mason bought his very first drum kit, and now he, along with the store's sales director, Rob Wilson, are set to buy the business from the family who has owned it since the '30s.

"After 40 something years of playing, I still have great affection for a real drum shop," Mason told Musical Instrument Professional, "and Foote's has a special significance for me." Mason explains that in 1958, he "headed down to the West End of London to a basement in Denman Street where a kindly man called Sid, in a white coat (maybe that's significant as well) sold me my original kit for £7.50." Which, by the way, was only around $21.00 in 1958. So what was included in Mr. Mason's first kit? "A Gigster bass drum, a snare drum of indeterminate age and parentage, hi-hat, cymbals, and an instruction book on the mysteries of flam paradiddles and ratamacues which I am still attempting to unravel," the legendary drummer jokes.

Business partner Rob Wilson explains how Mason got involved with saving the store, "At the eleventh hour, our business loan was turned down by our bank. It was a major blow to our plans, but Nick came to our rescue. Without him, and our collective of generous investors, Foote's would be no more." Like so many mom and pop shops across the globe, the old fashioned music store was in danger of closing it's doors forever. For Mason, it goes beyond simple nostalgia. "It's more than an opportunity to buy an instrument," he said, "there's an opportunity to catch up with any new ideas from the manufacturers, new sounds that you simply can't appreciate online and, of course, to talk drums and equipment with an expert."

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