Found my dream drum project

[Garyincanada]

I bought an old Gretsch kit that was neglected. It's my very first shellpack project. I think it will take a while for me to get around to completing it. But, at least I have it now. I have been thinking about and looking for drums like these for years. The funny thing is most of the time the drums that I liked were thousands of miles away. We just don't get stuff like this in this small town. One of the interesting things about these drums is the seller said they were her dad's (Gary's) drums that he bought in the early 60's. Saddly Gary died a few years ago. My name is Gary and I bought a set of Gretsch drums in the late 60's and sold them - regretting it to this day. So she thought it was nice to sell the drums to me, another Gary, who only lives a few blocks away. I never knew her before yesterday when I answered an add on Craigslist.

THe cymbals, cases, sticks, Speed King hatstand and pedal and all sorts of goodies in a cardboard box were included.
Here they are - worts-n-all...........

[Dr. Mordo]

Holy shit. If those cymbals are Istanbul Zildjians, which is what they look like, they are worth a chunk of money.

The kit is nice, but those cymbals are pretty rare. Potentially a coupla thousand US dollars on ebay of they are in fact turkish Ks.

I wouldn't do anything at all to that kit. Any value will be destroyed if you peel the wrap off them. Just clean them up a bit and thank your lucky stars you got such a cool kit.

[RubixGroove]

I'm going to have to agree with Mord on this one...
Thank those stars, indeed!
And also laugh at 'em, because the world is a very, very small & beautiful place!

[pan60]

Originally Posted by Dr. Mordo

Holy shit. If those cymbals are Istanbul Zildjians, which is what they look like, they are worth a chunk of money.

The kit is nice, but those cymbals are pretty rare. Potentially a coupla thousand US dollars on ebay of they are in fact turkish Ks.

I wouldn't do anything at all to that kit. Any value will be destroyed if you peel the wrap off them. Just clean them up a bit and thank your lucky stars you got such a cool kit.

another plus!!!

[rebuskyle]

Yea...that is a nice kit....but damn.

That's a kZildjian from probably early 50's or late 40's. Worth quite a chunk of change......If there aren't any cracks or serious "keyholing" you could pull in at least $1700-$2000 for that ride cymbal alone. Do the hats have the same stamp as the ride? If they do you're looking at even more...

GREAT find. Congrats...now PLAY EM!

[Garyincanada]

Originally Posted by rebuskyle

Yea...that is a nice kit....but damn.

That's a kZildjian from probably early 50's or late 40's. Worth quite a chunk of change......If there aren't any cracks or serious "keyholing" you could pull in at least $1700-$2000 for that ride cymbal alone. Do the hats have the same stamp as the ride? If they do you're looking at even more...

GREAT find. Congrats...now PLAY EM!

The 18.5" sizzle ride is a K old stamp and I'm told is probably worth around $800 or even more because it's an uncommon size. The 14 hats are A's and sound beautiful. But that K is probably the nicest sounding cymbal I've heard........except of course the one that dude in Symphony plays (ancient K).
The drums are almost completely restored and I'm playing them now. They're my favorite kit for sure! I haven't even got the new heads on them yet.
I found one place on the snare batter side that may be where the router-guy made a little slip when he cut the bearing edge. I don't notice anything (buzzing?) at this time. Ray Ayotte said he will re-do the bearing edge for me if it's a problem. I may take him up on that....we'll see.

The second photo (a little on the dark side) was taken tonight in my drum cave.......just wood-shedin a little. Man! these drums sound nice!

Gary