No they are the same 6 ply shells as the roundbadge era, they sound freaking awesome.

I believe the transition to that badge was closer to 1969 or 1970. The construction of the drums remained mostly the same. Same 6 ply shells being made for Gretsch by Jasper, same hardware, same machines used to make the drums. The toms with the SSB do have vents, which the round badge toms with the tacked on badges lacked. The biggest change was the location where they were being made. Gretsch was sold to the Baldwin Piano company in the late 60's and at some point shortly thereafter the production line was moved from Brooklyn to Arkansas. Most of the Brooklyn workers chose not to make the move so the new production started up with almost a completely new group of employees. There are stories that quality control took a hit during this transitional period as employees learned how to do their jobs. Some of the early drums coming out of Arkansas had issues like crooked drilling, no edges cut, etc. Eventually things got back on track and the drums were being made correctly again.

One can assume that most of the problem drums have either been weeded out or fixed in the ensuing 45 years so it's not that much of a gamble to buy a SSB kit. Generally they can be had for lower prices than Round badges despite being more or less the same drums.

I don't think the move and the change in badges corresponded directly so there may even be some SSB drums that were made in Brooklyn. They did ship out sets that had a mix of Round badges and Stop Sign Badges.

I have three RB sets and one early SSB set and I can't really hear that much difference (or really any at all).

I'm going to be looking at this kit early tomorrow morning for a possible purchase. It's a 12/13/16/24 re-wrap in oyster black pearl. The current owner installed a non-original tom mount and non-original bass drum spurs. The bass drum hoops are also metal in lieu of wood. Based on these "issues" how much do think I should offer him, assuming I'd still like to get it after seeing it in person? I was thinking that if the price was right, it might make a nice practice kit or one to play out when I don't want to risk taking out one of my all-original vintage kits. IF I did end up getting it, I'd be looking for wooden hoops ASAP. I'm just not a big fan of the metal ones. THANKS in advance for your help!

Gary the metal bass drum hoops are factory at this time.

Thanks, Mark. I apologize for my ignorance. Of all the kits I've owned through the years, I've never owned a vintage Gretsch kit. I just assumed the metal hoops were replacements. Do you think this particular kit might be worth picking up for the right price and, if so, any idea of what that price might be? Thanks!

Forgot to add the pic, Mark. The "old age thing" must be kickin' in again (lol)!

Gary I wouldn't pay over $600.00 for it.

K.O. Good stuff. Couple of questions. When did they stop using this particular SSB with "that great gretsch sound"?

I have a SSB kit I have been trying to pin down to just how early it might be. Originally came with metal hoops and a 4 bolt consolette mount.

Also, I am missing a couple of the paper tags. Fairly normal for this era?

Thanks.

Give this a look, http://www.gretschdrums.com/?fa=historybadges