How can something like that be left behind in a building that's about to be demolished???? Good save! And it is a beauty, heck of a nice project.

Jeff C

Glass Glitters were very dominant in this time period (which I estimate to be from 1965-66 or so based upon the serial numbers). Sparkles were more often seen in the 1950s.

Given the evidence of nesting of the drums and time spent without resonant heads, it would not surprise me if the bass drum label was torn off and lost. It would normally be placed at the 6 o'clock position between the spurs. Look for any evidence that a label had been there.

Rick

Yeah, I can see where there use to be a label at about the 3 o'clock position in the shell, (looking in from the reso side).

Just knowing that there was once a label helps to narrow the date down. By my estimate, labels appeared in about 1962. (Others have indicated anywhere from late 1950s through early 1960s for the introduction of labels.) It appears that the mounting screws for the bass lug casings are round head rather than hex head. The switch took place in about 1967, so we have an upper date of about 1967. Since the set was found together decades ago with other drums from the 1965-66 time frame, and if the screws are round head, you can at least say that the bass appears to be from the same time frame. There is no way to know for certain if they came together in the mid-1960s since you do not know their history prior to the 1980s, but it seems reasonable to think that they came together.

Note - I always add a caution with any date estimate that I make that my approach is based upon the theory that Gretsch used serial numbers used in roughly sequential order, with two restarts. I documented the basis of my theory in other threads on DFO and in a paper I published last year. I will never claim that I can provide precise estimates based upon the information available at this point, but I believe that we can get within a year or so.

Rick

Thanks!... to everyone whom has chimed-in so far with your info/insights on these drums. This forum rocks!