half seems tough. It's not perfect but it's just a little bit of history etched under the badge. Being that a good one of these is very hard to find anywhere and they are such a great snare and it's still far better than most you'll find I'd say there would be plenty of buyers at $600. And someone will gladly pay $750 Canadian I suspect

With that serial number, the drum is more likely built in '69. Many times a drum or kit would sit on the shelf in a store for a year or two before being sold.

Looks like a nice drum....

It IS a nice drum. Actually very nice. I'm just not sure if I want to spend $750 on it right now. With the engraved shell all the collector value is probably gone and that's pretty much what I was looking for. It would still be a great drum to play, but if all I wanted was another "players drum" I'd probably spend my $750 on something else. If I figure in my gas money, it's more like a $850 dollar drum so it's probably not that good a deal. guess we'll see.

Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate it.

The seller KNOWS this..!

That's why he hasn't tried selling on a drum forum cause, we wouldnt stand for this......

Also, as u mentioned...he never told you, even after you asked about imperfections,..

As mentioned,..it's now worth about $500/....unless you have another 6.5" shell handy..lol

You could always ask the guy out in Oshawa,Canada..lol

So, experts: for curiosity's sake, if he had had the good sense to say engrave the inside in the shadow of or, even better, under the lip of the flange, would it still have been worth pretty close to full collector's value?

I'm not sure but I suspect the reason for putting the engraving in a visible spot was to deter would be thieves

I'd still buy it if the engraving were on the inside of the shell, but not on the outside. I have a few drums whose interiors have been marked up with previous owners' signatures or previous repairmen's ID's, but a conspicuous engraving in the chrome? Even though no one in the audience would ever see it, that little detail/imperfection would forever irritate me like a pebble in my shoe. Like Ploughman said, you'll never hear that engraving. That drum will still sound great on stage or in the studio, but it's lost its collectors value.

So I wonder what would be the cost of sanding down the engraving and having the shell rechromed?

Mike

That was his explanation for doing it. He acted like it was the most normal thing in the world to do to a drum and shouldn't affect the price at all.

I did consider the idea of finding another 6.5" shell, but after seeing the crazy prices people want on eBay, I think that's a no go. I'll get in touch with him in a few days and if he still has it I may try my lower offer again.

Good idea. He just needs some time to stew on it.

I've had several Supras with engraved names, numbers etc. It may seem like a silly idea but I guess he'd argue that he still has the drum which might not have been the case had he not engraved it, if you know what I mean.

For some of you my drop to half his asking may seem harsh. However, I am done with the hospital ship. If I am going to buy a drum that needs a lot of investment, there has to be something special about it. 300 for one of the 200 first issue Gretsch shell COB Dyna-Sonics (complete except for frame) knowing it will need lug replacements or at the very least reinforcement, that was something I knew going in. I did spend the 300 for the petty lugs. I got a frame as part of a trade deal that gave me another early Gretsch shell Holiday Seven Line cob. I was way ahead on the trade. But there is something very special about owning one of the first 200. And I now have a drum worth my investment, and possibly slightly more. But this 6.5 has nothing special going for it. The engraving is irreparable. There is nothing that can be done to make it go away, short of removing the script logo and having a ... fake.... custom made for ME plate to cover it with. And then what have ye got....a drum still worth half what you gave for it, because no one else is going to pay as much as you did. A wrecked Ferrari is still a Ferrari. But it isn't a Ferrari that lived from day one on a carpeted floor, never seen a bug on its nose, or was ever driven on the street. You can fix the wrecked Ferrari, and it does have value, but still about half the other one.

Drums like this are the ones to walk away from, and if every one is thinking of the future instead of just getting in your hot little hands..... enough people will tell the seller he is an idiot. Eventually he will get the message. Or not. But I wouldn't help him sell his drum by being the guy who buys it.