So I happened to be in a junky ol' thrift store in northern Maryland over the weekend. There was a dilapidated-looking drum set in the back, and I idly checked it out.
I had a little bit of palpitation on seeing the Gretsch round badge (the old kind that was put on with a thumb-tack). I had that brief mad wild dream of finding something like a priceless first-edition Fitzgerald for five bucks in the bargain bin, or a Michelangelo being used to patch drywall. You get the idea.
When I took a serious look at the drums, though, they seemed like a lost cause--certainly not something I have the time and energy to tackle. But maybe there's someone out there who wants to lovingly restore them....
There were three pieces (snare, bass, rack tom) in a cheeztastic silver sparkle wrap with a squarish geometric pattern. The floor tom had gone missing at some point.
There was a surprising amount of the original hardware, including the hi-hat stand (probably broken), bass drum spurs (definitely broken), and one of those funny off-center sliding rail mounts for the rack tom. Lugs looked okay to me, as did the snare throwoff.
But. The bottom head of the tom was taken off, and the bearing edge was ravaged--as though it'd been slid across a few parking lots. There was some incongruous-looking silver paint on the inside; I didn't see a label.
I'm quite sure the shop's owner isn't aware of the value of vintage kits, so one could probably snag them for $50 or whatever. But their resale value (even with new hardware) would be adversely affected by their condition and the incompleteness of the kit, so it's not a get-rich-quick scheme.
Anyway: I was tempted, but then I remembered the heartbreak of my old Rogers kit, and realized I didn't want to get involved.
But they're out there if you want them. Taneytown Thrift Store, 115 E Baltimore St, Taneytown, MD 21787, (410) 756-1800.
― The Mad Puffin, Monday, 17 September 2007 18:31 (seventeen years ago) link
Well, my old Rogers kit had a very '70s butcher-block wrap. The hardware was in terrible shape and I needed pliers to adjust the tom angles. The steel shell of the snare had a tear in it. I was a teenager when I bought it, and didn't really have the money and know-how to get it into better condition.
I ended up selling those drums to a pawn shop for some criminally small amount of money because I was moving, and didn't have a car or space to store or play drums.
But it sounded wonderful, and I miss it.
― The Mad Puffin, Monday, 17 September 2007 18:53 (seventeen years ago) link
They would be perfect for you, Hurting--given that you actively want to play vintage drums, as opposed to regarding them as a collectible or investment. And it really wouldn't take all that much to get them playable--just heads and a little hardware, plus a good sanding on that errant bearing edge.
I've got enough on my plate as it is (wife, house, baby, slightly-more-than-full-time job, etc.). Plus I already have two drumsets and a sinful number of guitars.
― The Mad Puffin, Thursday, 20 September 2007 04:26 (seventeen years ago) link