Bass Drum Id

[mlayton]

I've got a bass drum that I'm preparing to do some work on. I originally thought it was a late 40s/early 50's Slingerland. It has some mixed lugs which is a little confusing. Has an interior date stamp of April 19 1950. No rerings. Natural wood interior. It is a 22" and only has 8 lugs, separate tension. Would that make it a Gretsch? Has a Gretsch cymbal mount. Disappearing spurs. No badge. Has a rail mount. Wmp of course! Will post some pics when I get into it. Any other telltale signs that I can look for? I'm a little out of my comfort zone with it not being Wfl/Ludwig. Many thanks.

[K.O.]

No badge but is there a vent hole in the top center and somewhat bigger in diameter than typical? If so that would be another clue towards being Gretsch. They used a press fit grommet on the bass drums that wasn't peened over inside the drum (just a friction fit). As a result the badge and grommet often fall off and get lost. Also the hole for the bass drum badge was pretty big, around a half inch.

In this picture you should be able to see the relative size of the breather hole on a typical Gretsch bass drum badge and also how the factory grommet does not go all the way to the inside of the drum.

Hope that helps. Your overall description does sound Gretsch-like and I'm not sure who else would have had ringless shells in that era. Another possibility might be a W & A built using a Gretsch shell and some Gretsch parts, as they often did do.

[mlayton]

KO

Thanks for that info. The drum does have a hole dead center at the top. I just measured it and it's 3/8". I worked on the ride tom some today. It is a 55-57 WFL. Hope to begin on the bass in the next couple of days. The inside (under the lugs) may tell me more. It has many Slingerland lugs, but also Gretsch lugs. Has wide inlays in the hoops.

[lucky]

Not an expert by any means but it does sound like Gretsch.
I have a recently acquired Gretsch floor tom with a date stamp of 1949, clear interior three ply. The shell is suprisingly thick. I'll try and get a pic up.

[lucky]

Here's a couple I had on my phone

[MickM]

They should re-issue those cool floor tom lugs, similar to Ludwig Imperials.

[vintagemore2000]

Lucky... you have a Broadkaster kit with the Rocket lugs.

[lucky]

Well, at least the floor tom!
Was originally WMP, it's been painted over twice!
Mike, is the wrap on your drum pretty thin? There was a piece of duct tape on this floor tom and when I pulled it some of the original wrap came with it, that's why it was on there!

[mlayton]

I've been working on mine and doing plenty of research on it. I think my bass drum is a Walberg & Auge. The shell is a 3 ply with no re-rings. It is a maple/ poplar or gum(?)/maple layup. The lugs are Slingerland 48-55 large beavertails. W&A was in Massachusetts and this is where I found the drum as well. I can see a light imprint of where the center round badge was most likely. Has a mix of nickel and chrome parts.