This 69 luddy 5 piece i got had already been rewrapped in ugly yellow.

I rewrapped them in pretty yellow(Citris Mod) wrap. Words cant tell you how i felt when i got them wrapped and the snare put together. The whole thing is pretty dam exhilarating!! to say the least. You know you can make it a business out of it, and I gareentee that will take all the fun out of it.

Then the drums are dollar signs instead of a passion! So just leave all the rewrapping to us that are passionate about drums. Soap Box

Agreed. The real trick is to learn how to repair, patch and rejuvinate old wrap.

True, you wont get a yellowed old set of 40s WMP Radio Kings looking Lilly White again, but you can certainly make them look alot better. They will have a much higher value after that than if you rewrap. Personally, I'd NEVER rewrap a set of 40s radio kings. They are too iconic to do that to.

If anyone has a rewrapped Gretsch 18,14,12 roundbadge for sale I have $250 burning a hole in my pocket.;)

Nope. But there's a 22 13 16 rewrap/refinish on a site for 400.

i was wondering is it that easy to tell a rerap from original factory rap if its the same rap ? i new guys who worked at both ludwig and sligerland and these guys did not do that great of a job on raps have you ever seen what they through out in the dumpster back then on a weekly bases what a treasure trove of all kind of shells it was a lot they would bring home stuff all the time i ended with some shells ended up being drum tables HA HA o the control inspector was the real hero then so much for nostalgia at lest in the 70,s

I have a 63 luddy BDP kit. The bass drum spurs have been replaced with pearl spurs. I have thought about experimenting with plugging the yucky holes and put oem spurs on it. The interior is clear maple, but the 2 12" toms have white interiors, All 3 are pre serial number keystone. So if I plugged the holes nd painted the interior of the bass drum white, to cover the hole patch, would they be worth anything? BTW The wrap on these is absolutly perfect.

In part, it depends on the condition and rarity of the drums. Since I've been tracking Gretsch 60's Round Badge Progressive Jazz kits in the 20", 12" and 14" configuration recently...

Two completely original kits popped up recently on Ebay - one in burgundy sparkle which I would grade in Good condition and one in champagne sparkle in Very Good condition. The kit in burgundy sparkle sold for $1694.00 and the kit in champagne sparkle sold for $2025.00. Around the same time, roundbadgedude had a beautiful, pristine, professionally re-wrapped kit (with re-painted interiors and no paper tags in the toms) sell for $1525.00. Really not that much of a price difference between these original kits and a re-wrapped one in these cases. As mlvibes pointed out in an earlier post, the parts alone on these kits is worth over $1700.

Of course, those re-wrapped Round Badge kit with an 18" bass drum are a whole other story. As Steve Maxwell wrote on his website a few years ago:

"Recently we became aware of two more sales of 12/14/18 round badge sets, both with matching snare drums. Each of these sets was rewrapped, and those sets each brought $7500. This is a previously unheard of price level for rewrapped sets of this type. In general, in the past we have seen rewrapped kits bringing about half of what a fully original kit would sell for. So, when the original sets were in the $7500 range you could assume you would pay about $3500-$4000 for a rewrapped set."

Here is another example of a drum which has been "reconstructed"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310278034897

item 310278034897 if silly old eBay won't let you see it direct from the link.

This is an ersatz Ludwig downbeat snare made from a cut down parade snare with lots of parts. Looks like a great piece of reconstruction work. It sold for $249.95 which can't have given him a profit, although it may have been a fun and rewarding project. It isn't all about the money. But if you plan to pay yourself a decent hourly wage as a skilled craftsman then there won't be room for profit much of the time.

If it were a real downbeat snare it would get 150-200 more (although there is lots of variability).

In the case of Ludwig, the wrap was put on the plywood while it was still flat. Then the shell was put in the mould to become round. So there is overlap where the seam is and the wrap can be seen to dive under where it meets up with the wrap on the other side. The is for shells made before about 1969. So yes it should be easy to spot a re-wrap from that period.

There has also been a change in materials used in wraps (away from nitrocellulose which is a major fire hazard) due to safety concerns. So better eyes than mine could probably always pick a new wrap versus an old one. I'm not sure when this change happened.

Rewraps are for players kits it is a way to salvage good shells that have been abused or in accidents, for players who know that vintage sound and want to gig a original Rogers or Ludwig there will always be a market for players kits, you have to get the shells and more importantly the hardware cheap to make any money.. i would say it is a iffy proposition at best..