15 years ago, I'd been drumming for a couple of years and decided it was time to move up from my Tama Swingstar kit. My parents spotted a classified ad for a Gretsch kit with an asking price of $650 Canadian. I was expecting a beaten-up 1980s set but figured the shells might sound ok.
I cajoled my father into driving me out to see those drums in what was quite literally the worst blizzard I have ever seen -- which, for a Canadian, is saying something. It took us half an hour to make what is normally a four-minute drive.
The set turned out to be a 50s round badge "Name Band" kit in midnight pearl. All the original hardware was there -- hat stand, "floating action" bass pedal, snare stand, throne... even the cowbells. The seller had bought the set from an elderly gentleman but lost interest in drumming when he discovered football and cars, and the drums sat untouched in his basement for years after that.
Showing what I now realize was incredible chutzpah for a 16-year-old, I talked him down to $565 (which would have been about $500 US) and took the drums home. Only when I got them home did I realize that the cymbals he threw into the deal included two vintage As, a 20" K Istanbul ride, and a pair of 13" K Istanbul hats.
What truly amazes me is that I waited two weeks before buying them, because I needed to sell my Tama kit to raise the cash. I can't imagine a set like that would go unsold for two weeks these days.
Of course, that's nothing compared to the champagne sparkle Leedy kit that a friend of mine found when he was helping his girlfriend's mom clean out the garage.
GF's MOM: Can you take these to the curb for me?
FRIEND: These are pretty valuable. You should sell them.
GF's MOM: You play drums, don't you? Why don't you just keep them?
FRIEND: [Big smile]
