L-D Try this one it's not the sizes you want but the price is right!http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-Vintage-Sonor-Teardrop-Drum-Set-Kit-NR-/270569589534?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Vintgae_Drums_Percussion&hash=item3eff344b1e

Really though.....rosewood finishes on these bring a lot more than the wraps. 60s teardrops had 3 ply beech shells with re rings. I don't think the rosewood was an option until 1970 when the 6 ply shells were introduced. You could get a set of wrapped 3 plys for under $1000. You couldn't get mine for that. Donn Bennett drum shop in Seattle had a kit like mine for $2500. I think that is way too much.

Yep, I've got my eye on those....Cool1

I have a 1972 sonor swinger 6 ply beechwood set that sounds great!! person before me removed the wrap and sanded and varnished the natural beechwood shells,they sound great!! you could clean them up a little and play them as is,or resand and refinish to look great-or recover with correct period wrap.I was going to restore this kit but dont really have the time!! I even have 38 mint-like new lugs to replace some of the weak ones with so it will look brand new!!! the sizes are 22" bass-13" tom,16" tom,no snare-thats my pearl in the photo.It would be an inexpensive option to get that great early sonor sound!! Andy

L-D,So you ask about vintage Sonor-I would go for a vintage 60s set's,You said you were thinking about a 18" bass toms 12,14--sonors in these sizes are very hard to come by in a set..In the 60's Sonor did not make many 18" bass drums or jazz size set's..Most of the 4 pc set's are 20 13,16..14 snare,these are the sizes that you will fine or 5 pc sets 20,12,13,16, 14 snare,sometimes you will came across a set witha 22" bass but then again these are hard to fine..I have both types of shells on the set's i have[[13 sets in all] 3 ply with rings and 5 ply with out rings...3 ply shells work great in playing Jazz,5ply shells are good for rock ete. Oh just aword about the Swinger set of Sonor's "Plastic" lugs these drums are good shells but the Lugs are bad just like your Ludwig "combo" snare.....Mikey

Mikey hit it on the head.

Basically, you have two types of teardrop drums, 3ply with rerings & 6 ply without rerings. Sonor changed the makeup of their shells around 1966 I believe. All are of beechwood and have fully rounded edges.

In the 1950s Sonor had another type of set which featured a more stubby kind of lug. Also 3 ply with rerings.

Until the late 60s I think Sonor only offered 20 - 13 - 16 sets. Later bebop sizes were introduced, as well as large sizes (24" BD, 18" floor toms). But most of these other sizes are hard to come by. Bop sizes especially are extraordinarily rare and go for astronomical prices ...

Rosewood finishes are also pretty expensive.

I have a 1964 Teardrop (3ply, WMP, 20-13-16 w matching snare) which I adore, but I must say the 3ply shell is very thin (thinnest I've ever seen) and is not the strongest. When I got the kit a few years ago I noticed the wood has caved in under the lugs from the stress the lugs exert on the shell. The basdrum shell is also cracked at one of the lugs.

I adore how it sounds (and looks) but if you are planning to gig with it I'd suggest a 6ply, from what I hear they are a lot stronger. Never had one myself though.

Like someone already mentioned, the Sonor Swinger is very similar to a Teardrop. The older ones had plastic lugs that look uncannily similar to Ludwig lugs. The internet is full of stories of lugs cracking, but I don't know how much to rely on that since they are usually the "I heard of someone ..." kind. You hardly ever see a witness report.. I think they are very cool kits though, and hope to own one in the near future ... Later Swinger kits had the rectangular phonic/signature/... -style lugs. Don't know about the edges of the Swinger kits but I assume they are round too.

One other drum you may check out is the Champion. They were only produced for a very short time in the mid 70s but also use a 6 ply beech shell. They also have the rectangular phonic/signature/... -style lugs and were at one point Sonor's "high end" kit, until they introduced the Phonic and the Champion went out of production. I'm in the process of restoring one of these kits right now, and can say that the hardware and overall build quality and hardware quality is much better than Teardrop drums. They are not popular nor collectable however, but they are very cool drums nonetheless, in my opinion at least. Mine does not have rounded edges however.

Long post. But I thought I'd chime in! Good luck!

I have a friend who has a late 60's teardrop kit,natural finish ,not rosewood,only other kit I saw like it was in some live film footage of black sabbath in Europe in the early 70's,anyway these were the thicker 5 or 6 ply,22 13 16 when he got them they had clear pins on them, big and bassy sounding,he put 1 ply clears on them and they were a great sounding kit warm with a lot of tone and punch,and really responsive like a nice gretsch kit,come to think of it the shells were about as thick as gretsch,with die cast and rounded edges so I guess that would make sense.