You guys are awesome! Thanks for the info. It is so cool to learn about this stuff!
And, ironically, I was recently a set of 1961 marine white pearl LUDWIGs so intended to in turn gift my 'fake PEARLs' to some deserving someone.
Now I can do that with a cool story to pass on and idea for a 'contract.' Good stuff...
I will get some additional photos as requested to see what more might be ascertained. Could be a few days tho, the rest of the set's in storage.
By the badge/lug's on the snare drum it would date your set of pearls from the late 1960's,1969 at the latest.Pearl change badges in about 1970 or their about..As far what your set is worth maybe 50.00 to 75.00 with the cover re-moved and painted,if the cover was still on your drums maybe from 100.00-200.00 tops,these price's are if the drums are complete with out any missing parts...Mikey
Lets be honest though, that script badge could have been added to the drum when it was "painted". [COLOR=darkred]Yeah, it's possible, not probable though. Who would destroy 2 kits for aset of badgfes, even old MIJ, seeing as how they went to trouble to paint these, another kit would likely have gotten the same treatment from this person.[/COLOR]I think we need more photos Jumping2 of the strainer, and some headless shots of the interior. [COLOR=darkred]Agreed....more pix of the kit are needed to get the era closer to correct.[/COLOR]I love these mysteries!!! i'm so addicted D' Drummer lol [COLOR=darkred]It's like heroine to a junkie....[/COLOR]
...let's see some more...
Howdy all, here are the additional photos promised. Thx for any additional info you can provide...like can we verify mfr date to 60s or 70s? Is it worth it to recover these with new or vintage wraps? Are vintage wraps even available from PEARL, elsewhere?
Nope, those are the real deal. The shells are maple/mahogany/maple. The wrap was indeed removed and they were then painted. You can see the external scarf joint on the mid-right side of the bass.
10 lug kick is pretty hot. id buy some inexpensive wrap and do it up.
Almost any wrap would go well on these. A nice BDP, maybe a red glass glitter, if you want to spend the extra duckets. Be careful of lighter colors as they may be rather thin and would possible allow that extreme red to bleed through. The WMP is probably not a good choice, nor would a silver sparkle. Any of the "thinner blues", like a blue sparkle might look rather unique on these as it could alter the color somewhat. I doubt, honestly, whether the small samples provided by most of the purveyors of wrap would be big enough for you to cover enough of an area to get any noticable bleed as the area directly around, with all the bright red would distort any effects.
Good luck with them, and let know what happens when you are done wrapping them! Another application that would look great on this would be to take some silver, gold or pearl white glitter, comes in a large bottle, available at Michael's for about 5 bucks, and a quart of clear high gloss poly. Mix the glitter in a high ratio. You can mix it and then test, on the bottom of the bass drum in progressively higher concentrations, until you have it right, then apply 3 or 4 coats of this mix to the drums. You do have to constantly stir the mixture to keep the glitter well suspended, but the results are nothing short of breath taking, if done correctly. This will make an amazing finish. It gives an elegant, understated shimmer and looks simply stunning, in a muted, understated majesty. You do have to tape an area about the bearing edges to keep the heads from getting tight, using blue painters tape, or the new Frog Tape. Measure the heads' depth while at full tension by marking it with a pencil on the top and bottom so that you can get the tape line in the right spot.
If you like red, and this looks like a viable solution to you, it is a very inexpensive way to freshen painted drums on the seriously cheap side of the budget. We're talking like a total of $20.00 as opposed to the cost of wrapping, and the very real possibilty of messing it up if you have never done a rewrap, and the cost is in the $200.00 range, more or less.
Great info Gents, many thanks! I like the glitter idea. Onward through the fog!
If your interested, on the Pearl Drummers Forum, in the Vintage Drum section, there is a thread about a gentleman, "Barjack", who re-wrapped his Pearl fiberglass set in an inexpensive sparkle material. Apparently the whole kit only cost $45 to completely wrap. Very detailed description and pics too.
