I guess I am in the minority on this. I think that the interior sealer and the ply switch are very separate happenings. From what I have seen, most of the unpainted 3-ply shells with date stamps are from 1954 or earlier. The latest stamp I have seen in May 1954. (If there are later date stamps, I would be very interested in them.) So, if the silver sealer started in 1954, this would mean that there are about four years of 3-ply drums with painted interiors before the switch to six plies in 1958 as Kona suggests. There would then be another four years of 6-ply drums with painted interiors before the labels started, in around 1962. None of this is exact at this stage, but that is what I use as a timeline.

relayer - Your snare has one of the later style Skinny Stick badges. I have not yet been able to put dates to when each style of badge was used, it is not inconsistent with a 1950s drum.

Rick

Yes - Rich (KCDrumDad) - I too have not seen nor heard of a 50's datestamped - clear - interior after 54. I own a 53 myself. I also own a late 50 3ply Gold Sparkle snare drum with Silver Sealer - no tag. My factory Cadillac Green 9x13 tom has a clear interior, no date stamp. I believe Gretsch made these Cadi Green kits from 54 to 58 (shown in their catalogs of these years).

As I have read - the switches from 3ply to 6ply to silver sealer and to paper tags did not all happen at midnight on any particular dates. These transitions came into being and stock was sold as time went on. For instance: There were mixed ply kits going out the door = orders were filled and drums taken from stock that was available. I know this because I own a mixed ply kit that was bought new as a complete kit in 1960 - the drums were most likely made in 58-59 or very early 60.

Rich I always check my badges too - looking for skinny/fat sticks on them. I should keep a record......interesting stuff.....the history of Gretsch drums.

Thank you gentlemen for the additional information. I seem to recall that when I bought it, it was listed as a late '50s drum. I think I paid $650 for it, but that was a couple of years ago. Interesting side note: the snare wires are Gretsch, and they are original to the drum I'm sure. But one strand is bent pretty bad. I'm a stickler for original parts, so I'm not thrilled about having to change-out the wires. The Gretsch head is neat too, but is worse for wear. In any case, I love the drum; it's in excellent shape and sounds so good. Makes me want a Gretsch kit from that era, but I don't have the room for yet another kit.

Thanks again.

Stephen