One quick question I have is the original tension rods. What is wrong with them? Personally I would keep them with the drum set.

They can be cleaned up really nice, it just takes a little more work.

David

Fourteen of the sixteen tension rods for the snare were missing, hence the reason for ordering new ones. I did find some original ones available, but I couldn't justify the cost.

A few more interesting (somewhat) notes:

- On the bottom of the floor tom, an original calfskin head was still in place. It was however torn so off it came.

- The floor tom is 3-ply, but the inside is painted silver. None of the other drums are. I wonder if this kit was just put together during a transition time, or if the floor tom was bought a year later.

I lightly polished most of the hardware and put Remo Ambassador heads on everything. I hope to post a pic of the full kit setup soon. Sounds nice to me, but I wouldn't really know. It's a nice warm sound though.

I almost feel ashamed subjecting such a wonderful kit to my amateur skills...

Then let an expert work on the kit for you,based on your budget.As you obviously know by now,you have a desireable kit that many of us would love to trip over.Seriously,let someone with experience handle the initial examination.

Keep the torn calfskin head because the wooden hoop the head is mounted on can be reused if you wanted to later.

Drums are pretty resilient, there's not much you can do to them if you're just changing heads and such. If you did do something "wrong" there's not much you could permanently do to damage them.

It would be nice to put some car wax on the metal parts.

When I saw that diamond plate on the kick for the cymbal mount I thought of the kits they sold without floor toms, and that would go along with the floor tom being added later on.

By "amateur skills" I was referring to my playing ability. I am more than capable of handling and working on them without damaging anything (I'm a toy train collector).

I did save the calf-skin head along with a few other random bits that came with it.

I didn't quite realize these could have been sold without a floor tom, so it makes perfect sense that it could have been added a bit later. Although given the finish and hardware (a perfect match with the rest of the set), it couldn't have been too long after the initial purchase.

Lou,

I am no expert, but I would say that the floor tom probably DID come with the other drums as an original complete set. That would be the Name Band outfit in the Gretsch catalog. My understanding is that sometime in the mid 50's Gretsch stated painting the interiors of the shell silver. The fact that you have a mixed set (clear & painted interiors) is not uncommon. The 3 ply shells are the shells that they were using in the 50's, that finish came out in the catalog in 1954, and I think that is about the time that they started to paint the interiors, so it probably is a factory set. That is a cool drum set and I hope you enjoy it!

BTW, is there a seam on any of the drums or are they seamless?

There is a seam on each of the drums.

Lou,

This would suggest that the drums are wrapped and then the lacquer was applied to the wrap. I have a similar drum set to yours and that is how the drums are on my set (except my set has the later diamond shaped leg mounts on the floor tom).

The reason I ask is that early on when Gretsch first introduced those finishes around 1954 (copper mist, cadillac green & cameo coral), the drums were usually lacquered directly on the wood shell (no seam). Later on they more commonly used wrap (seam present) and painted over top of the wrap. I think they stopped cataloging those finishes in 1957 or 1958, even though they may offered it still afterwards if requested. So your drum set could be from right in the middle of that window of time (1955 -1956).

The old style floor tom mounts, the faucet handle t rods, the 3 ply shells, the clear interior & the silver interior with no sticker tag inside, the copper mist finish painted on the wrap. I actually had a Gretsch set from the 60's black nitron finish with 6 ply shells and tags on the interiors that had a 13" tom (that came with the set) with a clear interior, 3 ply shell and a tag inside in the 60,000 range (mid 60's).

I think you have inherited a great old original Gretsch drum set!

When you get it all together you should post a picture of the set in the Gallery, a lot of people (including myself) would enjoy seeing those drums set up!

Posted images in the gallery:

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?p=38848#post38848

I'm enjoying them quite a bit.