Awhile ago I posted some pics of my RB 16 x 16 floor tom and the re-rings it has. Nobody had heard of them. I've had it since 1972 and it's the only drum of the set with them.

I emailed Gretsch about it and got an email back from Jim Stanek today. Here's what he said:

"I have seen that before. They used a re-ring in the middle to join 2 different shell pieces together. I think they then put them on the ends to make it look better. I have seen that on old Gretsch cocktail toms and a 20x20 1960's kick that I saw on eBay one time. If that is a 14x14 or 16x16, it could be that they were running short on shells and pieced 2 cut -offs together."

I recovered that drum in 1980 and didn't notice a seam, but I wasn't looking for one. It could be that a final ply layer was put around the whole thing to cover a seam.

Anyways, it brings some closure to a question I've had for... 37 years.