I don't even want to try and guess what these items will go for......no player is even going to come close to getting them. Should probably go into a museum or something. More than likely will end up in some collector's closet and not see the light of day for the next 50 years.Soap Box

I can assure you that I'm bidding. I called when they were posted on the Vintage Drum site. When I hung up, they literally took them off that site. I woke up and checked the forum and found out they put them on ebay. That bugged me. I was calling to purchase. Anyway, I'm bidding now. Go figure.

Hi there, my apologies about that. I put 3 of the items on the website for about 15 minutes, as a quick test to see what it would look like, and to make sure the pics were the right size, etc, with no descriptions of anything - it's something I do with most items I sell. Well my phone rang off the hook for the next hour! Some messages didn't even go through because my voice mailbox filled up. The intention by the owner (everything is on consignment) was to put most of the items on ebay all along, except for the Grauso snare and the GK stamped cymbal.

Feel free to PM me here or call again today with any questions or offers.

Thanks,

Bill

That watch is pretty damn cool.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Bill...so you are the seller ?

May I then ask a few Q's ? My prior post was deleted by a moderator from this thread.

Typically, a drum collector would have some serious paper trail about the equipment they are selling. A letter from the family, something very concrete and irrefutable. A collector buying such stuff would really insist on this sort of documentation. You have that on the snare.

Definite provenance usually has a paper trail, I guess is what I am saying. It is something which buyers typically ask for.

You have given an good explanation of where these drums are from; but then put in a disclaimer at the end of the description since you don't have a similar letter for the kit.

Would there be any way to get an authentication letter from the relative of Krupa (Condon), or anything like that (even from the current owner, the guy he sold it to) ?

Thanks and, of course, of course, or course.... no offense intended.

[/COLOR]

Hi Jaye, if you were to win an auction, the best I could do would be to write a letter outlining how I came to sell the drums, including the information that I have been told along the way. The current owner wishes to keep a low profile, but may be willing to write a letter to the winning bidder, I'm not sure. I don't believe Condon is still alive. Feel free to give me a call (my number is on my website), and we can discuss everything in detail.

Here's a post I put on another forum, that will hopefully clarify things a bit:

"...in my heart I think it was all Gene's, but I'm only 100% convinced with three of the items, which is why I put the disclaimer in the rest of the auctions. For the Grauso snare, I actually spoke with Bob Grauso on the phone, and he was happy to write the letter of authentication. Looking at this fiberglass snare in person, there's just no way you could fake something like this. Next was the "GK" stamped cymbal, which I had verified by a couple of Gene Krupa experts as being the same stamp as other known Gene cymbals. Armand Zildjian had the G and the K stamps, and you can tell they were done a long time ago, so I believe without a doubt that it's the real deal. Lastly is two decorative plaques, one with a drummer and one with a trumpet player, that have already sold. An old student of Gene's, who now runs a Gene Krupa tribute band, had seen them on Gene's wall in Yonkers in the 60's, and was able to describe them over the phone, so I believe those are also real. For these items I'm convinced on a 10 out of 10.

Since everything else came with the three above items, and was reportedly all given to Kevin Condon by Gene, I believe it's all real. Unfortunately they all don't have the same bulletproof provenance as the Grauso snare, GK cymbal, and plaques, and if that is an issue for anyone, I would recommend not bidding. So in my gut I'd say I believe 10 out of 10 that the rest of the items were Gene's, but as far as literal proof I'd say maybe 8 out of 10.

An interesting side note is that after I posted a link to the auctions, a member at cymbalholic, who grew up in Yonkers, said the following, 'I played these drums, and detailed them for Kevin back in the early 1980s. This kit and all cymbals are the real deal. Kevin is a friend from my neighborhood in Yonkers.'"

Thanks,

Bill

I just spoke to the current owner, and he said he would have no problem writing a letter about how he came into the collection, for whoever wins an auction.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Thanks for the reply. That's pretty good, then...;)[/COLOR]

I have helped other people in the business with this type of research and a photo that could match any of the characteristics of this set and Gene playing it would secure the evidence of it being Gene's.

I know you posted a few photos. I wonder if we dig deeper into the archives that we could find a match.

Regardless, just asking to help and not dispute the information gathered so far.

David

I'd love to see any photos that you think might help! I have a pile here that came with the collection, some nice ones from the Metropole, and elsewhere. I've scoured books and the internet, and have come to the conclusion that Gene had TONS of different sets, snares, cymbals, logo heads, etc.

Here's two pics that look like the closest matches to the kit in the auction, though the logo head is different.

[IMG]http://www.classicvintagedrums.com/gene_kit_1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.classicvintagedrums.com/gene_kit_2.jpg[/IMG]