HI, The bearing edges are factory, take a pic of the badges and the inside shell, you have a great kit!!

Attached are pics of the badges, insides, etc. Thanks for any and all info!

Cheers,

Rick

wow. Bowing

It looks super beautiful kit.

and the sizes are the desirable for anyone.

and 3 ply 50s kit. I don't know, but should be over $3000? probably more.

Yeah, those are nice drums! Umm...I seem to remember hearing that Gretsch's (Jasper?) shells back then, were sometimes made to the exact dimension required (like, 12 X 8, for example) and THEN the wrap was added. If this was the case, then it would have increased the outer diameter of the shell enough to make seating the drumheads a bit sticky. It might have been such that the bearing edges were cut that way in order to facilitate the heads fitting more easily over the wrapped shell. -just a guess, though.

WOW! That's one of the cleanest 3ply sets I've ever seen. As a complete and original "Progressive Jazz" drum set, you can expect to garner nothing less than $3500.00. Don't let ANYONE try to low ball you and "steal" this set away from you. Just the simple fact that you're selling this to help another human in need, is worthy of any asking price. Show some patience and sell these to the right buyer. Some one in the jazz world would be a good match.

FYI: The shells are 3ply maple/poplar/maple made by Gretsch in the Brooklyn, NY factory circa 1954-55. The finish is Midnight Blue Pearl. Chrome over Brass "stickchopper" hoops on the toms and snare. Floor tom leg mounts are nodal type aka Gladstone Type posts.

If there's anything else you might have question about, just contact me. I'm a "3plyguy" Gretsch geek.

First off: stunning drums! They should fetch a king's ransom. Best of luck with the sale, and with your friend's health issues.

I hate to threadjack, but this thread raises a question for me: Rickbo described this kit as a Broadkaster. I noticed in the catalogs that in the early 50s, Gretsch advertised kits such as the Broadkaster Name Band, but by the late 50s, they'd dropped "Broadkaster" from the kit names. How do you tell whether a kit is a Broadkaster or not?

Very nice drums! My rack tom edges were like these drums. My 1414 FT is exactly 1414 and with the wrap most heads are a very tight fit - that's why I custom fitted wood hoops with calf hide.......solved that problem. You can cut the finish down too, but it's not very cool to start cutting away at a nice Vintage drum.

I agree that these drums should fetch a high price. Go to Steve Maxwell's Vintage drum site and read the Update pages (5 or so pages of text) on the price of Vintage drums. It's a good place to start to get an idea what you should be asking for the drums. The sizes are sought after for sure. It would blow your mind what some of the kits are going for these days. If the bd was 18" bd they would go for a very high price ideed.

I've heard comments that the high price of Vintage drums is rediculous and out-of-hand. But If you compare rare and sought after vintage drums to Guitars I'd have to agree with some Vintage experts out there that are saying "drums are just starting to catch up." IMHO drums are going to catch up - maybe not like what you'd pay for a rare Les Paul ($350,000!) but maybe they will. I know I'd rather have a 1958 Gretsch Gold Sparkle 3ply 4pc drum kit any day over any guitar.

I'm all for getting as much as you can for the drum set, but I don't think that using Steve Maxwell's pricing as a guide is the best approach. He is a well known dealer with a client base and a retail shop.

He's certainly a great resource to learn about your drums I just wouldn't price mine quite to his level if you really want to sell anytime reasonably soon.

Here is a thread where we talked about the Gretsch round badge drum market that may be helpful.

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=9325

That's all I was trying to get across.

And I agree, if you one wants to sell a kit like this in a reasonable time (fairly quick) - then yes - you don't want to follow the pricing on Maxwell's site - that's a given.

Beautiful drums! I like very much!