Very nice - I love to see drums come back to life like these. Well done.

Come on Guy's. To me that set is prime for restoration. The shells look good. Clean them up, fill the extra holes, the missing hardware is not hard to replace, and a re-wrap. There going to be georgous.

Just did some more research and Tom Flye played drums and was an engineer on Don McLean's American Pie (1971). Since they were Tom's personal kit, I wonder if these were the drums he used? A list of songs these drums were used on would be amazing.

The saying "If these drums could talk?" comes to mind. Actually, they did and it was captured on tape, made into records, dubbed to 8 track, re-dubbed to cassette, burned to CD and remastered to digital.

I would bet most early studio equipment is sitting in landfills across the US. Your drums have a story to tell, you took the first step and decided to bring them back to life. The next step is to write the biography.

- Tim

Tim,

The drums were used on The American Pie album but not the hit song. That album was recorded at The Record Plant in New York before Tom moved out to the west coast. The more I talk with Gretsch experts the more this kit leans towards 1962. I think Tom has his dates mixed up as to when he actually got this kit.

I finally received the shells from Garry Williams of San Francisco Drum Co. yesterday and they look amazing. Garry does fantastic work! The drums are about 90% finished. I still need a few more parts and I'm waiting for Garry to finish the bass drum hoops and paper tags. I soaked all the parts in Dawn and they came out looking great! The badges are all reproduction badges I got off of Ebay just a couple of weeks before Fred Gretsch shut the guy down. They are dead on compared to original ones except I paid $30 a piece instead of $125 a piece. I will post again when the kit is 100% complete.

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/1959%20Gretsch%20Drum%20Set%20Restoration%20Project/IMG_1930.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/1959%20Gretsch%20Drum%20Set%20Restoration%20Project/IMG_1921.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/1959%20Gretsch%20Drum%20Set%20Restoration%20Project/IMG_1923.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/1959%20Gretsch%20Drum%20Set%20Restoration%20Project/IMG_1922.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/1959%20Gretsch%20Drum%20Set%20Restoration%20Project/IMG_1924.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/1959%20Gretsch%20Drum%20Set%20Restoration%20Project/IMG_1925.jpg[/IMG]

That looks stunning. What a beautiful kit with such a rich history. Bravo! Bravo!

The shells look AMAZING! Thanks for the new pictures and keep all of us here on VDF up-to-date with your project.

Now that's what I love seeing! You're going to have an amazing looking and SOUNDING set of drums when you're done. Congratulations on rescuing this fine instrument from the boneyard. I, for one, would take this over a new Gretsch kit any day!

Yes - a fine job! They look stunning.

I was leaning closer to 1962 when you first posted the photos but I didn't chime in because I have found so many exceptions (tags/no tags/sealer/no sealer/3ply_6ply etc) with Gretsch kits in the 57-61/62 years. It's all been talked over on the Forum (and other Forums) before.

That kit rocks - the era of the drums, the finish, the history and most of all = being brought back to life. Well done!

DolFan...great job! I just tackled a similar project with some '58 Ludwig shells I picked up last year. Check out my thread, if you haven't already seen it.

http://vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=29029