I have been selling vintage drums for close to 25 years,and I have heard quite a few times ..

"My RB Gretsch sound better then my Yamaha RC'"

"They sound better then my Tama Star Classics"

etc etc........

Must be something to this

Remember...if it wasn't for tiny men in large trees, none of this would have been possible ! CryBaby

I have two kits: a 50s Gretsch and a 60s Ludwig Club Date. (Really, a Combo set with a marching snare converted to a floor tom, but that amounts to a homemade Club Date.)

Both kits sound gorgeous, but to my ears, the Luddies are warmer, fuller, and easier to tune. Sonically, I think they're a better set of drums. Which leaves me to suspect that the higher price for Gretsch drums is due to other factors. There's a mystique associated with the Gretsch brand that causes people to pay more. There are other factors, such as the die-cast rims, that legitimately add to the price, but don't justify doubling it. It's possible that Gretsch collectors are willing to pay more because the brand is more associated with classic jazz--a genre that might appeal to a wealthier subset of the collectors' market. A big factor, though, is that Ludwig simply churned out many more drums in the 60s due to the Ringo craze, so there are more Ludwigs on the market. Supply and demand does the rest.

I love my RBs and would never give them up, but in my opinion, a Ludwig set is a much better value. Beautiful drums for a fraction of the price.

(I should point out that my RBs are three-ply, so I can't say how the classic six-ply setup would compare to a 60s Ludwig kit.)

Y'all say they didnt make as many gretsch because of the quality that went into them. I believe that Ludwig made a lot more kits because after ringo started playing them, The ludwig factory couldnt keep up with the demand for them and had to start working around the clock to fill orders. I dont know about the prices of the gretsch round badge, but back in the mid 60's Ludwig were'nt cheap. According to the 1964 catalog a club date kit cost $360. Using the inflation calculator I found on the internet, $360 in 1964 equals $2,500 in 2010. Hollywood kits was $514 in 64 that would equal $3,627 in 2010. I dont know if these figures are realistic but I do know when I was 16 gas was a quarter, its gone up 1200%

http://www.coinnews.net/tools/cpi-inflation-calculator/

Just for Ha Ha's........

Name Brand and Super Classic, since they have the same sizes

1961 Gretsch........................................Then $449.00

Today's money $3285.70

1962 Super Classic with an extra cymbal holder,

since the NB has two............................. Then $396.00

Today's money $2897.86

Difference of ....................................... Then $53.00

Today's money $387.84

Chances of getting a '61 Name Brand for only

$387.84 more than a '62 Super Classic ? ................ SLIM

Chances of selling a '62 Super Classic

for $2897.86 today? ................ SLIM

Chances of selling a '61 Name Brand

for $3285.70 today? ................ Possible?

Finding a classic drum kit in prestine condition under yrs worth of dust at a yard sale............................Priceless!!!

For the rest of these, theres paypal credit card!!!!!!!!!!

LoLoLoLoCool1Funny PostDOH

Whoa, thanks for all the replies and the many varying theories/opinions etc...

Really interesting discussion.

There are a lot of answers from different angles and I guess the answer to the original question is probably a combination of all these replies - great sounding and good quality drums, supply and demand, the mystique and coolness factor, "just one of those things" ...

Hmm, a follow-up question then ... which Round Badge kits are the most desirable? A specific era, or number of years? Or, ANY Gretsch Round Badge? I seem to remember reading that they increased the number of plies or altered the shell construction at some point during the 50's (?). Did that change make drums from certain years more in-demand than others?

Gretsch changed from a 3-ply to a 6-ply shell around 1957 or 1958. I think I read somewhere on the forum that 6-ply RBs are more sought after, though I don't think the price difference is big. (Perhaps one of our dealer experts can chime in on this.)

Summed up in one word: "Mojo".

B