Dating of Vintage Gretsch Drums
Determining the age of vintage Gretsch drums has frustrated vintage drum enthusiasts for years. With most other drum companies, serial numbers are considered very helpful tools, but not with Gretsch. The lack of understanding of Gretsch's use of serial numbers leaves the vintage drum owner relatively few tools for estimating the age of their vintage Gretsch drum. The information chasm has been filled by many well-meaning but not always well-informed individuals who have expressed many theories about how to date vintage Gretsch drums. Some of these theories are contradictory and few are definitive. However, these theories have been repeated so often in the vintage drum world that they have became "fact" - the legend and lore of Gretsch drums. One of these "facts" is that Gretsch serial numbers are useless tools for dating drums. Despite this, John Sheridan proposed a "rule of thumb" for round badge drums in 2005 which linked the number of digits in serial numbers to date ranges. Sheridan's approach was a good start, but only addressed drums from the 1960s and was not very precise.
Rick Gier stepped into this situation in 2006 when he tried to determine the age of his Gretsch drums. Although frustrated by the lack of reliable information, RIck saw a solvable problem. Rick did not want to merely recite the legend and lore but wanted to apply a fresh and unbiased view to the Gretsch dating issue. His initial goal was to determine if a serial number-based dating guide could be developed. As data was collected, Gretsch's use and reuse of serial numbers became clear and a dating guide began to take shape. But while gathering information, Rick faced a new frustration - frequent false statments of some eBay sellers about the age of their Gretsch drums. Some exploited the lack of clear understanding of Gretsch drums while others desperately grasped onto the legend and lore just trying to make their listings more informative.
Although he wanted to avoid becoming the self-appointed "eBay Police," Rick still wanted to do what he could to reduce the misrepresentations and/or innocent-but-misinformed claims that were so prevalent. However, as a complete unknown in the vintage drum community, without a long history of dealing with drums, and backed only with a theory that many rejected, Rick was reluctant to widely broadcast his serial number-based dating theories without a very strong foundation. As a result, the serial number dating project morphed into a more extensive study of vintage Gretsch drums. With the help of a few in the vintage drum community (especially Greg Webb, Bill Maley and John Sheridan) and through review of over four thousand drums, Rick developed new theories regarding how to date vintage Gretsch drums. The result is a 46 page "research paper" that not only establishes a strong link between serial numbers and dates, but also presents much previously unpublished information about Gretsch drums of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
Rick Gier stepped into this situation in 2006 when he tried to determine the age of his Gretsch drums. Although frustrated by the lack of reliable information, RIck saw a solvable problem. Rick did not want to merely recite the legend and lore but wanted to apply a fresh and unbiased view to the Gretsch dating issue. His initial goal was to determine if a serial number-based dating guide could be developed. As data was collected, Gretsch's use and reuse of serial numbers became clear and a dating guide began to take shape. But while gathering information, Rick faced a new frustration - frequent false statments of some eBay sellers about the age of their Gretsch drums. Some exploited the lack of clear understanding of Gretsch drums while others desperately grasped onto the legend and lore just trying to make their listings more informative.
Although he wanted to avoid becoming the self-appointed "eBay Police," Rick still wanted to do what he could to reduce the misrepresentations and/or innocent-but-misinformed claims that were so prevalent. However, as a complete unknown in the vintage drum community, without a long history of dealing with drums, and backed only with a theory that many rejected, Rick was reluctant to widely broadcast his serial number-based dating theories without a very strong foundation. As a result, the serial number dating project morphed into a more extensive study of vintage Gretsch drums. With the help of a few in the vintage drum community (especially Greg Webb, Bill Maley and John Sheridan) and through review of over four thousand drums, Rick developed new theories regarding how to date vintage Gretsch drums. The result is a 46 page "research paper" that not only establishes a strong link between serial numbers and dates, but also presents much previously unpublished information about Gretsch drums of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
First published in November 2011, Rick Gier's Dating Vintage Gretsch Drums Based upon Serial Numbers: Challenging the Legend, Lore and Lies analyzed over 4,300 reports of vintage Gretsch drums with serial number labels. The paper looks at thirteen different characteristics of Gretsch drums from the 1962-1984 era. These characteristics, including badge styles, label styles, hardware, wraps and throw-offs, are recorded and then compared to each other. When possible, changes in each of the physical characteristics are linked to specific serial number ranges. Then, reports from original owners of vintage Gretsch drums, some with original dated receipts, and published and dated information about changes in the physical characteristics are utilized to establish a link between serial numbers and dates. The serial number/date relationship allows establishment of start and stop dates for changes in various physical characteristics. The result is a dating guide designed to estimate a drum's age based upon not only its serial number but also numerous other characteristics. The paper contains fourteen tables and several pictures to assist the drum enthusiast in understanding Gretsch drums. It contains over 75 footnotes to provide additional detail or point the reader to other sources of information. It assists with the evaluation of a vintage drum's authenticity and helps the reader to determine for themselves when a particular drum was made. It does not provide down-to-the-day precision, but it does allow a drum enthusiast to confidently estimate their drum's age within a year or two, perhaps less. The paper has been revised three times as new data has been gathered. It currently contains information gathered from more than 8,600 drums.
If you would like a copy of the paper, it is currently available through the publisher, at http://www.rebeats.com or by contacting the author at Rick@GretschDrumDatingGuide.com. If you have already read the paper and have questions or can provide some insight into an area not fully developed in the paper, please send an email to me at Rick@GretschDrumDatingGuide.com. If you have reports of additional drums that can help to provide the vintage drum community with a more complete picture of this era of Gretsch drums, please navigate to the Report Your Drums page.
In addition to introducing the paper, this site is designed to provide the vintage drum enthusiast with current information about the ongoing data collection and analysis of Gretsch drums from about 1962 through about 1984 and other projects involving vintage Gretsch, Ludwig and Ludwig Standard drums. Additional information leads to new insight, revisions and modifications to the information presented in the paper. Check the Updates and Revisions section and come back periodically to make sure you are up to date.
In addition to introducing the paper, this site is designed to provide the vintage drum enthusiast with current information about the ongoing data collection and analysis of Gretsch drums from about 1962 through about 1984 and other projects involving vintage Gretsch, Ludwig and Ludwig Standard drums. Additional information leads to new insight, revisions and modifications to the information presented in the paper. Check the Updates and Revisions section and come back periodically to make sure you are up to date.