I have just gotten back from my yearly pilgrimage to the Chicago Drum Show 2024. It was a great show and if you have never been it is worth the time to make the trip. I and my partner drove my wife's SUV from Georgia filled with drum sets and snares for a drummer's dream weekend. It's a long sixteen plus hour drive for us with brief stops to stretch, use the restroom, grab a snack, and fill the tank. We spent three nights in the motels and the show was a two-day event with one half day for set-up before the show. There is a lot of friendly talking and trading among the dealers. The comradery is a big part of the whole experience.
I always say I am just going sell this year and not buy anything. It's never happened yet and probably never will. I came close this year going all the way to the last hour before leaving to make a purchase. I had sold two sets and was feeling pretty good with some cash in my pocket. I was thinking the money would cover the cost of the show and I would have some left over to show my wife who would be so proud that I had resisted the urge to buy more drums. Alas, it all came crashing down before I started packing up to go home.
The set I'm featuring today is a wonderful 1959 Starlight Sparkle Gretsch Broakaster Name Band set. My partner Jack Propps introduced me to a very interesting friend of his, Bob Delich. Bob had brought some nice drums to the show and had put them in the consignment booth. It's a good feature of the show for those who only have a few pieces to sell. The Starlight Sparkle kit belonged to Bob. Jack felt the kit just wasn't getting the exposure it deserved being in the corner of the booth. He asked if Bob's drums could be put in our booth and I was alright with it having sold two sets we had some room for them.
The set is pretty rare having the Starlight Sparkle wrap that was available from 1958 to 1962 only. It has a beautiful light lavender tint in the light. The set has a 20" bass drum and the tom toms are 13" and 16" in standard depths. The matching snare is 5"X14". There are tone controls on top and bottom of the toms and an internal adjustable muffler on the batter side of the bass drum and snare. There are two cymbal mounts and a rail consolette tom mount on the bass. The round badges are all in place being tacked on to the toms and grommet mounted to the snare and bass. The inlay bass drum rims are painted with the silver sealer paint used inside the shells and no paper tags appear in any of the drums. The set is in such great shape for its age. Some were questioning the original wrap because it is so well kept.
When the set was in my booth, I had to look at them all day, I couldn't turn away. Bob kept saying he didn't want to load them back up and take them back home. He said they had my name on them and I started believing him. They were calling out to me. How could I in good conscience make Bob take them back home when they wanted to go to Georgia with me? I had the money right there in my pocket. Bill Pace, a great old friend used to say, " it's only money, drums are so much better." I made the deal with Bob and I know I made the right decision. My wife even thinks they look great and are worth the money. One of these days I will sell drums and not buy any and come home with some money. Maybe next year, who knows.