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Hi
I have a Gon Bops Mariano Model # IT-3300

I bought it in a thrift store where it was consigned to. I spoke to the owner on the phone and he said he originally bought it before moving to Hawaii. He owned the drum for a long time before moving back to the Lower 48. At that time I was busy negotiating and didn't think to ask how old the drum was. It looked old to me. It also had a split from head to toe between the staves.....a pretty easy fix I found out later.

I've been told recently that the drum was made in the 90's. That just doesn't fit to what I was originally told....and the drum....to me....looks a lot older.


Here it is with what appears to be original head (Gon Bops stamp), and Gon Bops plate.

Can anyone here tell me if the drum is 70's or later......90's?


Thanks,

Gary

Hi.

I'm not sure, it could be 70's, because it looks a bit old (or/and not taken care of).

Is there a serial number on the crown (the tension hoop). If there's one, you could see the year of making.

I will look - the drums in storage right now and I can't get to it easily but I will check that out. I never noticed a number when I was restoring it but I'll take a good look. I was told they did put numbers on the hoop in the 50's/60's but not in the 70's. A number like 15661 would have been June 15 1961 for instance. I don't know if I have this example totally correct but it went something like that. The number was etched into the ring......I saw one on FB recently.

This is my drum after repairing the head-to-toe split. I think I posted this here a few years ago because it was some people here who gave me advice on how to repair it.

Gary

Chtimulato wrote:Hi.

I'm not sure, it could be 70's, because it looks a bit old (or/and not taken care of).

Is there a serial number on the crown (the tension hoop). If there's one, you could see the year of making.

These are some of the examples of S/N etching on 50's & 60's drums. I'm pretty sure mine doesn't have this or I would have noticed - but I'll look again.

These stamps show:
65430 = 1965 April 30th
64617 = 1964 June 17th
and a partial showing 57 (1957) and 1 but the rest is worn off as you can see. This one was wrapped to the inside of the drum at the bottom ring.

I have two [smaller] with the metal plates and one with sticker.
Here is the answer I got way back when:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2909&hilit=+numbers
... and I'm pretty sure [although I can't find it] it was confirmed that the metal plates were later [80's onward] ... wish they were older, but they still sound A#1

I guess that does make sense - 80's-90's because it does have some age - it looks old and that means it probably has been around for at least 2 decades..........so that is old in a fashion in my books.

90's or 70's...........I still would have bought the drum at the time. It's solid and feels good....nice to look at too.

Thanks burke & Chtimulato for your replies.

burke wrote:I have two [smaller] with the metal plates and one with sticker.
Here is the answer I got way back when:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2909&hilit=+numbers
... and I'm pretty sure [although I can't find it] it was confirmed that the metal plates were later [80's onward] ... wish they were older, but they still sound A#1