Gretsch Renown '57s Jazz Bop Shell Packs Now Deep Discounted?

Got it, Superglue ca3. Thanks for the tip, John!
 
I just ordered a set of Renown 57 Motor City Red in Bop configuration...should have them next week Monday or Tuesday...I'm definately excited, although I wish I could have gotten a sea foam green or a blue set but being these are impossible to find now, the red is good enough...and even better, I live in the Motor City, well suburb of anyway. Will post pics when I get it, maybe a video from our upcoming gig on Saturday the 13'th.
 
Steve Maxwell Vintage and Custom Drums still has a few Renown bop kits in seafoam green. They're not the Motor City version so they don't have the Chevrons like the 57's, but the solid seafoam green finish is striking IMO.
 
I just ordered a set of Renown 57 Motor City Red in Bop configuration...should have them next week Monday or Tuesday...I'm definately excited, although I wish I could have gotten a sea foam green or a blue set but being these are impossible to find now, the red is good enough...and even better, I live in the Motor City, well suburb of anyway. Will post pics when I get it, maybe a video from our upcoming gig on Saturday the 13'th.

Congrats you'll love 'em I'm sure. Post some pics. Saw the drummer for The Zac Brown Band play a 57 kit live on tv a month or so ago. Not that I'm a fan of the band but it was nice to see them in a big concert setting like that. Best value/quality on the market today IMO.
 
Steve Maxwell Vintage and Custom Drums still has a few Renown bop kits in seafoam green. They're not the Motor City version so they don't have the Chevrons like the 57's, but the solid seafoam green finish is striking IMO.

Are you sure about this? I was all over his site, I dont see any for sale? I'll have to call, but if they are like 1500 bucks like everyone else wants, I wont get them anyway. Ill be pissed if he does have them in that color for under a grand...I really love that color best.
 
Congrats you'll love 'em I'm sure. Post some pics. Saw the drummer for The Zac Brown Band play a 57 kit live on tv a month or so ago. Not that I'm a fan of the band but it was nice to see them in a big concert setting like that. Best value/quality on the market today IMO.

Ill have to check out the Zac Brown Band and see if they have any vids anywhere...and yes, I promise some pics and maybe video. I hope I have enough time to get some different heads on there and tune them before next weekend. Talking with my local drumshop, he told me in reality, I really only need to replace the resonant heads on that kit, that makes them sound alot better. They had a full 5 piece 22" kick setup there with an extra floor tom they barely got through Gretsch(or their supplier) and that kit sold just recently. The Bop kits they were able to get last year, they bought 3 of them, sold all of them in 2 days, couldnt get any more. I was going to have them order me a Silverstar Jazz kit, but I found the Gretsch 57 Bop online somewhere for 799.00 so I called them, they had it and I jumped on it and bought it. Couldn't pass it up. I would have spent that or more even with a smokin deal on a Tama kit with a nicer snare. Plus the way I figure it, if I dont like them, I can easily turn around and sell these and get a Tama if I really wanted to. I do generally prefer birch kits, and I already have a older Tama kit as my main kit so my hardware would be matched if I bought Tama, but Im hopeing these work out great. Something about the astetics/looks of a Gretsch kit, along with the sound just always appealed to me. Now at the 799.00 price point, I can afford them now. Ill see soon if Im wise or not.
 
Are you sure about this? I was all over his site, I dont see any for sale? I'll have to call, but if they are like 1500 bucks like everyone else wants, I wont get them anyway. Ill be pissed if he does have them in that color for under a grand...I really love that color best.

They're not listed on the site but I contacted them last weekend and was told they have a few bop kits and traditional size kits in seafoam green. You're right, however, in that they want $1500 for these kits. Sorry I wasn't clear about this in my original post.
 
They're not listed on the site but I contacted them last weekend and was told they have a few bop kits and traditional size kits in seafoam green. You're right, however, in that they want $1500 for these kits. Sorry I wasn't clear about this in my original post.

No worries man, I figured custom meant top dollar anyway! I might love the color I got after I keep them for a bit, although those pics of the sea foam green are just beautiful. I showed my bass player, and he likes the red I bought, but he also said the green would be killer.
 
Got it early today, didn't spend too much time putting it together or tuning at all, I plan on new heads anyway, at least reso's and probably a EMAD and cut a port hole for miking and to let it breathe...never liked the beater bouncing off feel. I just threw on my old reliable Camco pedal, I still love that pedal, maybe because it was the first real pedal I ever bought many a years ago. I even brought out my old Pearl high hat stand off of my boys drumset that has some old school 14" Zildjian A's on it, I might actually use these on my gig next week, they are a bit quiter than my Z's I normally use with my bigger Tama Rockstar kit.

First Impressions...beautiful! I dont regret getting the color as of now. Truth be told, my oldest son loves Red, and he will want this kit one day so that helped make my decision. Again, I didn't spend but about 5 min just rough tuning this, but one thing I know i'm gonna love is the snare. It sounds pretty awesome right now, I cant wait until I get the heads I want on it. The floor tom will tune up nicely, the 12", I have my doubts about getting it sounding right, but I will hold of on commenting on that until I get some good reso's on there and maybe change out the batters too. Its like anything new you buy, it takes quite a bit of tweaking but that' the nature of the beast. I had to downsize this pics, Ill get more, and take some from the gig next Saturday the 13'th.

I have to say, I was leaning toward the Tama Silverstar, but I looked at a 5 piece Silverstar kit at my local dealer a few days back. I was impressed by the shells, the wrap, but the hoops look like dog crap. Grinding marks on the snare hoops, very noticeable. It seems like the hoops are getting crappier all the time on some kits. Then I get my Gretsch kit today. hoops and all the hardware, amaizing, dam near perfect. For the 200 extra this kit was, it was worth it. I'm more a fan of birch drums which is what the Silverstar is, but when I took into consideration the snare was lacking in the Silverstar a bit sound wise, I would have wanted a Starclassic snare of a SLP Bubinga snare upgrade, then maybe some better hoops, that would have made the Silverstar purchase up to a grand or just under with some good heads to go with that one too. I paid 799.00 for the Gretsch and I only have to upgrade heads...no brainer! I would have loved the Silverstar just as much I bet, besides the cosmedic's of the chrome hoops...and I already have a big Tama kit and lots of Tama stands and hardware so inter changing stuff would have been a breeze...always pro's and con's!

Lastly, I ordered a Dixson bass drum lift. I got the first version, its a bit taller and more designed for 16 and 18 inch kick drums. I did put on the Gibralter riser, seems to work fine, although I didn't put on my DW 5002 double on it either yet. I'm not sure ill even use on this set, the Camco just seems so at home on this. Of course Ill say that now, then miss using it for quick quad fills on crashes here and there in certain songs or using in songs I need the double pedals for just to play it right. Anyway, As of right now, ZERO regrets getting this kit! I hope Ill be saying this next Sunday at 1:30 AM when were done playing! Oh yeah, one last thing, there is no way in hell this is going anywhere without bags. Im heading to Guitar Center tomorrow or Monday and getting 4 Gator bags or something. It wont get treated like my Rockstar and not care about battle wounds traveling to and from gigs...this Gretsch deserves better. Again, I'll get better pics up soon!
 

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You lucky man! I'd love to be you right now. There's a guy selling the same kit here locally (I'm in Canada) for $1100 which is a bit high but still tempting. I just don't have the funds and have done stupid things with credit in the past to know that's a no-no. Still frustrating 'cause I want one sooooooo bad.

Congrats.
 
One thing I'd like to say, if these dealers got the discount off the price and they are now asking more than what the discount was for retail, some are in the 1500 dollar range, it probably wouldn't be too hard for Gretsch to find out if they gave them the money discount and they may talk to them about this. This kind of scam goes on alot with any products and companies usually don't take this lightly. For example, a well known snowmobile dealer in my area was scamming Arctic Cat and Polaris and someone turned them on to the scam, and they both within a week pulled all their inventory out of the dealer and dropped them. Discounts given to dealers are supposed to directly benefit the consumer, and not benefit just the dealer because they are greedy.
 
Congrats on your new kit - the red is much nicer that I thought. Yeah that's a great pro-sounding kit at a ridculous price. Don't remove the decal and keep it forever. And yes to the snare - the best drum of the kit. The whole thing is the steal of the centuty. Still in disbelief I got mine for under $750 w/shipping.
 
Congrats on your new kit - the red is much nicer that I thought. Yeah that's a great pro-sounding kit at a ridculous price. Don't remove the decal and keep it forever. And yes to the snare - the best drum of the kit. The whole thing is the steal of the centuty. Still in disbelief I got mine for under $750 w/shipping.

Did you buy it from guitar center or musicans friend or one of their other companies they own like music123? Probably with a 10% off sale? I got mine for 849.00 with shipping, not bad. I look at it this way, the Catalina's even at 599.00, then an upgraded snare(the known Catalina snare issue of not being all that great) would be more than what I paid for this kit, and its USA keller Maple shells, nice hoops, limited edition to 125 of each color, ect ect. Like you said, rediculous price!
 
Did you buy it from guitar center or musicans friend or one of their other companies they own like music123? Probably with a 10% off sale? I got mine for 849.00 with shipping, not bad. I look at it this way, the Catalina's even at 599.00, then an upgraded snare(the known Catalina snare issue of not being all that great) would be more than what I paid for this kit, and its USA keller Maple shells, nice hoops, limited edition to 125 of each color, ect ect. Like you said, rediculous price!

I believe it was local or regional drum shop in Minnesota or Wisconsin? I forgot. But yeah for another $150 you get a kit that's a serious upgrade from the Catalina. Now you got me jonesing to play later tonight... happy drumming :)
 
First Impressions...beautiful! I dont regret getting the color as of now. Truth be told, my oldest son loves Red, and he will want this kit one day so that helped make my decision. Again, I didn't spend but about 5 min just rough tuning this, but one thing I know i'm gonna love is the snare. It sounds pretty awesome right now, I cant wait until I get the heads I want on it. The floor tom will tune up nicely, the 12", I have my doubts about getting it sounding right, but I will hold of on commenting on that until I get some good reso's on there and maybe change out the batters too.

First off, congrats on tke kit.
What is your concern with getting the 12" tom to tune?

I've found no issue with getting the small tom to sound good even with the stock heads. I will be changing out for vintage emperors batter, and ambassodor reso's.

I pulled all the heads off to apply some white grease to the threads a few days ago, and also checked all the hardware torque. About half of all the hardware was fairly loose, and needed to be snugged up.

Both the 12" and the 14" tom have a very small divot on the bearing edge that appears to have had some wood filler applied. It isn't horrible, but it could use a bit more attention to detail to smooth it out. It isn't in an area that the head will be touching. The next time I have the have the heads off I will mask off that very small spot and smooth it out. REFILL, and smooth, not sand the spot out.

I've installed spacers on the Gibralter riser that came with the kit, so that the pedal is closer to the hoop when installed. I'm using a replacement felt beater, and with the spacers installed the beater strikes much closer to the angle as if the pedal were attached to the hoop directly.

The small tom mounting bracket is a nice piece, but it is a substantial chunk of metal. After pulling it off to inspect it, I have made up my mind to use a snare stand for the small tom.

I'm still contemplating a cymbal arm mounted on the bass drum. Sonce I will be using a snare stand for the tom, I could just use the tom hardware and mount a ride off of that on the BD.

I've been out to listen to cymbals. I'm about 99% certain on Sabian AA's.

14" hats
18" med crash left side
20" Rock crash right side, maybe the 21" bash ride
21" raw bell dry ride
 
First off, congrats on tke kit.
What is your concern with getting the 12" tom to tune?

I've found no issue with getting the small tom to sound good even with the stock heads. I will be changing out for vintage emperors batter, and ambassodor reso's.

I've installed spacers on the Gibralter riser that came with the kit, so that the pedal is closer to the hoop when installed. I'm using a replacement felt beater, and with the spacers installed the beater strikes much closer to the angle as if the pedal were attached to the hoop directly.

The 12" tom isn't an issue anymore. Went up to my local music store, got a 12" Evans G1 clear, installed it tonight, much better sounding and i'm not totally done tuning it yet, but it sounds pretty nice I must say. The reso's on that kit, anybody who owns one needs to change them out. The G1 batters are fine I personally think, I will use them until i wear them out, then probably go with G2 clears or coated, maybe try clear Emperor's?

I also got a 14" reso G1 clear for the floor tom, and a EMAD for the kick. The drum guy(worked there for 30 years so far) at my local drum shop told me in his opinion the EMAD was the only way to go on a 18" kick. He has them all, Aquarian, Evans, Remo and tried them all, he's more of a Remo type guy but he said he has ran all Remo's on his drum kits with a 18" EMAD with the small foam, and also recommended I get a new reso bass drum head, use a felt on it and with the EMAD, it will sound great. He can get me a Remo coated with the Gretsch logo on it, so I might get that too. The stock reso kick head isn't very good. Im gonna try it out first with a 4 inch porthole as we mike my kick anyway and I don't like my beater bouncing back at me anyway. So I figured id try the stock reso kick head first, see if I like the sound enough, if not, Ill just get the new Remo reso head from him with the Gretsch logo.

As far as the Gibralter riser, mine works great, petal seems totally normal. Is your Bass drum totally level? I was actually impressed on how well it worked with my Camco pedal. I also ordered a Dixson bass drum lift and should have it here at home by Wednesday or Thursday and will try that out as well. What pedal do you use?
 
I believe it was local or regional drum shop in Minnesota or Wisconsin? I forgot. But yeah for another $150 you get a kit that's a serious upgrade from the Catalina. Now you got me jonesing to play later tonight... happy drumming :)

I bought mine out of a place just outside of the twin cities in Wisconsin. Its funny, I live in Michigan and I drive through this little town to get to my inlaws in the twin cities and have wanted to stop in there, now next time I have a reason to stop in and see where they came from. That was the ONLY place I could find left that had one, everywhere else is 1500 bucks, and those are pretty scarce as well, only a few of those expensive ones left too.
 
As far as the Gibralter riser, mine works great, petal seems totally normal. Is your Bass drum totally level?

Yes, the drum is level. It was just about the distance of the pedal to the hoop.

The riser worked without installing any spacers between the two halves, but the beater angle was just a bit severe. A rough eyeball guess was that the beater was contacting about 30-35 past vertical. The pedal was about 3/8" to 5/16" away from the hoop. The pedal is now about even with the rear of the hoop, and the beater strikes with about half the previous angle with more beater surface contacting the head. Strike angle is now about 15- 20 past vertical.
 
Yes, the drum is level. It was just about the distance of the pedal to the hoop.

The riser worked without installing any spacers between the two halves, but the beater angle was just a bit severe. A rough eyeball guess was that the beater was contacting about 30-35 past vertical. The pedal was about 3/8" to 5/16" away from the hoop. The pedal is now about even with the rear of the hoop, and the beater strikes with about half the previous angle with more beater surface contacting the head. Strike angle is now about 15- 20 past vertical.

What brand pedal do you use? Also beater on it? New or slightly worn out? For me, My beater angle changes very slightly when I go from my Roland TD9 kit to my Tama Rockstar to this Gretsch to a Sonor kit Ive played in church. None of them is uniform from the hoop to the head position. I know when my beaters get worn the angle definately changes. Also, if your pedal slides back a bit, and mine will on my 5002 DW double pedal it always is off. That pedal is just piss poor for clamping. Ive learned to use a piece of bike tube rubber to help hold it in place. Then again, Im used to playing on a Pacific kit with a pacific pedal, then later the same day playing on a sonor kit with a sonor pedal, then my kits at home with my Camco and or DW 5002 pedals...maybe I just adjust easily to the different pedal positions? I dont know.
 
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