Let's see your Gretsch kits (saved the best for last!)

Here is my new Gretsch USA Custom Bop Kit after a 17 week wait. The new round badges for 2013 pushed me over the edge. Went with a vintage build to match the new badges. The kit turned out great with a nice vintage vibe. Steve Maxwell included his rail mount, don't know if I will committ to installing it.


Beautiful kit


Is that knob on the snare for an internal muffler?
 
Just received this kit yesterday by UPS. Sizes are 20 x 14 bass ; 12 x 8 mounted tom and 14 x 14 floor tom. I ordered the matching 6.5 x 14 snare drum through Steve Maxwell last week.

The kit has the Steve Maxwell exclusive Espresso Burst wrap and 302 double flange hoops with the modern buildout.

The pictures are from the seller I purchased it from , he had it only a couple of weeks. I haven't decided if I will change out the hoops to diecast yet. The 302 double flange hoops give it a real 50's round badge vibe.

Rick,
The kit looks amazing! Enjoy them and have fun gigging with such a classy kit!
Jeff
 
Thanks Jeff,

I love the classy look of your Burgandy sparkle kit. It reminds me of the Mel Lewis owned kit Steve Maxwell had up for sale awhile back. Mel is one of my favourite drummers of all time.

The bass drums on these kits are killer. Gretsch really knows how to make a great sounding bass drum.

The 302 hoops are going to stay on for now on my kit because they sound really nice, ut I am considering the purchase of some diecast as well.
 
just picked up this 2012 limited edition renown

Midnight Glass Glitter

i'm not a sparkle fan, though these have some serious class!

$1500

20", 10", 12", 14", 14" matching snare

all out of the box g2's
aquarian super kick I on kick, what a punch!

Zildjian Sweet-Ride 21"
Zildjian K 20" Ride
Zildjian K Dark Custom 18"
Zildjian K Dark Thin 17"
Sabien AA Regular 14" Hats

played them out saturday, did they sound sweet, and loved the compliments







 
just picked up this 2012 limited edition renown

Midnight Glass Glitter

i'm not a sparkle fan, though these have some serious class!

$1500

20", 10", 12", 14", 14" matching snare

all out of the box g2's
aquarian super kick I on kick, what a punch!

Zildjian Sweet-Ride 21"
Zildjian K 20" Ride
Zildjian K Dark Custom 18"
Zildjian K Dark Thin 17"
Sabien AA Regular 14" Hats

played them out saturday, did they sound sweet, and loved the compliments








That finish is gorgeous
 
Gretschilicious

i love that grunt!

and gorgeous yes lg

i believe there's one set left (hint ebay)

though forget about getting any addons,

i already contacted gretsch, and they said fageddaboudit
 
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MKjr, those are sweet! Fantastic looking finish.

Here's my babies. Gretsch Catalina Maple 7 piece in amber. Pearl 14" x 6 1/2" Brass Free floating snare I've owned since the early 90's. All yamaha stands and hardware. Pearl Eliminator double pedals. Cymbals are Sabian HHX Evolutions - 14" hihats, 16, 17, 18 Crash, 18" Ozone. 21" HH Raw Bell Dry Ride, 10" HH Duo Splash, and finally a 17" AAX Fast China.

I love these drums. Put the whole kit together for a pretty reasonable price too. Picked up all the cymbals but the china used.


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Here's the stripped down version that I use live.
 
After some delays and flakes (I THINK!!) I think we are finally about to get a lockout unit. Some buddies want to use it to jam, and my involvement is just that I want to set up my kit and play regularly for the first time in years. It's been 5 years since I've had a kit set up for me to play at my leisure.

What I'm going to be bringing in there is this Gretsch kit I bought on eBay sometime in early 05. It was a player kit that was rewrapped in Blue Sparkle and missing some parts. I had to add flanged hoops to the toms and Ludwig hoops to the kick. 12-16-22. There was a 13" tom too but the seam is in bad shape and it doesn't have lugs so it's kicked aside (because I normally do 4-pieces anyway). This kit was the one I probably played the most between when I got it and when I had to move and stop playing at the start of 08. Depending on how 'into' drums I get again, I'd like to consider this as a future re-wrap candidate (or maybe even blonde maple or whatever they call it, Charlie Watts style, if I would be able to), but that's so far off I might as well not even think it for now.

I'm probably going to bring the pictured custom 6.5x13 Gretsch snare in burgundy, but I still haven't decided what 14" snare to bring... I'll probably end up bringing 5 of them, lol. I got my RB champagne sparkle player (with flanged hoops sounds fantastic), RB COB, Ludwig 60's Blue sparkle Jazzfest, 60's 5 and 6.5 Supras, 60's 5" Acro...

Anyhow, here's a bad photo.

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ok, bumping this because I finally got half decent photos. Finally got this kit set up in our lockout room. This particular kit hasn't been set up since I jammed with a co-worker in like 2008.

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So as I've been mentioning in nearly every post, I haven't played daily in 5 years. And god it shows. Really need to get my feeling back. It's not that I've forgotten how to do anything, I just haven't done it in so long that my body's not used to it anymore, as for 98% of the last 5 years all my drumming has been finger tapping on my desk or full-on air-drumming.
 
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Here's one more for the Gretsch family. Here's my picture of a Brooklyn Bop kit - 8x12, 14x14, 14x18.

The snare is a 5x14 Gretsch 2002 USA Custom Vinnie Colaiuta Signature Millennial Maple my wife purchased for me as a Christmas gift when it first came out.

I received them yesterday from Steve Maxwell's shop. Didn't have a great deal of time to play them once I went through the unpacking, inspection, assembly and tuning process but the little time I did have with them was beautiful.

A special thanks to Anthony for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for me on this line of Gretsch.

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Wow, D. Every clip I've heard of the Brooklyns has sounded perfect to me. I covet those drums! I'm sort of on-the-fence about Brooklyns and USA Customs. Ants really hipped me to the sound of the Brooklyns.

I will join this family myself one day in the not-too-distant-future. Until then, I'll just be envious of (but happy for) you!
 
nice kit. looks really sweet.

Thanks. It’s a wonderful set of drums for sure.

Wow, D. Every clip I've heard of the Brooklyns has sounded perfect to me. I covet those drums! I'm sort of on-the-fence about Brooklyns and USA Customs. Ants really hipped me to the sound of the Brooklyns.

I will join this family myself one day in the not-too-distant-future. Until then, I'll just be envious of (but happy for) you!

Thanks Larry. As a USA owner and now Brooklyn owner I can say they are both very different and yet both very Gretsch (as are the New Classics I have). If you are on the fence, you are in a win/win situation. Either choice will yield a stellar result. Obviously the wood and hoops are the differences, the hardware is the same. It would be impossible to make a recommendation now owning and have played both.
 
Absolutely gorgeous David, enjoy the new baby :)

Clean, crisp, & inviting - love it! Very pleased for you David, & wish you many hours of joy with these :)

Thank you both very much.

Had sometime to spend with these yesterday to try dialing them into my personal taste.

So far my analogy is this… USA Customs and New Classics had a child and called it Brooklyn. There are characteristic elements of both in the new set.
 
Here's one more for the Gretsch family. Here's my picture of a Brooklyn Bop kit - 8x12, 14x14, 14x18.

The snare is a 5x14 Gretsch 2002 USA Custom Vinnie Colaiuta Signature Millennial Maple my wife purchased for me as a Christmas gift when it first came out.

I received them yesterday from Steve Maxwell's shop. Didn't have a great deal of time to play them once I went through the unpacking, inspection, assembly and tuning process but the little time I did have with them was beautiful.

A special thanks to Anthony for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for me on this line of Gretsch.

View attachment 59495


DMACC..................those are gorgeous.
 
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