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

Suburbankidz said:
Interesting setting. Hey did you do the wrap on the kit yourself? Love the details on it
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We are up in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It's a early 1900's chicken coop, turned into a Buddhist retreat! The set was a bunch of miss matched orphans. Real project set. Lots of extra holes. Bass had water damage I had to repair. Was doing a lot of outside gigs. Wineries, etc. Tried to keep it cheap and tough. It's Indonesian Batik cloth. Soaked in glue, applied like wallpaper. Just indestructible. Lighter, cheaper and thinner then wrap. No head fitting problems. Inspired by Slingerland's "Aztec" series.

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bdonley said:
We are up in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It's a early 1900's chicken coop, turned into a Buddhist retreat! The set was a bunch of miss matched orphans. Real project set. Lots of extra holes. Bass had water damage I had to repair. Was doing a lot of outside gigs. Wineries, etc. Tried to keep it cheap and tough. It's Indonesian Batik cloth. Soaked in glue, applied like wallpaper. Just indestructible. Lighter, cheaper and thinner then wrap. No head fitting problems. Inspired by Slingerland's "Aztec" series.

View attachment 146766
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Batik cloth is amazing. I'm sure the pattern and the woven texture looks great on those drum shells!
 
Lot of examples of early 50s hardware (check the bass mufflers) and how evolution from there in this Sale..
check tom holder too


ka9zgkiwqlp9rgupdsxm.jpg

reminiscent of marching leg slings prior adopted for the new thing: drum set
 
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jda said:
Lot of examples of early 50s hardware (check the bass mufflers) and how evolution from there in this Sale..
check tom holder too


ka9zgkiwqlp9rgupdsxm.jpg

reminiscent of marching leg slings prior adopted for the new thing: drum set
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Blue sparkle Gretsch!...ive got a long story on that and won't bore you but it was a lustful heavenly site as a teen. It's been branded on my brain forever and isn't going away.
 
nice unmolested mostly original set if you absolutely need a 22


s-l1600.webp


Arkansas era
- you know what I think about all 60s and 70s era Gretsch sets?
- as soon as you play one note on them a popular song from radio or Lp rushes right into your head

😂 Soon as you hit the bass drum you know the song...
That set's Nice

That color/finished seemed to have only happened in the Arkansas era
look at back of 77 catalog/pamphlet a finish that fades equally and hits the mark
 
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My USA Custom from 2005…Tangerine Sparkle. I cant believe it’s almost 20 years old already!IMG_3830.jpeg
 
It's been a few years since I've had a gretsch kit so the other day I decided to come back home. 12/14/20. 1980-1982ish SSB. I had to do a few mods. The lug springs were noisy so I packed them with felt. In doing that I experienced an apparently common issue with 80's Gretsch kits with the self tapping lug screws and one of the threads stripped out. I first tried to use kwik-weld to retap the hole but it was too soft and didn't hold when I tapped it. Fortunately the hole still had enough threads left that I could just use a slightly longer screw and extra washer. In reading if you ever have to take the lugs off on these kits it's best to use a tap to clean out the threads before putting the screws back in.

The toms have internal mufflers and while I don't hate those, they rattled too much so I took them out and put a nut on the knob on the inside so I could keep them on the drum so I didn't have exposed holes.

The kit didn't come with memory locks so I bought some new ones but had to grind them down a bit to fit these brackets.

Well worth it though. I missed that bass drum sound... 20240617_021010.jpg
 
Mr. Compactness said:
It's been a few years since I've had a gretsch kit so the other day I decided to come back home. 12/14/20. 1980-1982ish SSB. I had to do a few mods. The lug springs were noisy so I packed them with felt. In doing that I experienced an apparently common issue with 80's Gretsch kits with the self tapping lug screws and one of the threads stripped out. I first tried to use kwik-weld to retap the hole but it was too soft and didn't hold when I tapped it. Fortunately the hole still had enough threads left that I could just use a slightly longer screw and extra washer. In reading if you ever have to take the lugs off on these kits it's best to use a tap to clean out the threads before putting the screws back in.

The toms have internal mufflers and while I don't hate those, they rattled too much so I took them out and put a nut on the knob on the inside so I could keep them on the drum so I didn't have exposed holes.

The kit didn't come with memory locks so I bought some new ones but had to grind them down a bit to fit these brackets.

Well worth it though. I missed that bass drum sound... View attachment 147650
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Beautiful blond kit. :cool:
 
Hello all. This is Sam. I joined this forum over a year and a half ago. I started drumming many moons ago. I am elated to be back drumming and learning about drums again. People with many years or decades of experience post pictures of very nice equipment here. So, I hesitated to post the picture of my entry level Gretsch kit, but here it is.

Gretsch Catalina Club, Blue Satin Flame. Paiste 7 cymbal and Hi-Hat. TAMA, Pacific, Yamaha, and Pearl Steel snares. Yamaha Aluminum snare.

1718733444924.png
 
striker said:
Hello all. This is Sam. I joined this forum over a year and a half ago. I started drumming many moons ago. I am elated to be back drumming and learning about drums again. People with many years or decades of experience post pictures of very nice equipment here. So, I hesitated to post the picture of my entry level Gretsch kit, but here it is.

Gretsch Catalina Club, Blue Satin Flame. Paiste 7 cymbal and Hi-Hat. TAMA, Pacific, Yamaha, and Pearl Steel snares. Yamaha Aluminum snare.

View attachment 147691
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Nothing wrong with that. Drum on!

Love the flame blue.
 
striker said:
Hello all. This is Sam. I joined this forum over a year and a half ago. I started drumming many moons ago. I am elated to be back drumming and learning about drums again. People with many years or decades of experience post pictures of very nice equipment here. So, I hesitated to post the picture of my entry level Gretsch kit, but here it is.

Gretsch Catalina Club, Blue Satin Flame. Paiste 7 cymbal and Hi-Hat. TAMA, Pacific, Yamaha, and Pearl Steel snares. Yamaha Aluminum snare.

View attachment 147691
Click to expand...
How do you like PST7? Is the BD 18"? The kit look nice. :cool:
 
striker said:
Hello all. This is Sam. I joined this forum over a year and a half ago. I started drumming many moons ago. I am elated to be back drumming and learning about drums again. People with many years or decades of experience post pictures of very nice equipment here. So, I hesitated to post the picture of my entry level Gretsch kit, but here it is.

Gretsch Catalina Club, Blue Satin Flame. Paiste 7 cymbal and Hi-Hat. TAMA, Pacific, Yamaha, and Pearl Steel snares. Yamaha Aluminum snare.

View attachment 147691
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You have excellent taste Sir! When I saw that color, I had to have one too. (10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18 and 20)
20231017_141758.jpg
 
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force3005 said:
How do you like PST7? Is the BD 18"? The kit look nice. :cool:
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Thank you.

I like the PST7's. No complaints. To my ears they sound fine. The price is also right. This is what I have:
Paiste 20 inch PST 7 Light Ride Cymbal
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PST7LRide20--paiste-20-inch-pst-7-light-ride-cymbal

Paiste 14 inch PST 7 Hi-hat Cymbals
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PST7HH14--paiste-14-inch-pst-7-hi-hat-cymbals

Yes, the BD is 18. I was looking for a new Bop set in blue marine pearl, but I could not find anything. The blue satin flame color is close enough to what I was looking and it is a Gretsch. This is what I have:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...with-snare-drum-18-inch-kick-blue-satin-flame
 
pretty innit..


dde0yicqpofghkrujajn.jpg
a topless shot if you will a 60s pinup
gas station calendar..
it's on reverb..

Kids: see the RB snare edge
quite unlike the toms
and slightly different than a RB bass
that's 3 edges in one set: 60s RB
 
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finally. I've got angles heights cambers caster and toe-in just about equal between the two sets.

The 66 set reminded me.. what comfort was and it wasn't easy getting the newer "power tom" set
to lay with in similar plane and angles

it was closer to murder took many hours and bytes of brain power
all the while that beating month of sun and new asphalt

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but I was determined
 
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