The Gretsch Brooklyn has arrived

NouveauCliche

NouveauCliche

Senior Member
Hey folks,

Hope you are all well, safe and healthy.

My Grestch Brooklyn kit has arrived and it's wonderful.

It's a 22",10",12",16" set up - I'll likely add a 14" floor and a 8" rack tom and get an 18" kick just for versatility since this kind of an end-game kit.

I change the normal RIMS style mount for their lug attached GTS mount for a couple of reasons: Aesthetics - on a black kit that HUGE piece of chrome was distracting to me and 2. tom positioning - the lug mounts let me get the drums just a littleeee closer. I really love the lug suspension mounts! Big thanks again to the forum for this recommendation.


I went with EC2 SSTs on tom and G1s on bottom for the time being - they sound amazing. Warm, richy and punchy with some nice attack from the clear heads. They tuned up in an instant - all the edges were great - no quality issues or anything. On the kick I have an EMAD with the small ring and for the time being I moved the power stroke that it came with to the front while I get my real front head painted - cut a small hole in the PS too. It's sound DEEP and Punchy and fat....what a KICK.

I have it paired with the USA Bronze snare and it sound amazing - I put an Evans HD Dry on it and it's one of the better snare sounds I've ever had. Rich, and deep with a lot of tone and response. I'll likely change the huge stock snare with a Canopus 16 strand vintage snare - but for now it's all great.

Haven't recorded with it yet - but even on an iPhone video - the tones coming from this kit are insane.

The finish is Satin Black Metallic - it's rich and deep and has an almost gun metal grey tone to it in the light - everyone wants to touch it haha.

Awesome kit - can't recommend it enough!!


Interestingly - I was comparing it to the Renowns I used to have and these really are a lot richer and warmer sounding with the exact same head combination. I didn't suspect there would be that much difference - but there really is.
 

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Looks like a great kit. I was looking into those before I purchased my Ludwig Club date and I really like the Brooklyn kit. Congratulations on your new kit
 
Tom mounts look sweet!

Really dig the PS3 with the small Gretch logo. I've never been crazy about the Gretsch "big G with a drum and a cymbal" logo. I mean, anyone already knows Gretsch is a drum brand, because those are drums -- do we really need a picture of a drum, on a drum, to remind us? The Gretsch logo on their guitars doesn't include a picture of a guitar.

All that aside, the smaller size logo is a classy touch.

What's the muffling thing on your snare?
 
Sweet. You got those fast. Congrats! When I got my Brooklyn’s I tuned up my PDPs with Tune-bot, recorded them, then moved the heads to my Brooklyn and tuned and recorded again. Not even close. Brooklyn’s were way punchier and had far more definition. I thought the PDP had a nice kick, but the Brooklyn killed it there too. It actually had way more boom.

It’s not always the heads and tuning like we do often claim! Surprised you see that much difference from the Renown’s though. Must be the new drum smell. LOL!!
 
brentcn said:
Tom mounts look sweet!

Really dig the PS3 with the small Gretch logo. I've never been crazy about the Gretsch "big G with a drum and a cymbal" logo. I mean, anyone already knows Gretsch is a drum brand, because those are drums -- do we really need a picture of a drum, on a drum, to remind us? The Gretsch logo on their guitars doesn't include a picture of a guitar.

All that aside, the smaller size logo is a classy touch.

What's the muffling thing on your snare?
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Thanks man - that was all you! I'm stoked it worked out - I'm curious why this mount isn't their default standard. It's awesome.

My oldest daughter is an artist/architect so she's painting the attached on a head - I look forward to no logo - I've always had art of some kind of my bass drums haha.

The little muffler is awesome - it's by a company called Snareweight. They make a lot of (you guessed it) snare / drum mufflers. I have the model M1 - which is great - it's small - maybe 3 inches long or so - leather - it clips on to the rim (The leather runs under the clip so it doesn't scratch the rim or vibrate funny). It sort of sits on the head and moves with it - so it doesn't affect the tone - works more as a little gate. There's a few magnets on it too - so you can flip it up towards the clip if you want it completely open or you can flip up one side for less muffling.

AzHeat said:
Sweet. You got those fast. Congrats! When I got my Brooklyn’s I tuned up my PDPs with Tune-bot, recorded them, then moved the heads to my Brooklyn and tuned and recorded again. Not even close. Brooklyn’s were way punchier and had far more definition. I thought the PDP had a nice kick, but the Brooklyn killed it there too. It actually had way more boom.

It’s not always the heads and tuning like we do often claim! Surprised you see that much difference from the Renown’s though. Must be the new drum smell. LOL!!
Click to expand...

I was kind of going off memory on the Renowns - and at first they struck me as similar - but same manufacturer, same heads, same sizes...that made sense.

It wasn't until I found some videos of the Renowns and compared them side by side with some single mic action that I realized the differences.

The Renowns are awesome - but these really a step above and beyond. (which one would hope at the price difference and manufacturing facilities, etc.) Definitely enough to justify the difference in stepping up to a US made shell.
 

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Darth Vater said:
That's a REALLY nice kit! Enjoy and play the heck out of them. :cool:
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Thanks man - I've been in love with this thing since it landed.

I've been having blast - like I felt when I 20 years old haha - I've put Coated G1s, Clear G1s, EC2s - played around with different tunings (3rds or 4th intervals) - all kinds of drum geekery that I hadn't done in years haha.

I'll post something from my IG when I get a video up so everyone can hear them. Even through an iPhone it's stout.
 
NouveauCliche said:
Thanks man - I've been in love with this thing since it landed.

I've been having blast - like I felt when I 20 years old haha - I've put Coated G1s, Clear G1s, EC2s - played around with different tunings (3rds or 4th intervals) - all kinds of drum geekery that I hadn't done in years haha.

I'll post something from my IG when I get a video up so everyone can hear them. Even through an iPhone it's stout.
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I would think the coated G1s would sound nice on those. I had Evans UV1s on my Brooklyn kit and it sounded great. Those and a EMAD clear were a nice combination.
 

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Darth Vater said:
I would think the coated G1s would sound nice on those. I had Evans UV1s on my Brooklyn kit and it sounded great. Those and a EMAD clear were a nice combination.
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OOOO - I really like that finish too!! I almost got it. I have a set of UV2s I haven't put on yet (I burnt after the first three head changes haha)

How were the UV1s? Were they warm - how was the attack?

Do you still have your brooklyns?


TJK said:
What a beauty. Like the hoops.
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The 302 hoops are great - I really dig the engraved "Gretsch" on them. They feel good - easy to tune, but not too heavy.
 
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NouveauCliche said:
OOOO - I really like that finish too!! I almost got it. I have a set of UV2s I haven't put on yet (I burnt after the first three head changes haha)

How were the UV1s? Were they warm - how was the attack?

Do you still have your brooklyns?




The 302 hoops are great - I really dig the engraved "Gretsch" on them. They feel good - easy to tune, but not too heavy.
Click to expand...

The UV1s were nice in that they seemed to isolate what I perceived as the best tones from each tom with out dampening the resonance. I would think that in the studio they would be the perfect head for that kit. Also if mic'd in a live setting or no mics in a small venue. You still get a nice attack but more controlled than say a clear ambassador or clear G1.

I sold my Brooklyns last year. I had always wanted a nice Sonor Vintage Thin Maple shell set and when I saw one with a high gloss veneer, and the sizes I wanted, new in box, on sale for less than $3K I moved on it. That's not to slight the Brooklyns though. Those are KILLER drums! At the time I just couldn't really afford to keep both.
 
NouveauCliche said:
Hey folks,

Hope you are all well, safe and healthy.

My Grestch Brooklyn kit has arrived and it's wonderful.

It's a 22",10",12",16" set up - I'll likely add a 14" floor and a 8" rack tom and get an 18" kick just for versatility since this kind of an end-game kit.

I change the normal RIMS style mount for their lug attached GTS mount for a couple of reasons: Aesthetics - on a black kit that HUGE piece of chrome was distracting to me and 2. tom positioning - the lug mounts let me get the drums just a littleeee closer. I really love the lug suspension mounts! Big thanks again to the forum for this recommendation.


I went with EC2 SSTs on tom and G1s on bottom for the time being - they sound amazing. Warm, richy and punchy with some nice attack from the clear heads. They tuned up in an instant - all the edges were great - no quality issues or anything. On the kick I have an EMAD with the small ring and for the time being I moved the power stroke that it came with to the front while I get my real front head painted - cut a small hole in the PS too. It's sound DEEP and Punchy and fat....what a KICK.

I have it paired with the USA Bronze snare and it sound amazing - I put an Evans HD Dry on it and it's one of the better snare sounds I've ever had. Rich, and deep with a lot of tone and response. I'll likely change the huge stock snare with a Canopus 16 strand vintage snare - but for now it's all great.

Haven't recorded with it yet - but even on an iPhone video - the tones coming from this kit are insane.

The finish is Satin Black Metallic - it's rich and deep and has an almost gun metal grey tone to it in the light - everyone wants to touch it haha.

Awesome kit - can't recommend it enough!!


Interestingly - I was comparing it to the Renowns I used to have and these really are a lot richer and warmer sounding with the exact same head combination. I didn't suspect there would be that much difference - but there really is.
Click to expand...
Nice, Have a blast !!
 
tfgretsch said:
Nice, Have a blast !!
Click to expand...

So far they are TOO fun!


AzHeat said:
Never heard them with clear heads. They sound great!
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Thanks man - What heads are you rocking on yours?? I had these exact clear heads on my renowns years ago and I remember them sounding amazing - so I wanted to throw them on to compare and I ended up liking them better than any of the other heads I tried. At least for this type of tuning.

cellophanenick said:
sweet! that snare is awesome too!
Click to expand...

Thanks man - it's pretty stout...I've had mostly 13"s so this snare is so like...adult sounding haha. It's pretty great, it's just a whole new tone than I'm used to.
 
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NouveauCliche said:
Thanks man - What heads are you rocking on yours?? I had these exact clear heads on my renowns years ago and I remember them sounding amazing - so I wanted to throw them on to compare and I ended up liking them better than any of the other heads I tried. At least for this type of tuning.
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I've only run single ply coated on them at this point. Started out with the UV1s, but grew tired of them. They wear amazingly well, but when I compared them to the stock Ambassador heads, they lacked body. Amabassadors really brought out the overtones and needed to be dampened, but just had more body. I then went to Evans G1s, but they dished out quick! Right now, I have Aquarian Classic Coated single ply on them and really happy with them too. They don't have as much overtones as the Remo, but still tons of body. Coating is way more durable than Remo, but not like the UV1s. They are a great compromise, but Aquarian heads are pretty tough to find around here. I may just go back to Remo on that alone. If equal available Aquarian Classic coated for toms and snare and Remo PS3s on BD. Haven't found a BD head I like more than the PS3.
 
AzHeat said:
I've only run single ply coated on them at this point. Started out with the UV1s, but grew tired of them. They wear amazingly well, but when I compared them to the stock Ambassador heads, they lacked body. Amabassadors really brought out the overtones and needed to be dampened, but just had more body. I then went to Evans G1s, but they dished out quick! Right now, I have Aquarian Classic Coated single ply on them and really happy with them too. They don't have as much overtones as the Remo, but still tons of body. Coating is way more durable than Remo, but not like the UV1s. They are a great compromise, but Aquarian heads are pretty tough to find around here. I may just go back to Remo on that alone. If equal available Aquarian Classic coated for toms and snare and Remo PS3s on BD. Haven't found a BD head I like more than the PS3.
Click to expand...

Yea the UV1s look amazing and they stay looking amazing for a long time - but I find that there's something about the tone I didn't like on my other drums so I haven't tried them on here yet....it's really attack heavy then it seems thin out really fast, but that might be way different on these shells.

Coated G2s were my jam since like 2000 and I have a set of UV2s boxed up and ready, but I like the EC2s so much that I don't really want to change for a bit.

Clear heads are kind of a new thing for me - I've played mostly coated heads my whole life - a lot of that was for aesthetics though. When I was listening to a lot of drum sounds I really liked - I noticed that it was always clear heads so...how I got stuck on coated heads is beyond me haha.

Do you have any recordings of your Brooklyns - love to hear 'em!
 
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