A big THANK YOU to a fellow Forum member

KONA

Silver Member
I would like take this time to say I'm impressed not only with this Forum but one particular member that helped me out recently. The person is Harry Conway.
We have never met but have traded emails & information over the last few years - mostly about our common interest in drums - modern & vintage. Over the past week or so I was trying to buy a drum in the USA - I live in Canada. Some "trade regulations" & the particular store's software (sales & shipping) got in the way & there was no way for me to buy the drum from Canada. It's a long story regarding that so I won't get into it. but lets just say I tried every angle to get the drum to me - no dice. They could not ship the "new" Gretsch snare drum (yes another Gretsch for me) from their store to Canada. I said just ship it to Blaine WA. & I'll hop over the boarder & pick it up. No Go - the shipping address has to match the credit card address.

I was very disappointed because it was part of a Christmas gift from my wife & she knew how much I was looking forward to getting it.

In the meantime I mentioned it to Harry and asked if he could buy it and ship it to me - I would pay for everything involved of course. I felt awkward asking this favour because - like I said - we have never met other than trading emails. He shot me back an email and said "Lay the groundwork down and I'll buy that bad boy for you." Haha - what a guy! He told me yesterday that he bought it - it's being shipped to him and now we wait.

I would like thank Harry again via this Forum because this is where we 'met' and it goes to show how close the drum community can be. It's things like this that make it just a little more special to hang out with all of you here.

Thanks Harry
& thanks to Bernhard the founder of this Forum,

Cheers,
 
Don't thank him till you get that snare and check it for stick marks......

That's great he was able to help.......Rep to Harry.
 
Thats my man, Harry.

And this 'aint his first good deed on this forum either, Kona.


....
 
Yeah, I remember a similar thread about a good deed by Harry.

Great work, Harry! If you're reading this, I have a really bad e-kit and would much prefer a TD20 ... :)
 
That's awesome. Harry's good deed and your public gratitude.

I don't know Harry but he definitely seems to be a nice guy.
He also seems to have a great bike, lol.

Congrats for your new kit and let's hope it gets to you soon!

Cheers. :)
 
Very cool,Us humans have our moments dont we....If you really think about it we should be able to stop war, feed the children,And live in harmony....Nah, never mind........Great deed Harry.......
 
Great story..great deed..any only us drummers know just how important that next snare drum or cymbal is.... most people including some band members and wife for sure think why is another snare drum so important when you already have 6 of them...but us drummers know...good job Harry!!
 
Reminds me of the story of the two guys who every day showed up at the border with wheelbarrows of sand wanting to cross and everyday the guards would poke through the sand knowing they were smuggling something in the sand but they never found a thing. Turns out the good old boys were smuggling wheelbarrows. Nice job Harry helping out a brother.
 
First leg of my 125 Anniversary Gretsch snare drum is over...............I got an email from Harry and he's got my drum.
He will be mailing it to me asap.........

This is the drum...
GRETSCH 125th Anniversary snare in Champagne Sparkle.
Gretsch made 300 and they're all numbered (1....300), signed inside the shell by Fred Gretsch and, as you can see, a special Round Badge was applied to give the drum that vintage look
 

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Thanks again Harry!
You made my day when the drum showed up at the house yesterday.
The finish - Champagne Sparkle is even better than I imagined - you really have to see the drum up close to appreciate it.

The four inch depth makes it a nice addition to my 58 "Name Brand" shellpack.

The drum sounds great too - nice-n-crisp!

Part of the reason it was on "Clearance" where I bought it was the special 125yr Anniversary head was not with the drum. It was beaten on in the store - used - so the store replaced it/or someone just took it..who knows - they didn't say. But, Gretsch is sending me a NEW 125yr Anniversary head....NICE!

Another issue with the drum is that the but end tuning knob on the Lighening throwoff was bent & stripped at the top. Again - who knows what went on there but it must have been on display in the store and - over the last 2 years (since 2008) - customers/staff had been cranking away on it. But, to bend it like that it had to have been dropped or something. However, the drum seems to be fine...so far. I got it pretty cheap so I'm not complaining. There's not a lot of them out there.

I sent Gretsch a photo of the bent knob and I just got an email.....they said "don't go out and buy one we'll send you a replacement." NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE!

I won't slag the retailer here but I'm very disappointed and surprised they did not disclose the bent & stripped butt end throw knob. Just to be clear here - the drum was packed with more than enough padding and Harry did not open and repack it so the damage was not done in the shipping. It was in a very large box with tons of bubble wrap & more around it.

I'm happy with the drum & VERY HAPPY with Mr. Harry Conway for his help..

Cheers to you buddy - I hope I can return the favour for you some day.
 

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UPDATE:
I got a message from Gretsch today & my new throw-off Butt End is in the mail !

Way to go Gretsch........& another big thanks to HarryConway for his help - for without it I would not have the drum.

This drum is getting along just fine with it's 1958, 2007 & 1947 buddies here.........
 

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Awesome story man, this is certainly a fantastic forum with a lot of wonderful members, Harry especially.

Sucks to hear about the poor retail store, Gretsch certainly do have great customer service, some stores could do well to learn from it.
 
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