Here is another picture.

They are actually very well made drums the shells are 6ply that they have made since the 60's no difference in the 80's shells. I love those sizes.

My "youngest" Gretsch set is from 1979 and everything about it's construction is first rate!

The Band

In the 80's all Gretsch drums were USA Custom series. They are some of the best made drums Gretsch has ever made. Really pretty much hand made by a small crew (like the current USA Customs) and probably made to much higher QC standards than the round badge drums ever were.

Thank you everybody. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this kit. I'm currently waiting on the response from the seller.

Those are cool drums! Congrats!

Those are some big drums ! But the sizes look good together. That's actually a beautiful set as far as I am concerned. To big for me to haul around, but no doubt you can Rock & Roll with those.

If there is a weak point to that era it is that their chrome plating wasn't especially good. This wasn't so much Gretsch themselves as it was whomever they were sourcing their parts from. The chrome on the current parts coming from overseas is much nicer than the chrome on the earlier parts that were made in the USA. This doesn't apply across the board (on many 80's/90's sets the chrome is absolutely fine) and isn't a huge deal since you can always swap out those parts if need be. Just one thing to be aware of. The drums themselves were always first rate and if you have the tech-ware mounts and hardware you're set.