It's most likely impossible to tell from the picture, but the silver sealer on these Gretsch drums appears to have been covered with some sort of lacquer or shellac. It's thick (almost runny) in spots. The area circled in red is a paint brush bristle encased in clearcoat/sealer. No paper stickers in these drums- so I'm assuming early 60s or late 50s era. Do they all look like this? or have my drums been 'improved'?
Thanks
jim
Jim
I owned a Gretsch Kit back in 1976 / 77, which had that silver coating on the inside of the shells.
I really couldn’t get on with the sound of the drums, there was a kind of metallic overtone after each beat, what ever heads I used or tune it was in.
Maybe some else didn’t like the sound and tried to cover the silver sealant with vanish to see if it would alter it.
Then on the other hand, the silver sealant may of been damaged in some way and someone try to seal the surface again
Allthough after I sold the kit, another drummer suggested it may have been the springs in the nut boxes that were the problem for the metallic sound.
Regards Paul
It definitely looks "improved", almost like a repair of some sort.
I just picked up a Camco snare drum with a thick, what I thought to be shellac of some kind on the interior that is flaking off. A buddy of mine thinks it maybe a thin coat of fiberglass resin that was popular in the late 70's/early 80's. Perhaps your drums have this fiberglass coating as well?
