I heard that Eva Gabor played Slingerlands so that would go along with that... Eddie played Sonors and I could never figure that out - doesn't make sense. Maybe he was in Germany during the war? Ya, that's the ticket. :)

Another factor was that Gretsch had the monopoly on K. Zildjians. You could buy A's from the Zildajhiahoon Company (did I spell it right?) itself, through Slingerland etc, but if you wanted a K, you needed to buy it from Gretsch.

So you have all these 50's Bop Gods using the free K's that came with their free Gretsch drums and the sound is perfect for the music. It all worked nicely.

For one, I think all the Gretsch drums sound great. I not only have a 58 in 20/12/14/14 but I have a 2007 Renown PWAM in 10/12/14/16/1822 & 5.514. They are extrodinary sounding drums. The bass is pure thunder, the toms and snare are amazing as well. Only 60 of these shellpacks were made....so when I'm long gone from this planet....I'm sure Gretsch people are going to be oooooing over and seeking out these drums....I know I would be.

My point here is this: Gretsch is still making fine sounding drums. However, I can see why a lot of people like the 50's 3ply RB Gretsch = SOUGHT AFTER.

They have a nice ring to them - I'm guessing partially because of the reflective inner shell Silver Sealer & partially due to the aged Maple & American Sweetgum (inner) plys.

REFLECTIVE INNER SHELL SURFACE (??).

I recently restored a 60's Gretsch RB and tried something new (for me at least) when I applied new Silver Sealer. I added a couple coats of Clear Gloss Poly over the Sealer. To me, and others that have heard it so far, the drum does have a more metalic ring to it and I'm sure it's from the hard reflective inner surface. As soon as I put the drum together I thought - wow this drum sounds almost like a metal shell. I recorded a very short vid clip (a couple of hits only - but you can hear what I'm talking about) via my digital camera. I can post the link to the vid clip if anyone's interested.

Kona, for me, I think I'd prefer it without the clear gloss on the interior. I'm not big on plastic finishes.

A big reason why old drums in general sound good is because old growth lumber was cheap and abundant back then. The tree my Gretsch drums were made from could have been planted in the 1700's.

If you look at the "farmed" wood now at Home Depot you can tell it's not very old. It's like the huge blueberries at Costco they never had when I was a kid. The 2x4's at Home Depot have hardly any growth rings... they're just a few years old and there's no density. The weight feels like styrofoam.

There's probably lots of 300 yr old trees still out there, in places like Labrador and Siberia, but that's harder to get than it was in the 50's.

I was just having a look on ebay, prices gone bezirk! not sure if its even worth it ..

rgds,

Diem

**Triplets just feel better**

MastroSnare.

It was an experiment on the interior - I'm new at all this restore & vintage stuff - I'm learning. I was only referring to the sound that I got after I applied the Poly. I was surprised to hear the huge metalic ring.

I finished that drum with Tung Oil & Poly.

I'm in BC and our best lumber is exported and we have to settle for second best unfortunately.

I respect your view regarding plastic finishes but in my case I've always liked the wrapped sparkle. I also like some of the Sparkle Lacquers out there today.

I definately would like to find one of those Premier Wonder Finishes from the late 30's in Green Gold & Red ("Sparkling Brilliants").

I'm a sucker for Sparkle - it has always appealed to me.

However; I am VERY interested in Ray Ayotte's RAYA drum finishes. I've put my order in for a very special snare drum - one of the very first. I'm pretty excited about what the outcome of that drum will be knowing Ray and his inovative drum building abilities.

Oh.......sorry.........we're talking about RB Gretsch here.

My last comment on the RB Gretsch is that they are worth what someone is willing to pay to have one of the finest drums ever built in the history of American drum building.........whew....IMHO

Cheers,

"The finest drums ever built"...That seems to sum up the way a lot of drummers feel.I know its only your opinions,which i tend to agree with,but you will also find the same loyalty with Sonor vintage drums.I wonder how it would have played out if Sonor was U.S. made??Soap Box

[QUOTE=wayne;70123I wonder how it would have played out if Sonor was U.S. made??Soap Box[/QUOTE]

Well you have to take into account the Gretsch's inovative contributions to the drum world. One of these was the introduction of staggered ply-built shells which gave rise to sturdy 3ply shells that did not need glued reinforcement rings.

But ya.......Sonor drums are solid - great quality, well made. Their 12ply Beech shells are mighty nice drums!

Gretsch = King!!

Ludwig = Jack

Slingeland = 2

That goes along with what I found: that violin makers were right, the finish is one of the most important components of the sound.

I think it's because the sound comes off of the surface, and it picks up the tone of whatever the surface is made of.

Haha - I don't think you'd see a Liquidambar styraciflua (American Sweetgum) in labrador or Siberia. The Sugar Maple (other common names = Rock Maple, Canadian Rock Maple) and Sweetgum - both used to make those sweet 50's & 60's RB Gretsch drums - can live to a little more than 150 years - there may be some exceptions. Please correct me someone if I'm wrong.