Snare side head and more wrap pictures.

Both pads are there, but not shown in the picture. I was thinking that the aluminum L bracket was wrong. Now that I know the part number, I do see some on-line pictures with this L bracket as well as others that are steel.

Thanks.

jim

Jim, that's the earlier style of bracket...Gretsch switched over to steel sometime around 1962-ish. Does your drum have a keyholder?

-Bill

Nope - no keyholder.

Thanks for the old style bracket tip. The early vintage means that this snare was made near the time of my 3 pc, so that's a plus. There's no sticker, but the silver sealer appears original. Does the lack of a sticker also mean early 60s?

Thanks

jim

Jim, clean up on this drum will make for some great, shiny chrome. Use rubbing compound as it cuts through all of this type of erosion. The pitting and whatnot on this drum appears to be from a salty environment. Rubbing compound kills the effects of salt and protects it from further damage from the elements.

I would, if it were me, just stretch the wrap back and glue it down using an epoxy, but tat is just me. Others may tell you to re-wrap, I would not.

Yeah,leave alone......

Gretsch BDP RULES.....even with a few cracks in the finish.......

It's 50 years old.......it SHOULD have some wrinkles by now!

Now that's funny!

I'll post more pictures in a few days. Seriously, the wrap is falling off. Easier to peel than a banana. Some of the glue is still stuck to the shell and some to the wrap. Repair would be.... ?

[1] new glue on top of the old?

[2] remove old glue with some sort of stripper, risking spillage on the silver sealer?

[3] scrape old glue from shell and chemically remove it from the wrap? What chemical?

[4] your suggestion goes here....

Thanks,

jim

ps - how do I remove rust from the screws & nuts? Would a rock tumbler do the trick?

Vinegar bath-- that's all it took to bring life back to these rusty parts. I recall reading a post or two about vinegar a few months ago. Can't recall who wrote it, but THANKS!

After putting all the small rusty bits in a plastic Gatorade bottle, I added enough white vinegar to cover them. I shook this mixture for about 20 minutes while driving back and forth to grab a pizza. Another 10 minutes in the bath produced amazing results. This worked so well that I became concerned about the metal. There's no pitting or discoloration, but I did find this:

VintageMore2000: Thanks for the water-only tip. The glue melts right off the wrap, but I haven't tried to remove any from the shell yet.

Jonnistix: Thanks - After washing the lugs in soapy water, I used a soft buffing wheel and some polishing compound. I'm very happy with the results.

I'm still struggling with this wrap. Is it possible that heat or cold caused the cracks? I ask because the area around the cracks appears to have shrunk. There's no way to pull the sections back into place and fill the gaps. If I simply glue it down, some of the gaps will be as wide as 1/8 inch. Would a heat gun do any good to stretch the wrap into place?

Thanks

jim