Thanks guys. It's a great feeling when you get to complete a bucket list item, and I get to enjoy these for quite some time yet.

man, where the heck are yall finding these 18 kicks???? ive been looking for one for over 7 years >:O !!!!

Rik, let me know if you plan to sell, serious buyer here!

beautiful kit

Your drums came out great! By the way, I hope you realize how rare that 3-ply, 18" Gretsch bass drums is. I believe even in its altered condition, you could get top dollar for it. May I ask what color wrap was on the bass drum prior to your refinishing job?

I don't really know what color wrap it originally had, it was already unwrapped for me and conveniently painted white then partially sanded, lol...what a pain. It also had three holes for the strange muffler contraption that Premier? had back then. The floor tom was formerly gold sparkle, the mounted tom was formerly red sparkle. Both wraps in bad shape.

Turned out very nice...wow...

Where did you find the 18" BD?Hmmmm

Rik, those are incredible. I've been following and collecting Gretsch RB 18" bass drums for quite a while, and yours is only the 7th 3 ply 14x18 I've seen over a period of several years. I've only ever seen one legitimate all-3-ply 18-12-14 factory original set.

What makes your bass drum extra special is that it's the *only* RB 3 ply 14x18 bass drum I've seen that doesn't have reinforcement rings. Now that's rare!

-Bill

Right OnJump For Joy.....

I know that I've seen a couple of pics of 18" three ply without reinforcement hoops. I can see why they are needed, I've got a bit of out-of-round going on. I know that you have a great collection, I tried to buy one from you, I don't blame you for holding onto them. I love this set. It is all orphan though, but will satisfy me for quite a while. I'm looking for better condition double flange hoops.

My mind is blown! I've never, ever come across a pic of a 3 ply 18" with no rings (besides yours). Very cool, to even know that others exist.

Yep, even the ones with rings are not very structurally sound.

Ah, my 3 ply 18s are all gone except for one shell, which I'll be making a project out of soon. Hope it turns out half as nice as yours! Still have a handful of 6 ply 18s though.

Here's some pics of 3 ply 18s that I've seen over the years. There was a green sparkle 3 ply 18, as well as a black nitron 3 ply 18 on ebay, years back, both with rings, but unfortunately I didn't save any photos of either of those drums.

This is a great thread thus far. Very rare drum and a great restro job to boot.