Hi Guys,
First time poster. By way of brief introduction my name is Matt, I'm based out of Cape Town, South Africa and I'll state from the outset that I'm not a drummer.
I'm a guitar player but also an engineer and have spent many years recording various kits and have a young son who is already showing some rhythmic tendencies so thought it would be time to invest in a kit (secretly I'm hoping to learn myself).
I've always had an affinity to older kits: Gretsch, Rogers, Ludwig etc and smaller sizes, 20" kicks etc as I mainly record acoustic/folksy singer songwriters and sometimes light jazz.
Not alot of these old kits around to be had here in South Africa, esp. Gretsch's, Premiers and Ludwig are a little more common.
Enter this kit, which I bought today from an old drummer who used it to gig with for 30 years. Single owner in anniversary sparkle. Kick is 20", Tom is 12", Floor Tom 14" and 14" Snare.
It isn't collectible quality and I wasn't looking for it to be, just in solid structural shape, which it seems to be.
There is some pitting on the chrome covered hardware and the wraps are broken/cracked in places, but purely cosmetic.
Sadly the front bass drum claws and Ts are missing, along with the ring, but I've manged to locate some on the net and will probably replace both rings with new Gibraltar maple ones. It is also missing one of the bd spikes.
The 'baseball' on the micro sensitive strainer has snapped off, but I assume if it still works I can replace it, though I read quite a few replace these with aftermarket ones, any thoughts on this? Repair or replace?
Lastly the nuts for the floor tom legs are missing, the mounts are intact, and I'm sure I'll be able to use Gibraltar replacements.
Overall I'm happy with it, it is going to need some TLC, cleaning the shells and removing residue and the odd sticker, hardware and a new set of heads, but I think it should be a fun kit and am glad to be restoring it rather than buying a new kit.
I was able to acquire it with it's original Zildjan cymbals as well, well the 20" crash and 22" ride at least, plus a newer pair of 13" K Class Hats and a 22" Paiste 400 Ride (West German vintage). They all seem in good nick, no dents or cracks.
I ended up paying R4,000 ($570USD) for it all, which I'm told was a good deal.
Here are a couple pics:
[img]http://www.matt-allison.com/gretsch/full_kit.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.matt-allison.com/gretsch/full_kit2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.matt-allison.com/gretsch/full_kit3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.matt-allison.com/gretsch/floor_tom.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.matt-allison.com/gretsch/snare.jpg[/img]