Welcome .. those are some beautiful drums. I hope you are keeping them on high ground down there in GA (looks pretty rough in the south right now).

I'm just getting around to starting an Acro project I have had sitting on the bench for a long time, so I hope you will jump in with some Acro tips!!

Man the red looks great against the hardwood floor!!

Wow, what a nice pair! The red is especially nice. Welcome.

Welcome!! Yeah, those are some nice kits. You could almost mix and match them. Would make an awesome double bass kit.

Trust me, I've thought about it. I have put the two 16" toms together and played like that and now I'm really getting the itch to add additional 16" toms to each kit. I just love the one up, two down look, and I think it would make me be more creative with fills. But, I've always played four piece kits and I just feel at home behind them.

Jeez, you can see my indecision even as I post!! I'm usually pretty indecisive until a great deal comes along.

Welcome! Love the handle.

I'm in the same boat as you: early 30s; been playing for about 18 years; addicted to vintage drums. I've always been a Gretsch man, but played a vintage Ludwig kit at a club once and was bowled over. So I've found an old beat-up Club Date that I'm working on bringing back to life.

Your kits look spectacular. Both are lovely, but the red one really gleams. Do you wax them?

Cheers!

Hey Section2. I do clean and wax using a gentle car wash detergent then follow up on with Meguiar's Cleaner Wax to polish and shine. This treatment is just for the shells. For the chrome I just clean with Turtle Wax chrome polish. The picture of the Red Sparkle kit was just after one such cleaning. The picture of the silver kit was actually just prior to one such cleaning. They look a little better than that picture indicates. The silver kit's definitely a player's kit though. The red kit is in excellent condition. They are both completely original, factory matched kits. I've fitted a few new rims on some of the toms and added longer floor tom legs, but I've stored all the original parts. I can attest to the fact that thorough cleaning and detailing can make all the difference. Both of these kits were filthy when I purchased them. At first I thought I'd be buying a lot of replacement hardware, but they cleaned up very well.

Good luck with the Club Dates. I may try to snag a set of those if I come across the right deal. A guy I know has a pristine set in blue sparkle and they sound really good. I love the look of the single lugs on all the drums.

And of all the kits I've played, not a single one has been Gretsch, new or old!! A number of years ago I was entertaining the idea of ordering one of the USA Custom kits, but ended up ordering some Fibes instead. I think they're very comparable drums however.

Anyway, it's good that some younger cats are digging the vintage stuff. It's up to us to carry on the legacy for future generations by taking care of the older kits - while still playing the heck out of 'em of course!! : )-

Hi Folks, I've played one up and two down for years. I used to hear them called British 5 piece or Buddy Rich kits back in the late sixties and early seventies. I really like it. I like to be able to put a ride down low over the right of the bass. Try it, it puts a whole new dimension to tom work. And besides, with two floor toms, you can do some serious thumpin'!Keep on Pl

It's definitely enticing, but then there's the added issue of having to cram that extra floor tom in my hatchback. Wait... I know the solution:

"Sorry babe, you're gonna have to find another ride to the gig. I have to put this new drum in the passenger seat."

I'm experimenting with one-up-two-down these days. I love the sound of 10" toms, so I added a new one to my 13-16-22 Gretsch kit and rewrapped it to match. But I'd played four-piece kits for so long that I couldn't figure out where to put the toms!

I tried two-up-one-down in an offset configuration, but that meant I couldn't mount my ride cymbal on the bass drum anymore. Not cool. So now I've got the 13" mounted as a "floor tom" (I use the term loosely) between the bass and the 16". It's taking a lot of getting used to, but fishwaltz is right -- it definitely gets me out of my old habits and changes the way I think about tom playing. Fun stuff!