Hi,

I have a 50's Gretsch Broadcaster 6 1/2 x 14, with the Microsensitive throw.

It's a 3 ply shell, unpainted inside wrapped in Midnight Blue. I'm guessing it's pre-1954. The wrap is slightly green but the stick chopper hoops are true and the shell is sound.

When I got this drum (for free!) the throw was busted up and missing the baseball bat lever . Long story short, after a visit to a tool and dye maker, the outer casing was repaired and I located the lever. The die cast aluminum piece on the inside broke in half (it's the closed-horseshoe shaped piece that slips over the metal sleeve, which is over the spring).

I brought the piece to a buddy, and he replicated the piece out of a small block of steel with a grinder. In the hinge, he put a .22 bullet casing to replace the rivet.

I'm sharing this because I know the microsensitive throws could break in this fashion. The snare throw now works great and I know will never break again because of the steel replacement part.

If you're handy, and have the tools and a little piece of steel you can bulletproof your old Gretsch too. I hope this helps.

Also, does anyone have any tips on getting a metal shell back into round? I have a Slingerland snare

shell in need of repair(It fell over on it's stand off a riser and landed on the edge, flattening the shell slightly in one spot.(D'OH!))

Thanks