Hey GlenB;

I have ordered custom sized Remo heads in the past through a local shop back around 2010. My understanding of the situation is that Remo will make custom sizes for the price of the next regular sized head. So your 13 1/4" head will cost the same as a regular 14" head. The problem I ran into was that Remo only does custom runs twice a year and I happened to order it on the very weekend they were making a run so it was about 7 months from the day I ordered it until the day it arrived at my door. When they showed up they were perfect and fit as they should but the wait time was ridiculous.

I know you said you weren't interested, but for a 30s Gretsch, it may be worth the time to learn about caring for calf heads. Keep it in a case and give it a quick 30 second tweak before you sit down to play. That drum will sound like heaven.

Mike17 Thanks for the reply. Other than the wait time, that makes it pretty reasonable to want to play with older drums. I'd be the type to order a spare at the same time so the wait would only happen once. I've thought about just using real calf skin and I'd love to try them some time on one of my snares but I live in an extremely dry climate and the one local jazz drummer that I know who has used calf skin said that the sound amazing for a very short period of time but quickly became dry and dull. Then again some Jazz guys are changing skins constantly so ??????. At least if I buy the snare, I have reasonable options. Cheers.