wow, that is some damage. Is it affecting the sound of the drum? In other words, is it causing a noise from vibration? This is a challenging repair. It is not going to be easy, but if you fill it with an epoxy resin, that is about all you can do. I can gige you some instruction, but you will need some tools. You need some large clamps, something like this:

[IMG]http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/gifs/clear.gif[/IMG]and some hard plastic to place under some wood blocks. This repair will take some skill, but can be accomplished by a novice, if you clear your mind and not think about it as a difficult task. It is a simple repair, it only appears hard.

thanks for the reply!

Yes it is a big damage (and there are other dameges) but I have paid $ 400 for this set and now I must try to repair it.

No, I don't hear vibrations in the sound, but to me it seems to have a little short dacay. But I think that if I will not stop the crack, maybe they will increase.

Yes, I will be very happy if you could send me some instructions; I have some confidence with hand works, but I never restored an old drum!

I have discovered another damage on the edge of the 12" tom (bottom head side); maybe this is impossible to repair...I post the picture.

Thanks

alberto

Wow, 400 is a good price for a Gretsch of those sizes. Since they are damaged, let's look at the edge. It can be fixed. You can use a high quality wood filler to do it. I know there is nothing else that can be done in this instance.

The interior of the floor tom is where the repair will have to be done. Yoiu will need to "warp" the shell, push on it to open the crack enough to get some of the epoxy inside. I am not going to tell you you will ever get a better decay out of this shell as the damege is extensive, but we can get it to a point where it will have better integrity. As you do this, you may want to use a high quality wood glue, that is up to you. In this repair, it might be a better way to go, instead of epoxy. The epoxy may inhibit resonance and decay whereas wood glue may promote thise properties. I have a video on youtube that you can look at to see a repair I did recently on a broken shell. Below is the link to the videos, I have a few for different problems.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfs1kGgPSoI[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoKE-jfNitg[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsteHP0634s[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSsvAJtmz14[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axj7jZWD95s[/ame]

There is some valuable information in these videos. If they do not quite get the info you need, please let me know and I will see what else I can do for you.

We have a member in Italy. Let me see if I can contact him, he is an attorney.

Hi!

Thanks for the informations. I have watch your video and they are wonderful! very interesting and helpful. Now, I need some days to learn this technique and to find the tools I need.

One question (to me it's not easy understand every word): Can you explain me which type of glue or resin you use? Maybe the brand is not imported in Italy, but I will search a similar product.

In case of I will need help, could I contact you again?

Thanks

Alberto