Quick story, if I could, please:

Back around 1981, another vintage enthusiast bud and I were in the process of restoring a roadworn mid-'50's BDP Gretsch kit I picked up. The inside of the bass drum was the victim of some genius using a big rock or something to anchor a pillow in it. Don't get me started...

We decide, "What the hell, let's call Gretsch, see what that inside silver stuff is and ask where can we get some."

So we called and spoke with a SWEET old southern lady by the name of Elaine. (I wanna say her last name was Jordan but I don't remember for sure.) Anyway, she said, "Well honey, that's aluminum lacquer's what that is." So we told her we were a couple of punks trying to restore this old kit and asked where we could get some aluminum lacquer to put new coats in the shells. She said, "Well honey, just give me your address and I'll send you a can." And she did.

What a sweetheart!

Cut to 5 years later at the summer NAMM show in Chicago. I ran into a drummer I knew who had become a rep for Gretsch. I mentioned Elaine sending us a can of aluminum lacquer a few years before and he said, "...hmmm...I wonder if that was why they fired her."

To this day, I pray to GOD that she didn't get the boot just for being SO VERY nice to a couple of snotnoses like me and Bernie.

Oh yeah BTW, the other snotnose was a guy named Bernie Stone who went onto demonstrate that he's a drum finishing genius. If you remember Neil Peart's red Tama kit, that was done by Bernie, along with kits of Kenny Aronoff's, Mick Brown's, and a lot of others. Guy's a freakin' genius.