There is a lot of wrong stuff going on with this snare.

Most importantly that it isn't a gretsch drum. No silver sealer, re-rings, triple flanged hoops, etc. etc.

Early 50's Gretsch drums looked like that inside and had no silver sealer. I have an old cocktail drum from that era that almost looks identical inside. Is there a date stamp? Hoops and strainer are wrong but the shell could be Gretsch.

Could very well be a Gretsch shell.... As mentioned throw off is wrong (duh), as are the hoops. T rods might actually be original Gretsch..... hard to say with the provided photos. Grommet for the badge is one usually seen only on a bass drum (size 17/32") but sometimes seen on snares.. Re rings are not like any I have seen on a Gretsch of the early to mid 50's. Too many plies. I am guessing they were added later. Are there pencil marks at the snare beds marking where butt and throw would be mounted and beds cut? If not it could be a cut down of a larger drum. Any extra holes behind throw off or butt end? What kind of butt is on it? Do you own it or are you looking at a purchase here?

Thank you guys for help. I thought that something is wrong with it. I had occasion to buy them for about 400$

Doesn't look like any original Gretsch 50's snare drum I've ever seen.

The problems I'm having is pretty well what has already been mentioned - but I'm far from being a Gretsch expert.

1) Large badge grommet

2) triple flanged hoops? (stick chopper, double flanged or die-cast were the norm I think)

3) Re-rings. I've never seen those on 50's Gretsch toms or snares (yet).

These are the things that jump out at me right away.

Gary,

I've seen rerings in Gretsch snares for sure, just not ones that look like Keller shell cut offs.... These don't look right to me at all. Of course I could be wrong.... Hard to tell through the bottom head, but I don't believe they are original...

The hardware is a minor point if the price were right as that's an easy fix, and the badge grommet is uncommon in this size for a snare but not unheard of. I started a thread on DFO last year about an anniversary sparkle with that bass grommet and was told it isn't as uncommon as I thought. In fact, Optikdrums has/had a blue glass for sale last week with the same grommet. They're out there.

If it had aged maple re rings I'd consider it at a reasonable price. In fact, I'd consider this drum at a reasonable price and use it as a player assuming the rings were done well.

$400 though? Not for me.

Hi,

It seems to me the lack of extra hole around the ludwig throw means it's at very least a re-wrap. Too many things wrong.