Leave the edges alone...most folks (not all) seem to feel the same way...Gretsch toms sound nice...the snares don't. Leave it alone and get an acrolite. If you only keep "players", sell it and buy a nice old tube lug Ludwig or something else...

Gretsch snare drums gave me the exact same problem that you describe. They sound like boxes! I don't know why they sound that way....but, they do. You're not the first one to be frustrated by them. I would suggest the following:

Try a Remo DIPLOMAT batter head and a Diplomat snare side head. Exchange the wide snare wire set with a thin set (like a 12 or a 16 strand set) -nothing fancy -just good old regular snare wires. You could also try exchanging the diecast rims with some 1.6mm triple flange rims. All of these things will combine to "open up" the boxy sound of a Gretsch snare drum....but, don't lose the original parts and replace them back to original condition if you ever plan to sell it.

If you are a super purist, don't touch the edges, but you'll have to use much heavier heads and tune them more tightly.

I use a calfskin head on my old 40's round badge and it sounds amazing.

I't a new calfskin that doesn't need to be heated or anything. Sounds great and very tunable.

I also have an old 50's round badge that was dropped and the edges were damaged. Nodar Rhode in NYC re-did the edges and it sound beautiful.

It depends on what you want. I'm sure there are many people who will take it off of your hands if you don't want it.

Good luck.

Thanks for the comments guys. I really don't want to alter the bearing edges, and I have dealt with Nodar before and I was not at all impressed. In general the Modern Drum Shop is my go to when I can't fix things on my own.

I might just end up selling/trading this for a nice Ludwig Jazz fest or Super Classic.

Keep those comments coming!

Calfskin might be an interesting solution...but they are rather expensive and have somewhat of a higher maintenance level than a synthetic head. They DO conform to uneven bearing edges much better, though.

A "heavier" synthetic head would definitely NOT be my advice. In fact, it's the opposite. If a thick head is used on an "over-sized' vintage wrapped shell with poor bearing edges, then tuning will be made more difficult. That's why I recommend using a Thin batter side head and snare side head -because the thinner film will conform better to the uneven edges. A thinner head will also add more high overtones -which are often missing in drums that come across as sounding "boxy".

I would NEVER recommend getting the edges re-cut on an otherwise original round badge drum -because it would mess up the collectible value of it forever. If you need a better sound, then, as Rich K has mentioned, it might be better just to spend some money on Ludwig snare drum. An Acrolite or a Supra are always readily available on EBay and they sound good even if you try to make them sound bad! ;)

I was going to say the same thing about Nodar. He doesn't seem to pay a lot of attention to detail....but hey, to each his own! :)Burger Kin Chewie:

Just to chime in, I had a gretsch 60's and everything sounded great except the snare. I tried every head combination and couldn't get it to sound good. I would leave it and either sell it or just cover it up to keep the set intact. Work on the bearing edge would improve it from my experience but it would definetly hurt its vintage value and you probably still wouldn't be 100% happy with it.