This has been a long term project. I got the RB 20" bass and 12" tom together a couple years ago but the floor that came with the set was water stained, not suitable for refinishing in natural, in need of a re-wrap, I used the 3 pc setup as a players kit, but wanted to get an appropriate floor tom someday and refinish the works. Finally happened earlier this year, I got a good deal on a stripped RB 16" Floor tom shell on ebay that needed some TLC and refinishing, so I also refinished the rack tom and BD at that time.

But what about a 14x14"? Never had the bucks, and never found an under the radar kind of deal, so got a shell from Gladstone. Experimental, but turns out you can achieve "that sound" without the original shells. This 14" is all maple and a new shell, but complete with Gretsch hardware scrounged from other project drums, interior silver sealer and cutting the same bearing edge contour as the other actual RB shells, this drum fits exactly sonically between the 12 and 16". It took a little bit if finicky tinting to get the new maple to match the old maple in color, but I am happy with the end result. So, the end result, a genuine imitation Gretsch with the "Great "Gretsch sound" despite being built on a Gladstone shell. Not going to make any leap to adding a badge though not being an actual Gretsch drum.

The hoops on the 12" are 2.3mm triple flange. I actually had set of die casts, but sold them when I needed money. No real regrets, these 2.3mm jobbies have a wider tuning range and are very close to die cast sound anyway. The hoops on the 14" are both snare side die casts, so at some point I want to trade them for die casts without the snare wire slots. The BD hoops are also non-original replacements, and some of the screws etc are also non stock, but no big deal, this kit is friggin' AWESOME!

[IMG]http://www.mountainserver.net/drums/gretsch.jpg[/IMG]