I'm on the verge of buying this Gretsch Marine pearl marching snare. Hope
to have it in my possession by end of the weekend. I think it's a 14" x 10"
size. Thinking about cutting it down in heighth and making a snare for my set.
I figure between the die-cast hoops, lugs, and badge, I made out very well.
Don't know the actual era it's from, probably 5's or 60's. Anxious to get it
home and start tearing it apart to get further information. I do know the
badge itself goes for over a hundred.
Please post pictures when you get it. I would love to cut down a Gretsch marching snare. It should be pretty easy, since there are no re-rings. You could put a round-over bearing edge, move the lugs and you're good to go.
Does it have a 4-point or Micro-sensitive strainer? Double or single lugs? Will you be keeping the WMP wrap or doing a re-wrap? You could make a Renown model (14x5.5/single lugs/4 point strainer), Name Band (14x5.5/single lugs/Micro-sensitive strainer) or the Floor Show (14x6.5/double lugs/Micro-sensitive strainer).
Whatever size you choose, just make sure you make the cut on the correct end. DOH I speak from experience.
I'm getting ready to start a Ludwig School Festival reproduction (15x6.5) from a 1977 Ludwig 6-ply 15x13 marching snare. I just completed a Keystone Jazzfest 14x5.5 reproduction and love it.
In my opinion, marching snare to kit snare conversions are the way to go for a player's drum. Same sound as a factory original, but at a fraction of the cost and you don't have to worry about damaging/value of a collector's grade drum. I only paid $61 for my marching snare. Plus, your actually saving a complete drum from being bought and parted out or going to a landfill.
Please post pictures under the Restoring Vintage Drums community, so we can follow your project.
- Tim
Tim...
Thanks for your comments. I'm planning on either making the heighth at
6 1/2" or 5-5 1/2". I'm anxious to know how many plies the shell is. I'm
hoping it's a 3-ply makeup. It has double lugs/top&bottom. Not sure what
kind of strainer it has. The plan is to use the badge to replace the missing
drum badge on my 22" champaigne sprkle. bass I inherited from my dad,
who bought the set new in '65. I think this is a great way to recycle a drum
that isn't practical to use as is. Not sure if I'll keep the orig. WMP, or
re-wrap to match the rest of the set. I'm aware a correct Champ. sparkle
is hard to find, as the repro. stuff doesn't match well. I'm still trying to
buy numerous ROGERS WMP marching snares from 62-63 era, from my
local high school. The plan for these Rogers is pretty much the same.
I like the idea that the early drum shells, no matter what their heighth,
are sound building blocks for a great snare. Especially since they're 3-ply
makeup. I didn't mention that I'm paying $50.00 for the gretsch. Made out
very well on this, knowing what the parts are worth. This Gretsch find
was the result of many months of hooking-up with the guy to see what he
had to sell. The lead was he had many old drum sets. Turns out that he
had a blue Twiaan set for sale, but the Gretsch snare was the only vintage
drum he had. I'll try to post some pics. Thanks.
Please post pictures when you get it. I would love to cut down a Gretsch marching snare. It should be pretty easy, since there are no re-rings. You could put a round-over bearing edge, move the lugs and you're good to go.Does it have a 4-point or Micro-sensitive strainer? Double or single lugs? Will you be keeping the WMP wrap or doing a re-wrap? You could make a Renown model (14x5.5/single lugs/4 point strainer), Name Band (14x5.5/single lugs/Micro-sensitive strainer) or the Floor Show (14x6.5/double lugs/Micro-sensitive strainer).Whatever size you choose, just make sure you make the cut on the correct end. DOH I speak from experience.I'm getting ready to start a Ludwig School Festival reproduction (15x6.5) from a 1977 Ludwig 6-ply 15x13 marching snare. I just completed a Keystone Jazzfest 14x5.5 reproduction and love it.In my opinion, marching snare to kit snare conversions are the way to go for a player's drum. Same sound as a factory original, but at a fraction of the cost and you don't have to worry about damaging/value of a collector's grade drum. I only paid $61 for my marching snare. Plus, your actually saving a complete drum from being bought and parted out or going to a landfill.Please post pictures under the Restoring Vintage Drums community, so we can follow your project.- Tim
Tim: Have the Gretsch snare now. It's a 15" x 12" size. Does have the micro-type throwoff. Has double lug design. Not sure if I'll convert this for a set snare, due to its size. Bought it for the badge and lugs, mainly. This drum also has a second throw-off that has a threaded knob to adjust tension, that's slightly bent. It has the orig. tag inside with a model# of 4583, and a serial# of 2166. Can anyone tell me what year this might be??
The WMP wrap pulled off pretty easily. Have it apart, down to the bare shell. This drum even has the drum key holder that's in the shell, minus the key. Any help on ID-ing this would be appreciated.
From what you describe, it seems to be a 1962 +/- marching snare. The "second throw off" was a butt which permitted fine tensioning. I am guesing that yours had four bolts holding it to the shell (generally called the four poiint butt) and looks a lot like the Renown throw of the era. An earlier version of the butt used with the microsensitive throw had a single bolt. If your drum is consistent with other drums of that era, it should also have round head screws holding on the lug casings, silver interior paint, a six ply shell and an orange and white label with the model number stamped on in black ink. Variations from this combination exist. Please provide pictures or confirmation of these details so that we can be somewhat sure about what you have.
Rick
