I have a gretsch cocktail drum shell - 6ply, no paper tag with silver sealer. Probably made from 59 to 61.....my guess. The original wrap has been removed long gone. What would the $$$value be? Would anyone here be interested? The wrap was gone when i received it a few years ago. I temoved the hardware and the badge.....i still have the snares....the diamond leg plates...the badge and the die-cast hoops...the chromb dial mechanism for the snares (somewhere) and the batterside diamond plate (for a cow bell or tom mount i think). I was going to cut the shell down and make a 12" deep floor or rack tom but never got to it. I can use the hardware ......but if someone here is looking for a project gretsch cocktail drum i may be willing to part with the shell and sll the hardware including the badge. I have never sold on eBay .....i can't be bothered with it. Message me if interested.
Lare 50s early 60s gretsch cocktail shell
Not much the value is in originality
66/67 downbeat with canister
Super 400 small round knob
1967 super classic obp
once the brass ceases to glitter, and the drum looses its luster, and the stage remains dark, all you have left is the timbre of family.
Yes i know. Maybe ill just hang onto it
I can use the hardware and the shell might be okay for a snare and tom project. I think thd shell is nice for a wrap and even a painted shell if a good blocking/filler type of primmer is used.......Cadi Green drums��??
Some observations:
I took a close look at the shell after I took all the hardware off. Man! .....the people (person) that drilled the lug holes sloppy! There's an 1/8th inch or more difference from the top lug hole to the bearing edge in some of the lug placements.....and some of the lug holes were not drilled perpendicular.
Funny thing though.....the drum still sounds amazing with the calfhide heads all tuned up.
The legs are not evenly spaced. Two are closer together than the third. As I checked this out I found that this was the only way they could place the three legs without interfering with their lug placement.
Some observations: The legs are not evenly spaced. Two are closer together than the third. As I checked this out I found that this was the only way they could place the three legs without interfering with their lug placement.
My 14" Luddy ft has the same leg spacing. Perhaps that's just how it was done back then?
Yes - R. Adam.
You could be right. The lug spacing and other hardware - especially with this Cocktail drum (tom/cymbal mount) may have made it necessary to have such leg spacing. The leg spacing on my 54 and late 50's Gretsch kits are such that when you tune the reso head you only have a partial turn of the key before you have to remove the key because the leg is in the way. It's a science Yes Sir........maybe?
Kona:
I have a Star cocktail drum which I use as a second floor tom. I had it re-wrapped to match the rest of my kit because the original wrap was cracked and ripped. The shell was in perfect shape though. As a tom, it really booms out! Maybe you might use it in this manner. Just an Idea.
Brian
Kona: I have a Star cocktail drum which I use as a second floor tom. I had it re-wrapped to match the rest of my kit because the original wrap was cracked and ripped. The shell was in perfect shape though. As a tom, it really booms out! Maybe you might use it in this manner. Just an Idea. Brian
Yes - I have used it as a Louie Bellson type tom and I like it.
It's primed ready to paint right now. I was in Home Depot today trying to match the Gretsch Harlequin (gold/brown) paint from a Gretsch catalog........I might go that route and put a nice high gloss finish on it. It's a lot of work as I don't have spray gear and I'd be just painting it on with a brush and wet sanding and buffing out. I did a wall in my home
with that finish a few years back and it turned out good. The trickiest part was to get the lines straight. I used a laser line marker and carefully taped it off painting the yellow first.
Please let us know how it turns out. Sounds good already!
Brian
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