Congrats! Now, looks very nice, sir!!

Beautiful! Nice job.

However, the best is yet to come... dialing it in and playing it!

It's hard to define... how a particular combination of wood and metal works together to achieve such a sensitive, complex response... but there is something special about the sound of a 3 ply 6.5" Gretsch.

And, although I enjoy playing Radio Kings... especially my 1940 Super RK... I prefer my 3 ply Gretsch to my three RKs and to my 6 ply 5.5" Gretsch as well.

Ron

Gorgeous drum! I think you did an awesome job. Did you use vinegar on the lugs too?

No Vinegar on the lugs. Just Cape Cod cloths and some polishing paste called MAAS. I did use vinegar on the lug bolts though and it worked very well.

I have started to dial it in and got some sounds I really like already. Any tuning tips for this particular drum Royal Ace ? Right now I have it tuned with a medium tension on top and pretty loose on bottom. Sounds pretty good but still messing around with it.

What I'm using at the moment: 16 strand wire set;

Batter: Remo Coated Emp batter, medium tension,

Reso: Ludwig Weathermaster high tension (I think a Remo Amb or equivalent medium on the bottom would also work)

I think one important contributor to the 3 ply Broadcaster's great response is that the 3 p[y shell is ever so slightly undersize, certainly as compared to later 6 ply Gretsch shells which are frequently, notoriously tight!

I am an advocate of undersize shells.

Prime examples: Sonor and Premier, both of whom, IMO, produced the best sounding snare drums. Starting in the late 70s to the present with Sonor, and from the late 50s through the 80s with Premier.