I seem to remember this being asked about on another forum,I think cymbalholic.Their seems to be a lot of gretsch enthusiasts over there,and that there was variation in thickness of the shells with RB,esp with the three ply.

Not really sure about the Gretsch, but that's the formula Slingerland used for many years & were without a doubt some of the greatest sounding ply shells of all time.

Not sure about the ply thicknesses, but the formula is maple/gumwood/maple, no poplar in Gretsch-Jasper shells of old.

I know that. I'm actually referring to the shells that Gretsch made themselves in their Brooklyn factory in the 1950s before switching to the pre-fab shells from Jasper. From Fred Gretsch referring to Louie Bellson's original double bass set, "The drums on the kit featured Gretsch’s cross-laminated three-ply shells, with 1/16”-thick veneers of maple on the inside and outside, with a 1/8"-thick middle layer of poplar." This leads me to believe that their original shells on all kits were composed of maple & poplar. (And also answers my question about ply thickness.)

On this very forum in a thread about the Jasper company, a poster under the name "mlvibes" said "3 ply Gretsch shells were made by Gretsch, at the Brooklyn factory, and were maple/poplar/maple. Because of this, 3 ply Gretsch drums are more true to the saying "Brooklyn-made Gretsch". And after that I discovered a set sold by classicvintagedrums with rare maple/poplar/maple re-rings: http://www.classicvintagedrums.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_71&products_id=732. Obviously they used poplar in some things. The question now is, how much?

can anybody weigh in on the durablilty factor? assuming the 3-ply are more prone to warpage and damage? i want to know before i make a 3-ply into a road kit.

thanks!

adam

Not sure about wood species as far as ply make up goes,or thickness of ind plies,From what I understand the 3 ply and 6 ply shells were the same thickness though,about a 1/4 inch.

As far as durability goes,people are using 6 ply kellers on the road ,which are thinner than 1/4 inch,so as long as you have the toms on rims,and no mounting hardware on the shell itself I would say you would be O.K.,as long as you have good cases and are handling them yourself.

hard to say. probably snare stand. and i'm not always handling my own gear. however i'm more thinking sub-zero temperatures for long periods of time. hmm, might have to start a thread about durability!

adam