New Gretsch Renowns - The Purchasing Process & Review

[Norske]

Well, all's well that ends well! Glad to hear you got the drum and you're happy with it!

Now I know it's hard to wait for something that you have to order, and particularly so when you've already paid for it. BUT, in their defense your wait time wasn't that bad. It really wasn't nearly 6 months, it was really 4 1/2 months. That's really not bad from what others have said about having to order a drum from the manufacturer. Many of them take 6 months or longer. It always seems like a lot longer than it is though.

[darwenbob]

Fully concur with Countewfour. I have played Vistalites for thirty years and found I just could not bring myself to part with them and still play them on occasions. However I have always wanted a Gretsch set even before I got the Ludwigs. In 2004 I finally took the plunge after seeing the new model Renowns in yellow oyster in a NAMM photo. This was a limited edition finish but it was the one I wanted, I was told by the Gretsch distributor in the UK that only six of the kits with this finish were coming to the UK and one was being delivered to Manchester, just thirty miles down the road, I just had to have it. I was expecting just a four piece, 10" 12" 14" 22" but when it came there was also a snare and an 8" tom, great !! Tricky to tune at first but when the heads had settled in, beautiful, that 'Great Gretsch Sound' I was looking for, I was very satisfied but after a while I also missed the low end rumble of a 16" and ordered one.The dealer told me I would be very lucky to get one as it was a limited edition finish. In fact there were four in total that were ordered, mine, and three for the States I was told. To cut a very long story short, it finally came two years later, but I can now say it was well worth the wait. I have replaced the G2s with EC2s and they sound even better. Even the rest of the band who know nothing about drums have admired the sound, very full and resonent. Anyway, nearly four years later, I still think it was money very well spent.

[Lesizmor]

Cant go wrong with anything Gretsch! -Les

[CycleDude]

This is a great read. It has me salivating for that great Gretsch sound.

[Counttewfour]

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Okay time for the final chapter...with a pleasant twist.
If you’ve read this far you know that one must have or develop a fair degree of patience when custom ordering any off shore item from Gretsch/Kaman.

The 16” floor tom came in last month (finally) and yes it is absolutely roars and yes it is gorgeous with terrific fit & finish and yes it was a pretty good deal ($397.00).

But the pleasant surprise part that closes this adventure was the discovery on ebay of a 11 x 14 Renown rack tom in the same color! Given these were discontinued a couple of years back and given I hadn’t seen one available in decent shape for over 9-10 months, I was determined to own this one. A few mouse clicks at closing time and a drain on the PayPal account for $182.00 and that bad boy was mine.

When it was delivered, I was disappointed with the quality of the finish. It appears that the overseas lacquer process may not have been sealed well after the stain and prior to the finish coat. The result over time was that the clear had shrank into the grain of the wood, making for a less than smooth finish, killing any sort of gloss.

So at this point to bring the finish to the high gloss I wanted, it was time to ignore better judgment and my nerves. I removed all the hardware off the shell, grab a few sheets of 2000 grit wet & dry sand paper, mixed up a little some soapy water in a spray bottle and dug in.

When you take on something like this and you haven’t painted yourself, you need be painfully aware that you really don’t know how much clear is on the drum,. You REALLY don’t want to go through the clear finishing into the stain.... (which is why such a high grit like 2000 is the way to go...it takes off very little finish at a time).

The idea was to go slowly until everything is nice & smooth with a dull yet consistent finish without any pitting or grain texture in the clear coat (the 2000 produces almost a satin finish)....when I got there it was time to STOP!

Keeping in mind that there was still the polishing/buffing process to bring the shine back, I needed to preserve as much finish coat thickness as possible.

A low speed buffing wheel, some Turtle Wax white polishing compound, Maguire’s cleaner/car wax applied by hand , followed by some furniture polish and voila’!!! The drum turned out actually better than the ones I just bought.

Once I put a G2 coated up on top and a G1 below and tuned it up, it had all of the depth and resonance of the 14 x 14 floor tom that came with the kit back in June. In fact I think if you closed your eyes you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart.

I racked it up and gigged with it last weekend and it blended perfectly with the 10, 12 & the new 16 floor tom...and given it went on my rack, it took up NO additional stage space. (unlike a 14 & 16 floor tom combo)

So here’s the final math

Original Purchase Price (8, 10, 12, 14-floor with 18 x 22 kick)
$1090.00
June 2008

16 x 16 Floor tom
$ 397.00
Ordered July 2008 rec’d Jan ‘09

11 x 14 Rack tom
$ 182.00
ebay Feb 2009

Updated L Arm
$32.00
Feb 2009

Sub total
$ 1701.00

E-Bay Sale of 8” rack tom --$ 197.00

Total (without new heads)
$ 1504.00

So there you have it, gorgeous drums, great sound and a kit with great flexibility. ..granted I spent too much damned time and effort doing this...call it an un healthy obsession ?

But I now have EXACTLY what I set out to get, only went $4.00 over budget...if you exclude the new heads....and we will.

Final Configuration on a Gibraltar GS 350 two leg rack
8 x 10” rack
9 x 12” rack
11 x 14” rack
16 x 16” floor
18 x 22” Kick (virgin)
14 x 14” floor (extra)

The gravy here is I now have an auxiliary 14’ x 14” floor tom...so if I get the itch to go 1 up and two down or two up and two down I got it covered.... or ........

Thanks to all of the DrumChat administrators and those who participated for putting up with me. Now it’s time for me to go get a life... I wonder if my wife & kids will notice I’ve been gone?

Thanks
Counttewfour


Pictures to follow

[audiotech]

It sounds as if everything worked out for you in the end.

Btw, why did it take so long for the delivery of your 16" floor tom? You may have said why in an earlier post but I missed it. I ordered a 16" x 16" Renown floor tom in cherry burst this past Tuesday and I got a call today that it's in and ready to be picked up. Maybe in your case the US distributor was out of them at the time.

And yes, they are very nice sounding and looking drums.

Dennis

[Lesizmor]

I call THAT a labor of LOVE brother! I know those are some sweet tubs! -Les

[Norske]

That is a great story, amid a lot more patience and determination than I have, and an awesome kit! Congratulations Count!!

[Counttewfour]

An update:
Gretsch Renown Kit:

Well after a year and a half of ownership, delays in getting drums ordered...well you've read the thread, These drums continue to improve as I get more and more familiar with what they do and don’t like….however, I had my first "issue" with these drums.

After a long evening's rehearsal, I broke down my equip (I only use the 12, 16 & Kick at rehearsal) and loaded up to head home. After driving home in the rain I pulled into the driveway, opened the garage and started to load out to the nice dry garage storage spot as quickly as possible to avoid getting my padded fabric bags wet. Last to go in was the bass drum…and wouldn’t you know it…the case was wet, I lost grip and WHAM!!! Right on the driveway…

Bottom line here was a Broken 22” Batter…hoop…and a slightly bend tension rod…and I was gigging that weekend. So the next day after a number of " it'll take 6 weeks" phone calls I wound up on Hwy 101 to see the guys at Pro Drum shop in Hollywood. They took a look, and said "gotcha covered... give us a couple of days". They ordered up a replacement from Gretsch Kaman and even got me a cheap, raw maple hoop to get me by for the weekend gigs.

I came back the next Saturday and the wrong color was shipped (Cherry Burst instead of the Requesite Autumn burst). So once again Jerry & Stan at ProDrum said “no problem”. They had me e-mail over photos of the drum to Kaman to insure a direct match (the two colors are very close) and by Tuesday they called and said "YO Hoop Man, your hoop is here".

What a pleasant change from my past experience!

I am convinced that the relationship that The ProDrum guys have with their suppliers, in this case Kaman, particularly David Crandall is the reason this problem was solved almost immediately. (ProDrum just celebrated their 50th anniversary as a drum shop, what's THAT tell you?)

Once again thanks to Jerry, Stan and Phil at ProDrum and to David Crandall at Kaman.

Lesson learned, there is NO beating a dealing with a true DRUM SHOP! No guitars, keyboards, lighting or PA’s. Drums Drums and nothing but drums.

I’m a believer
Counttewfour

[yohin]

Lesson learned, there is NO beating a dealing with a true DRUM SHOP! No guitars, keyboards, lighting or PA’s. Drums Drums and nothing but drums.

I’m a believer
Counttewfour

Amen!

[BallywalterBeats]

An update:
Gretsch Renown Kit:

Lesson learned, there is NO beating a dealing with a true DRUM SHOP! No guitars, keyboards, lighting or PA’s. Drums Drums and nothing but drums.

I’m a believer
Counttewfour

I second that!

After a couple of weeks going in and out of music shops with employees who knew nothing about the Mapex drums I was looking at I headed to a guy called Mr. Drums. What can I say: arrived at his store (converted garage & shed) and who greats me? The UK's Mapex rep having a cuppa with Rob (Mr. Drum himself)!! Suffice to say I drove off with a brand new Meridian maple at a great price and a huge smile on my face!

Great post Counttewfour enjoyed reading your Gretsch journey!

All the best

BWB

[Counttewfour]

Finally got a shot of the whole thing...10", 12", 14", 16" Floor, 18"x 22" Kick
Shure 57's on the snare, Same thing (sometimes) on the toms and an Audio Techinca ATM 25 Mounted insided the Kick ...sorry for the delay

[Groove Dude]

Hey Count!

Great summary and awesome detail. These days we all need to research like scientists! I really appreciate the honesty of your post. I've just recently traded an old shell kit in for the eventual purchase of a Gretsch Renown kit, too. The dimensions are 22x18 bass, 16x14(13)fl.tom, 12x9 tom, 10x8 tom, and a 8x7 tom. I'll have to order a 14x12 floor tom to complete the sequence. I have all the hardware I need, and I'll just use one of my current snares. Guitar Center, where the drums are, must have a deal with Gretsch. The finish is not featured on the their website, but is on Guitar Center's inventory of available sets. It is labeled Transparent Ebony, and the finish is stunning. I lucked out even with the dimensions being the same as my old set, so I won't have to buy new cases! Just for the 14 and the 8. Keeping my fingers crossed with the bass drum. My old bass was 16" deep, as opposed to the 22x18 Gretsch. Great topic for drumchat! Take it easy and keep groovin'!

[Groove Dude]

Now that's passion! Great story, Count!