Gretsch Renown '57s Jazz Bop Shell Packs Now Deep Discounted?

The pedal is a Gibralter 4611. The beater is a new felt beater, not the one that comes with the pedal.

OK, I checked, my beater is past center, not really bad, I may add a washer or 2 to shim the bracket closer to the front of the kick. I'm just so used to playing on other kits all the time so a pedal reaching a little farther or less I am able to adjust easily...nothing I play is severe enough to bother me to where I need to make pedal adjustments. But I do see a little issue, now that I look at it, Id prefer the beater more straight. I'm still waiting for my Dixson bass drum lift, and after I get that I'll re-evaluate my findings. I think the Gibralter riser is good so far, with a single pedal. A double pedal? Not sure, I have to try it out. I'm really hopeing the Dixson lift works out, if it does I wont have any hoop damage, which would be awesome on this kit, or any kit with nice hoops you don't want to scratch or damage.
 
After having two of the Gibralter risers fall apart ( and I am not hard on my stuff) , I said F#€& it... ripped the damned thing off the hoop and haven't looked back.

Pedal -> hoop.
Shorten beater.
It hits a little above center.
No big deal. Drum sounds great.

I have other small bass drums with integrated risers (DW, Yamaha , Sonor ) and those all work fine.
Trust me, your Gibraltar riser will fail. And soon.
I don't have a hate on for Gibraltar, I quite like most of their stuff. Just not this riser POS.
If you can make it work, you're a better man than I.
/rant over//

Neal
 
Neil, If I use the Gibralter riser, I will be using new grade 8 bolts, lock washers, lock nuts with red lock tight where the adjustment bracket is. I have to say, I was dam near sold on a Tama kit or a Sonor just because of the built in risers...untill I found this 57 kit, then that idea went out the door with the other brands. The DW one is nice too, and the DW hoops are notched in the middle to clear any pedal you use, another DW plus, which I expect no less from them, you get what you pay for ya know.
 
Neil, If I use the Gibralter riser, I will be using new grade 8 bolts, lock washers, lock nuts with red lock tight where the adjustment bracket is.

I have also thought of doing the same with the hardware. It would only cost a couple of bucks to do so. Another way to bolt the two halves together is to cut a wooden shim, that can be bolted in multiple locations on both sides for better support.
 
you get what you pay for ya know.

So true ! :)
Sounds like you're making some necessary adjustments to make it work for you!
I do want to hear how it works out in the future.
Yes, the DW riser is very nice.

The Sonor riser on the Jungle kits is so simple...and it works great!

Good luck,
Neal
 
Used my kit Saturday night...awesome! I didn't even mike the kick drum! The kick had some great punch with the EMAD, you could actually feel it as well as hear it. I'm impressed with this little kit. The snare is awesome, the 14" floor tom is a bit too small for playing rock, or 70's and 80's rock covers but its not a deal breaker for me. I forgot to take pics, I was running late for the gig plus I was sick. The guitar players wife took some pics so as soon as I get them, if they are good I'll post them up. I definatly do not regret buying this. I have a feeling my Bigger Tama kit will be doing alot of dust collecting and the Gretsch will be getting alot of miles put on it.
 
Used my kit Saturday night...awesome! I didn't even mike the kick drum! The kick had some great punch with the EMAD, you could actually feel it as well as hear it. I'm impressed with this little kit. The snare is awesome, the 14" floor tom is a bit too small for playing rock, or 70's and 80's rock covers but its not a deal breaker for me. I forgot to take pics, I was running late for the gig plus I was sick. The guitar players wife took some pics so as soon as I get them, if they are good I'll post them up. I definatly do not regret buying this. I have a feeling my Bigger Tama kit will be doing alot of dust collecting and the Gretsch will be getting alot of miles put on it.

Good to hear. Thanks for sharing. Yeah post some photos of the 57s in action!
 
The 14" floor tom is a bit too small for playing rock, or 70's and 80's rock covers but its not a deal breaker for me.

Do you think that a Vintage E head would give you the bottom you are looking for? There was a youtube vid of some Renowns with basically A's on the 12, and E's on the 14.

I'll see if I can find the vid.
 
Do you think that a Vintage E head would give you the bottom you are looking for? There was a youtube vid of some Renowns with basically A's on the 12, and E's on the 14.

I'll see if I can find the vid.

Dont know? But if you can find the vid, id like to see it. The 14" floor isnt a dealbreaker, I can deal with it I think. I bought this kit for its intended purpose for smaller places and stages. I always have my Rockstar to use as well, with bigger floor toms if need be.
 
Due to life getting in the way, my drums have been sitting neatly in a closet the last year. Pulled them out this week and they served as a reminder as to why I bought another drum kit in the 1st place last year.

Went to my local shop to look at cymbals, and found a pretty good deal. Someone had traded in very lightly used Zildians, and I picked up a set. 14" New beats, 21" sweet ride, 16", and 18" fast crash. Plus a cymbal bag, and stand for right at 6 bills.

Took everything to my friends house, as apartments frown on drums. Tuned high on everything except the bass drum which was a bit lower. Stock Evans heads all around. Sounded real good, but played a little, and took a little tension off all the batters. The kit sounded a lot bigger than I was expecting, and the bass drum sounded real good. The snare is excellent.

Still want to put E's on the reso's, but not unhappy with it as is.
 
...Went to my local shop to look at cymbals, and found a pretty good deal. Someone had traded in very lightly used Zildians, and I picked up a set. 14" New beats, 21" sweet ride, 16", and 18" fast crash. Plus a cymbal bag, and stand for right at 6 bills...


Off topic from the '57 thing, but I bought those cymbals as a set a few years ago. Pretty sure it was called the 'Sweet Pack'.
They go really good together. It's still one of my favorite combos. Too bad Zildjian isn't offering them as a set anymore. You have to get them individually now.

Been about a year and a half or so since this thread was started, and I still sometimes think about that '57 bop kit.
If circumstances would have been different at the time, I would have jumped on it. Oh well - I'm happy with what I've got.
 
The cymbals do in fact work well together.

Totally enjoying this kit. There's nothing wrong with the stock heads as supplied, but there are other options. The stock heads tuned up well and the kit had a great higher range tuning while still being alive. STILL, I like to play, so,......got some new heads. I put coated G2's over the stock reso's on the toms. I only played the stock G1's for a little while, and while they have a few stick marks I'll put them on as reso's and see how that sounds. The kit sounds good right now with the G2's, but a little thicker reso will fatten the tone up even more. I did pick up a few heads today to serve various purpose.

I have a friend who plays, and he mentioned that to him, the tonal difference from the 12 to the 14 was not a big change. I didn't hear the issue he did, but still wouldn't mind a little more low end out of the floor tom. I'll put the G1's on as reso's and see how that sounds. I have a coated ambassador for the 12, and a coated ambassador x for the 14 if needed.

The bass batter EQ4 is pretty good, but I have a vintage clear emperor to replace it. Will put an Ambassador x on as a reso if needed on the BD.

There is a lot of tonal options with this kit.
 
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I hate to revive an older discussion but 3 years since these have been discontinued and I wonder if anyone out there is playing them, gigging with them and some followup thoughts. Thank you.
 
I hate to revive an older discussion but 3 years since these have been discontinued and I wonder if anyone out there is playing them, gigging with them and some followup thoughts. Thank you.

If you don't get a lot of responses, understand that they're just a a Renown with a Chevron stuck on. Without the Chevrons, it's going to be nearly the same as other Renowns. I've been pleased with my Renown.
 
Ya - they're just Renowns underneath.

A design exercise marketed towards a specific demographic age.
Probably not much appeal for youngsters.
They're unique though and push the right buttons for some people.
 
Figured I'd just dig this old thing out instead of starting a new thread.

Scored a correct matching 10" tom for my BOP kit. The harder aspect is getting an extra bass drum in 20" size since that was never made, and piano black isn't offered in the renown series at this time. The satin black wouldn't be bad but I had another idea for a color choice.

Checking with Gretsch CS to see if I can order a 20" renown kick in white with black hoops. I think that would still look good expecially with all the white of the badging, and a black reso head.

Anybody add a non matched drum to thier set in a similar fashion?
 
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