MGR/Shane Lee « Gretsch Renown Maple »
Published on 05/05/04 at 15:00I bought this Gretsch Renown Maple 6-pc set(10", 12", 14" 16" fast toms, 18"X22" kick drum and 5.5"X14" snare) with Gibraltar hardwares at my local music shop for $1799. I was actually looking for a good high-end maple set but after checking out other maple custom sets at the store and compared them to the Gretsch Renown Maple, I found not much differences in tone and workmanship. Finally, after a thorough checked, I bought this kit.
I've been using this kit for my club gigs for the past 2 & a half months and I love the tone of the whole kit(except the snare-details later...). I changed all the toms batter heads(originally comes with Evans clear) to Evans G1 coated. Really love the tone on all the toms and the die-cast hoops on the toms & the lugs(tuning) systems are very good, keeps the drums in tune(unlike my previous set-went out of tune after playing 3-5 songs). For the kick drum, I loved the depth and punch that comes out from it, I only used rolled-small towel to muffle the kick drum batter and reso heads. For the maple snare drum that comes with the kit, I didn't even use it since I bought the kit as I either used my Noble & Cooley Alloy snare or my Tama steel snare for my gigs & recordings.
the only thing I don't like about the kit is the toms suspension system. Looks bulky to me.
The workmanship on the kit's simply superb! I thoroughly-checked the whole kit before buying at the store and currently, once-a-week basis, usually on my non-gigging days. My kit is in Amber Lacquered finished and it's really outstanding, the colour-stain and lacquer are even and smooth on all drums. The hardwares on the kit are great. I love the die-cast hoops, lugs & lugs-holder, they look good, sturdy and serve the purpose well(abit heavy tho..). The bearing-edges on all drums are even & straight.
Overall, the Gretsch kit is a good buy. For the price - the tone, outlook, construction and quality are comparable to other high-end collectors/custom drums.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
I've been using this kit for my club gigs for the past 2 & a half months and I love the tone of the whole kit(except the snare-details later...). I changed all the toms batter heads(originally comes with Evans clear) to Evans G1 coated. Really love the tone on all the toms and the die-cast hoops on the toms & the lugs(tuning) systems are very good, keeps the drums in tune(unlike my previous set-went out of tune after playing 3-5 songs). For the kick drum, I loved the depth and punch that comes out from it, I only used rolled-small towel to muffle the kick drum batter and reso heads. For the maple snare drum that comes with the kit, I didn't even use it since I bought the kit as I either used my Noble & Cooley Alloy snare or my Tama steel snare for my gigs & recordings.
the only thing I don't like about the kit is the toms suspension system. Looks bulky to me.
The workmanship on the kit's simply superb! I thoroughly-checked the whole kit before buying at the store and currently, once-a-week basis, usually on my non-gigging days. My kit is in Amber Lacquered finished and it's really outstanding, the colour-stain and lacquer are even and smooth on all drums. The hardwares on the kit are great. I love the die-cast hoops, lugs & lugs-holder, they look good, sturdy and serve the purpose well(abit heavy tho..). The bearing-edges on all drums are even & straight.
Overall, the Gretsch kit is a good buy. For the price - the tone, outlook, construction and quality are comparable to other high-end collectors/custom drums.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com