Gretsch black nickel bell brass snare

[Redbeard77]

The black nickel over bell brass looks stunning, but the 5" deep bell brass is what really got my attention.

 

[Acidwash]

Firmly on the lightning strainer is balls team. Sure it can work okay, but setting it up is so exasperating. Never really been frustrated by any other throw off other than that one. Even ones with screws.

 

[KillinBill66]

Firmly on the lightning strainer is balls team. Sure it can work okay, but setting it up is so exasperating. Never really been frustrated by any other throw off other than that one. Even ones with screws.

Yep, it's great until you have to change bottom heads or wires, and then it instantly becomes the worst out there

 

[hsosdrum]

I regularly stripped the screws holding the plastic straps. Gretsch uses inferior metal in some pretty important places. Not only that, but with its floating action, it wasn't easy to adjust the snare wires when installing/replacing. It looks nice, but functionality is not as good as it should be.

Yes. When I ordered my Gretsch drums in 1984 the model 4185 snare came with that strainer. The dealer (Valley Drum Shop, a big Gretsch dealer here in L.A. in the '80s) knew that strainer was trouble and said they'd replace it with the Pearl Gladstone-type strainer (which I think had the same shell-hole pattern as the Gretsch) when they received the drum. So while I can't personally speak to the Gretsch strainer, the dealer had plenty of bad experience with it. (I had zero trouble with the Pearl strainer.)