Sam Bacco Gretsch

[drummingbulldog]

So through Facebook I found out my drums were likely redone by Sam Bacco at Fork's. I had no idea about Gretsch Central. My drums are a dark green sparkle. I am looking for a matching 10" tom to go with my 12x8 & 14x14. It should be noted that my drums are thought to be an early 73 or so kit. Mine also had the edges recut to 45 degree edges. Even if it's not the same color I don't care. I can and would rewrap if I could find more similar era shells. Does anyone here know if Sam recut the edges to 45 degrees as a standard thing or do you think these were ordered that way? They sound great so I don't care. I just want a 10" tom. 8" would be heaven.

 

[tim]

There weren't any 10" double headed toms offered in the catalog for your era kit. I think those came in the later 70's and at that point I believe the shells were a little thinner. You could always rework a concert tom if you can find one. Drum shops used to do that all the time.
Good Luck!!

 

[jaymandude]

Exactly. The earliest Gretsch double headed 10” toms were 6.5 and had triple flanged hoops and offset lugs

They’re around, but that concert tom conversion is probably the most accurate. They probably made the 10” die cast mold around 78/79. I suppose it’s your call what to do.
But Sam is bad azz. Amazing craftsman, if he’s even building now.

 

[bellbrass]

I have a Gretsch Central kit that Sam did for me, back in 2006. He did a fantastic job on it. I was told by Fork's that Sam re-cut all of the edges for Gretsch Central kits to match factory Gretsch edges. If your kit has sharp 45° edges, then they might have been re-cut at some point. My shells are square-badge era.