Liam Mulholland Gretsch Article
drumguru
discussions lately. Written around 1997 I believe
GRETSCH - a slow fall from grace
Just as one cannot tell the story of automotive innovation without
mentioning Chrysler or Plymouth, one
cannot trace the history of drum set manufacturing without referring to
the Gretsch Drum Company. At an earlier time in
history, these names really meant something special. But today they are
mere shadows of their former selves.
It's true that Gretsch still exists, and continues to make high-quality
drums (although there are those who would argue the last
point). It is also true that drum making is no longer a very high
priority at the company, which seems more interested in
promoting its historic line of guitars. These days Gretsch builds drums
only on a special-order basis, usually requiring at least a
six-month waiting period, and displays only a token kit to dealers at
the NAMM show. At that rate, Gretsch drums will soon
be forgotten by new generations of drummers, and that is really a shame.
Gretsch always offered other products. The company began in Brooklyn,
New York, in the late nineteenth century and
manufactured stringed instruments, tambourines, and drums for various
wholesalers and some retailers. The original founder,
Frederich Gretsch, eventually died, leaving his son Fred Sr. in charge
of the business. It turned out that Fred had a bit of a bias
toward the drum end of things, and began to devote more time and energy
to the drum business. As the company grew to
include wholesaling and importing of new products, he eventually brought
his sons into the fold.
In the beginning, Gretsch drums were nothing special and looked
essentially like everybody else's products. They were solid
ply at first, but in 1920, the Gretsch company was credited with the
invention of the multiply lamination process, and produced
a 3-ply maple shell with a 3-ply maple reinforcement ring. These shells
were lighter, more durable, and had a greater chance to
stay in round than their steam-bent single-ply predecessors. In 1926,
Gretsch became the sole licensed importer for K. Zildjian
Constantinople and Istanbul cymbals, a fortunate position that the
Gretsch company enjoyed for almost 50 years.
Gretsch really began to break away from the pack in the late 1930s and
early '40s. First, Gretsch began to refine its image
with the introduction of a unique lug casing formally known as the
Broadkaster lug, but also known as the Rocket lug. At that
time, most other companies had stopped using the generic tube lug in
order to distinguish themselves from other companies. It's
ironic that many modern drum companies have reverted back to the old
tube lug to take advantage of the design's low-mass
properties and "to appear different."
By 1937, the company had premiered Gretsch-Gladstone drums, which were
truly original innovations, especially the snare
drum. The most expensive variation of these drums offered a unique
three-way tuning system that tensioned the top or bottom
head, or both heads at once, from the top of the drum using an unusual
drum key. This design was the basis for the subsequent
Billy Gladstone custom drums, the Tama threeway model produced a few
years ago, and the current Lang snare drums. Billy
Gladstone, the inventor of this drum, also produced several other
products that Gretsch offered in its '39-'41 catalogs, such as
the world's first remote hi-hat stand.
Sometime in the early 1940s, Gretsch again changed the structure of its
drum shell. The company continued to make 3-ply
shells, but instead of joining all the plies at a single seam, the ply
seams were staggered at different positions around the shell,
which increased the strength of the shell and eliminated the need for a
reinforcing ring. (This method continues to be used
today.) In addition, Gretsch replaced the inner ply of maple with poplar
- as did many other drum companies of the day - since
it was lighter and cheaper, and glue adhered to it better.
Generations of believers have sworn by the unreinforced Gretsch shell,
insisting that inner reinforcement rings break up the
sound and disturb the resonance of the shell. It's probably this
reason, more than any other, that is mentioned when anyone has
a conversation about "that great Gretsch sound." (The second reason is
the companies stock die-cast hoops.) Others would
argue that this principle works well on toms and bass drums, where less
tension is required, but not for snare drums, where the
higher tension tends to discretely buckle the shells. Still others
thought it was just a bunch of marketing hype.
Whatever the truth was, the golden era of the company is considered to
be from the late 1940s until 1967. Although Fred
Gretsch Jr. owned the company, the man who was actually in charge during
this time was Phil Grant, who introduced a number
of positive changes and ideas. Right off the bat, for example, he
developed a radical product that became known as
disappearing bass drum spurs, which set the standard for every
retractable bass drum spur since then.
Around 1950, Gretsch briefly used 4-ply snare drum shells, but soon went
back to the 3-ply shell. New Streamlined casings
replaced the old Broadkaster style, even though the drums were still
technically called Broadkasters. Until 1954, Gretsch
dated their drums with an inner hand stamp, but then stopped, and soon
began painting the interiors of their drums silver,
probably to cover up blemishes in the wood.
Grant was also a marketing whiz who courted a bunch of innovative young
jazz drummers, pushing the companies hipness and
innovation. As jazz moved from swing to bebop, drummers like Max Roach,
Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, and
Jimmy Cobb replaced or joined the ranks of previous endorsers like Chick
Webb, Dave Tough, Jo Jones, Kenny Clarke, and
Louis Bellson. One innovation the new guys embraced was Gretsch smaller
drum sizes. Bass drums shrank dramatically from
the big band sizes down to 20" and finally to 18". A 14" x 4"
Broadkaster Max Roach snare drum was developed with tube
lugs and a nameplate bearing Roach's name. The lugs were eventually
changed to the Streamline style, and the drum was
renamed Progressive Jazz.
The Gretsch Co. sponsored "Drum Nights" at New Yorles Birdland
nightclub, where Gretsch endorsers played with and
against each other for prizes. One prize that was offered was the
Progressive Jazz drum set (18", 12", 14", and a 14" x 4" Max
Roach snare drum) in a Cadillac Green Nitron finish with 24-karat
gold-plated hardware. (Author's note.- If you find one of
these in your attic and you need help disposing of it, contact me
through DRUM! magazine!) Other prizes included K.
Zildjian cymbals and cash.
By the end of the '50s, Gretsch stopped making its own shells, and used
6-ply shells by jasper, the company that supplied
precut wood bodies and backs for its guitar operation. Gretsch
determined that jasper could make the stronger 6-ply shell
more easily and cheaply than Gretsch could. Other than this change,
Gretsch maintained its image as the hip jazz drummer's
drum well into the 1960s. This position was underlined when a new young
endorser named Tony Williams appeared in the
1966 catalog.
In 1967, Fred Gretsch Jr. sold his company to Baldwin Musical
Instruments. The advent of rock music had already begun to
take its toll on Gretsch sales. Ringo and Ludwig grabbed the majority
share of the new market. The Gretsch company had
Charlie Watts and the Monkees as endorsers, but it seemed as if
management expected rock and roll music to be a short-lived
trend. Bad move.
Over the next 20 years the Gretsch drum division survived, but withered
in Baldwin's inept hands. Disinterested management,
relocations, natural disasters (including plant fires and floods), poor
design choices, and a lack of focus in marketing strategy all
served to lose the interest of the general public. Gretsch lost
virtually all of its major endorsers and eventually went into a state
of suspended animation.
In 1989, Gretsch was purchased from Baldwin by Fred W Gretsch, who is
the grandson of Fred Sr. and nephew of Fred Jr.
Since then, the guitar line has been somewhat revitalized, but most
drummers aren't sure whether the drum division even exists.
In 1994, the companies long-standing endorser of nearly 30 years, the
late Tony Williams, decided to take his business
elsewhere.
In 1996, Vinnie Colaiuta signed on as a Gretsch endorser, and, as far as
we know, is the only significant new drum endorser
the company has accepted in recent times. Perhaps his influence can
help to restore the companies former glory, although
Gretsch has barely attempted to capitalize on his endorsement.
Is anybody out there listening?
Back to top
--
George Lawrence
drumset artist, teacher, author
Nashville TN
SEE ROCK CITY
(or my business website constantly under
construction at http://www.drumguru.com)
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"If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of
his children a drum." Chinese proverb
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George Larson
Later,
George