The rarest Gretsch finish ever! Cameo Coral! Prior to this set surfacing we have never seen or heard of an original Cameo Coral Gretsch drum, much less a complete kit. I have seen a few "fakes" in my day, which shall we say were poor attempts to "cash in". But, this is 100% original and the "real deal".

Some background: In the 50s between 1954-circa 1958, Gretsch added three new finishes: Cadillac Nitron Green (only offered with gold hardware), Copper Mist, and Cameo Coral, which is a salmon-like color. Prior to adding these finishes Gretsch had the traditional wraps of the day, such as red, green, blue, silver, and gold sparkle, and white marine pearl, midnight blue pearl and black diamond pearl. These three new finishes were only in the color line for a very short time, so all are extremely rare. Also, it should be noted that these three finishes started out as paint (whereas all other Gretsch finishes offered at the time were plastic wrap). As time progressed between 1954-1958, Gretsch then switched away from the paint because it would chip badly. Their solution was to use a clear wrap with the color on the underside of the wrap. The set we have here is the early version with paint on the shells, which makes the superb condition of this set even more remarkable.

There are virtually no marks on the shells other than a couple of small nicks on the 13 on the player side from the snare rim. All of these three finishes are extremely rare, but I have handled at least 7 caddy green sets and know of at least 6 more, and I have handled about the same number of copper mist, and know of several others. However, no one has ever seen Camco Coral. My guess here is that the finish just wasn't a color that "grabbed" players, and given the quality of the catlog print material at this time, the catalog color swatch wouldn't be a great color representation.

This set came from the family of the original owner. It is, of course, 3 ply and the sizes are 9x13, 16x16, 14x22 and 5.5x14. The paint on the shells retains the strong orignal color, making this the "point of reference" for this rare finish. The finish is superb and the chrome is excellent as well. The rail consolette was missing but we used my reproduction. This special kit will remain in my personal collection, however, Gretsch is going to recreate this finish exclusively for Maxwell drums and we will offer a limited run. We are going to make the following kits available, and these can be pre-ordered by contacting me at vintagedrums@aol.com. 

BroadKaster:

Two kits: 9x13, 16x16, 14x22, 5.5x14

SD: 302 rims, Micro, TC, snap in key holder.

13: 302 rims, 2-TC, with 9.5mm vintage leg bracket mounted to use with 9.5mm L arm for tom holder.

16: 302 rims, 2-TC, Maxwell double post brackets with 9.5mm legs

BD: Maxwell rail (in 6 ply era position), one 9.5 mm cymbal L arm bracket in ride position, vintage spurs, TC in place of Pratt, matching hoops with black inlay. No vintage claws and Ts so use padded claws and normal Ts.

USA Custom. Std buildout: 12/14/20/5.5, 13/16/22/6.5  

Brooklyn. Std buildout:

2- 12/14/18/5x14

4- 12/14/20/5x14

2- 13/16/22/6.5

1-13/16/24/6.5

1-12/14/14x16BD/5x14