c.1912 Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Co. Snare Drum

Update, August 20th: A helpful fellow emailed me this morning to tell me that this was made by the Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Company... hence FGM Co. around c.1912... I feel a certain "duh!" is in order at this moment. Thank you very much, sir! Here's my original post:

While I don't know much about this drum, I do know that it's probably about c.1920 or thereabouts. It's also got all of its original fittings and hardware, which is really nice, because it means it has its cloth-wound snares which are almost always missing.

I just re-headed this today with a set of new calfskin heads. I was looking into some Remo Renaissance style heads to fit this fellow, but 13 1/2" diameter is just not a size that synthetic heads come in. Fair enough, these skins sound great.

This drum has a big old rumbly, period jazzy or bluesy sort of tone. It's nice and warm with the skin heads, too. The beater is a little thicker and the snare is a little thinner.

The lugs are single tension -- ie, the thumbscrew adjusts both heads at once.

Cool F.G.M. Co. badge -- "20th Century" line... anyone know anything about these guys?

Snare pull. Adjusts with a thumbscrew. You can set the length of the snare wires by the two screws on that plate.

Lookin' nice! The shell of this snare is a nice piece of quartersawn oak. The tension hoops and flesh hoops are both maple. The varnish all over the exterior (interior is unfinished) has crackled from age and gives a super nice, lived-in vintage look and feel.

"Waterproof Snares -- Warranted" -- and true, too. They're still kicking.

Here you can see the nice solid hardware.

Overall, a very attractive snare.