I was looking for a 5" deep wooden snare drum to add to my arsenal. I did not want to spend a lot of money and knew that you can get a good snare sound from most decent drums. A recent jam session on a Pearl Export house kit with matching snare confirmed my belief and I decided to pull the trigger.
I definitely wanted to get a classy looking snare, something timeless. I also did not have any Gretsch drums and always was intrigued by the so-called great Gretsch sound. While checking the alternatives within my budget, I came across this champagne sparkle renown maple snare. It certainly looked the part and watching demo videos online, I was impressed by the sound. Thomann delivered it the next day, which was a nice surprise.
When I opened the box the beautiful sparkle finish (lacquer, not wrap) was a joy to look at. The 302 hoops added to the classic look of the snare. I had read online that these hoops on the Renown snares were made in Taiwan and not always of good quality and completely round. I measured them both and the top one was perfectly round, the bottom had a slight deviation of max 2 mm, which does not impact the tuning of the snare side head or the sound.
I realised that the snare side head is also not USA made (batter head is) and decided to replace it with a Remo Ambassador hazy. While taking off the snare wires I also realised that they also were not high quality. The bearing edge on the snare side also has some funny looking spots but no sharp points or dents, again no impact to tuning. (Btw, all this is to be expected and perfectly fine for a snare at this price point.) I had a set of Canopus Vintage Dry wires on another snare I wasn't playing much, so I decided to put those on. While setting up the strainer, turning it all the way loose, the strainer fell apart. Apparently there is no screw-stop built in, which stops the part sliding up & down from completely disengaging when turned loose. I acknowledged this and finished the assembly by adjusting the strainer so that it will never has to go that low.
Tuning up the snare and going through it's tuning ranges, I couldn't help but grinning, knowing that I had hit gold with this one. For it's 5" depth, it sounds surprisingly good in low tunings, which I will not apply to this snare anyway, and even more so in mid to high tuning ranges. Tuning up in very small increments, 16th of a turn, you all of a sudden get to that sweet spot where you start hearing the great Gretsch sound: Nice pop with that sweet and musical crunch, and when you play rimshots the wood shell integrates itself to the sound and it's pure joy. You have all the space between the center of the head and the edge, which generates all kinds of different and musical sounds depending on where and how you hit it. For me, this is "where the men seperate from the boys" and you know if a drum is any good or not.
Even though I had to make some modifications (a different snare side head and different snare wires) I am very happy with this purchase, because I got this snare for it's sound. Knowing it's hardware limitations and shortcomings does not take away from the playing experience. I highly recommend it, for this moderate price you get a great sounding snare with a decent tuning range.
