A stave-shelled snare from Gretsch offering the aggressive punch of oak.

The Oak Stave Snare Drums from Gretsch are built in the same fashion as professional quality conga drums. The staving process utilizes solid, 7/8 thick, vertical-grain blocks of wood that are precision pinned and glued together to make the shell. Due to this design element, the shells are extremely durable and create a drum that stands the test of time. The thick shell and 45-degree bearing edge creates a penetrating backbeat, brilliant cross-stick sound and limitless headroom that can cut through any amount of excessive stage volume.

Finished in satin lacquer to bring out the natural oak grain and adorned with classic Gretsch hardware, the staved snare drums bring a boutique look and feel to the vast Gretsch snare drum line.

I own 15 snare drums, but only really use 3 primary snares in my studio or live work. I am a studio drummer and perform live on occasion as a hired drummer when bands need someone to cover for their regular drummer. My collection is strictly so I will have access to as many possible flavors of snare as I can, so I bought this snare having never played either an Oak snare, nor a stave snare. I had read about the advantages of each and figured it would be a good weapon to have in my arsenal. So I bought it and took it home and tuned it up with my preferred heads and tuned to 220hz (an A) so that I could compare apples to apples against all the other snares I was familiar with. WOW! I didnt expect it to sound this good. I mean I have great snares and play them every day. I love Ludwig LM402s, good maple snares like Mapex Black Panthers from 5" to 8" (I have all of them), and my personal favorite, the Tama Stewart Copeland Signature model. I was expecting this snare to have a slightly different tone and feel and to be happy with it, then relegate it to the shelf to be called upon when I needed something just a little different than the catch-alls I just mentioned.But this thing, in one strike, made the A team.Its warm. Its loud. Its sensitive. Its unique. It just has the kind of personality that speaks above your average high quality drum, just like those others I mentioned do. The construction is top notch. Its flawless (and I scowered it for flaws as I dont care for reviews that glow on because the buyer is just excited with new toy-joy).The tension rods came pre-lubed! It arrived within fractions of being in perfect tune after a cross country shipping.The 3.0 mil triple flange hoops were also an eye-opener. I am the guy that scoffs when a drum doesnt have cast hoops, because I love how they tune up evenly, stay in tune longer, and bring the tones of the drum into control better than a triple flange. But this!! This is the best of all worlds. It has all of those attributes with its greater beef, and yet it allows the drum to sound opened up since the hoops arent the boxyer cast hoops. I was instantly won over, and now I find myself looking for these 3.0 triple flanges to swap out on some of my other snares that have 2.3s. The throw off isnt stellar. Its not ultra positive when you lock it down, nor when you bring it off. But its something I wont worry about when I play and it certainly wont affect the sound. It really looks good, beefy and well built, just not a good positive notch-feel when closing. Eh. The butt is great. Its a solid machined block that is very positive when tightened down. The bearing edges were flawless, as was the snare bed. I read a review that the snares themselves looked cheap. I see nothing wrong with them and I have no desire to change out. These are staying. They sound great.The tension rods have the plastic washers in addition to the metal washers that some manufactured on the tension rods. I replaces 2 of them because they were split, but I guarantee they were split before installation as Ive seen this on new drums that had never been tuned, so again, no strikes there. Plus, they would have worked just fine with the little split in the plastic had I not noticed. Again, no strikes here.The name badge is held in with a beefy round gnurled nut that just makes the rest of the interior look super professional. I tightened all the lugs when it arrived as well as the throw off and butt plate and as with every new snare I have ever bought, they took a minor tightening to snug up. This is a good habit to get into anytime you buy a drum as they just loosen from the factory. All of them do. No matter the price. This is also my first Gretsch drum. I own most brands of either drum set, or snare, yet I hadnt bought a Gretsch till now. No reason, Ive always known they were good. But now, my impression of them is even better. My A team just grew from 3 to 4. I cant remember being any happier with a purchase in my 35 years of drumming. Id like to think I am not easily impressed these days, but this one sure floored me. Just buy this drum. So glad I did.