Hi all,
I got this drum in 2021 from my good friend and fellow collector Bill Wanser
(Olympic Drums & Percussion). As you will see, this drum is in
excellent-plus condition.
*A little Marvel Model history from Rob Cook's book THE LEEDY WAY: "The
Marvel Snare Strainer was Leedy's first attempt at a strainer that would
keep the snares under tension when released.
It was featured in only one catalog, Catalog N of 1925. A selling point of
the Marvel system was that the type of snares being used (gut, wire) could
be quickly changed."
THE SHELL:
Any 15" Leedy shell with the Marvel Strainer system is pretty rare as
compared to a 14" shell. This 5 x 15 shell is in excellent-plus condition
and is one of the best NOB Leedy shells that I have seen.
THE HARDWARE:
The hardware is also in excellent-plus condition. As we collectors know,
many of the steel Multi-Model rims from the 1920s can be pretty thrashed and
are a bear to clean and restore. Not the case here as these are also some of
the best conditioned rims I've ever seen. The Marvel Strainer System is also
very clean and works nicely. The 16 tension rods needed the normal thread
cleaning/polishing and came out great. The 8 two-hole lugs (1923-) are
nearly perfect but I noticed something interesting. Prior to this drum my
thought was that because of tensioning the two-hole and four-hole lugs
cracked/split on either side opposite the inserts. I may have learned
something, the 16 lugs on my drum have a uniform "slit" on either side of
the lug opposite the insert. I talked to Bill Wanser and he has also seen
this on his and other Leedy two-hole lug drums. I checked some of my other
Leedy snares and discovered the four-hole lugs had no "slits" but some of my
two-hole lug snares had "slits" BUT some didn't so there you go. I had some
NOS 15" top and bottom calf heads to finish up this drum.
Enjoy!
1925- LEEDY 5 x 15 NOB MULTI-MODEL *MARVEL MODEL
