I want to feature a 1960s Zim Gar stencil set from my collection this month. Most of you know these sets were made in Japan. Sometimes you will see them listed as MIJ drums. They were made at the Pearl and Star (Tama) factories and imported in to the United States as a cheaper alternative to the great American drums.
Read moreRockin' Out with Bobby "T" Torello
In 1976, Bobby replaced Tommy Aldridge in Black Oak Arkansas. He also began the first of two stints with fellow New Haven native Michael Bolton. At the time, Michael’s career was exploding with two new RCA albums. Bobby was also touring extensively with Johnny Winter opening for Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Ted Nugent, and ZZ Top. He also recorded two albums with Johnny Winter on Blue Sky Records – ‘White, Hot & Blue’ in 1978, and ‘Raisin’ Cain’ in 1980. Bobby also recorded an album with Jefferson Starship’s Grace Slick, 1981’s ‘Welcome to the Wrecking Ball’ on RCA.
Read more1950-55 Leedy & Ludwig 5x14 "Zebra" Broadway Standard
I got this drum from Bun E. Carlos at the 2013 Chicago Vintage Drum Show. Bun E. Carlos had the only two known Leedy & Ludwig Zebra snare drums, a 4 x 14 Broadway New-Era and a 5 x 14 Broadway Standard. He sold me the 5 x 14 Broadway Standard. The drum was previously owned by Mark Cooper of Coopers Vintage Drums and a special thanks goes to Mark for the additional info on this drum. Bun E. also helped me to authenticate the Zebra finish by giving me a few photos of his Leedy & Ludwig “Salesman Sample” floor tom shell that shows the Zebra finish as one of the samples. Bun E. added this: "The wrap was available to the general public. Aside from your drum, and my 5 drums, I've seen only 2 other Zebra drums, a big bass drum and floor tom on EBay a few years back. Only 8 drums, rarer than an original Triumphal!!!!! Haha!!"...? I love Bun E.’s wry sense of humor.
Read moreWilliam Kent (1915-2014)
William Kent, co-founder of the Kent Drum Company, passed away in his Buffalo, New York area home on December 11, 2014. William turned 99 years old last month and passed after a very short illness.
In 1947 William and Ed Kent opened the Kent Drum Company in Kenmore, NY with a focus to create student-level kits, encouraging music making at all economic levels. The company also offered professional-level drum sets, snare drums and percussion accessories. William was always proud of a common story told throughout the industry - "A Christmas morning surprise, in 1964 or 1965... for the young Ringo want-to-be, a new Kent Drum set under the tree!" The company closed in 1977, allowing William and Ed to retire. Drum Paradise, their retail shop next to the factory, closed the following year.
William Kent's 2013 NAMM Oral History interview: https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/william-kent
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Text courtesy of Dan Del Fiorentino, NAMM Music Historian.
The 2014 Snare Drum Olympics
The Art of snare drum building is thriving. There were 22 drum badges from the largest manufacturers, established independent builders, and the builders new to the scene. The art and science of custom drum building has become big business over the past few years so there was some stiff competition.
Read more2014 Snare Drum Olympics Results
The results of the 2014 Snare Drum Olympics are posted at www.snaredrumolympics.com along with corresponding videos, info and click-to-buy links for select snare drums entered in the event.
The Snare Drum Olympics event was started by Not So Modern Drummer founder John Aldridge in 1998 as “basically an excuse to get a bunch of really cool drums into one room at the same time.” It has evolved into an international showcase for some of the best snare drums in the world. It is a huge publicity event that has been heavily promoted by the drum manufacturers, the major drum magazines, and online drum sites and forums. YouTube. Facebook, Twitter and other social media have added another big layer of publicity over the past couple of years. The new SnareDrumOlympics.com website was recently launched this year. Each drum has its own page with videos, info and an optional click-to-buy link.
The 2014 judges were Jim Riley, drummer for Rascal Flatts, Ben Sesar, drummer for Brad Paisley, Keio Stroud drummer for Big and Rich, Beth Gottlieb, percussionist for the Gary Sinise and Lt. Dan Band, and Scott Radock, pro NYC drummer. The judging was held at Jim Riley’s Drum Dojo in Nashville TN on October 16.
The snare drums were categorized by shell composition and judged in two events; objective/blind and subjective/hands on. The results are reported as the top three scores in each shell category in each event, as the top three accumulative scores of the two events, and as the top three scores of all the drums. Also reported are the results from the public judging at the 2014 Nashville Drum Show this past September.
Brands participating this year were:
David Lee Drums Chicago Drum Infinity Drumworks DTS Custom Snare Drums Taye Drums Hayward Custom Drums Hogchain Custom Drums Klemm Drums Rasch Drums Guru Drums Holloman Custom Drums Artisan Drum Works Swindoll Custom Drums Goodman Drum Company Castle Drum Company Laudo Drums Outlaw Drums Gretsch Drums Pearl Drums Eccentric Systems Drums Bello Drums Furcinitti Custom Drums RotodruM
For more information, visit www.snaredrumolympics.com.
Master Blaster
As with many drums of the 18th and 19 centuries, this full-barrel bass was more than likely hand crafted by a trunk and furniture maker, or possibly even a coach and carriage builder. The main tack pattern surrounding the sling attachments is very common to that which was used on the lids of storage or travel trunks of the era. A drum maker would normally have his own unique tack pattern to identify his work as opposed to a commonly used utilitarian tack design familiar to trunk builders. A secondary brass tack pattern of a circle within a circle is located surrounding the unreinforced vent hole.
Read more1932-34 Slingerland 6.5x14 Duco DuAll
A very brief history for those that may not know the history of the Ludwig Super vs. Slingerland DuAll battle: Ludwig & Ludwig had the patent (1924) for their parallel (Super-Ludwig) mechanism. Along comes Slingerland with their version of a parallel mechanism that they called the DuAll model. Ludwig felt that Slingerland’s DuAll mechanism was infringing on their Super-Ludwig mechanism so they sued Slingerland and won. The court ordered Slingerland to discontinue their DuAll model and I seem to remember reading that Slingerland had to pay L & L the money that was made on their sales of the DuAll models. DuAlls were in production for less than two years so these snare drums are extremely rare.
Read more1960s Rogers Cleveland Holiday Set
This set is a beautiful blue glass glitter finish that has developed a texture. They are not smooth to the touch. It is uniform over the complete set. I would like one of the Rogers experts to shed some light on this mystery for me. The paper labels inside indicate that these are Cleveland Holiday models. The solid grey interiors indicates that these are early 1960s. I have been told the Cleveland and the Dayton models were both made at Covington. Production was later moved to Fullerton.
Read moreMorsefest in Nashville with Mike Portnoy
The iconic progressive rock front-man, keyboardist and songwriter Neal Morse will host a two-day music festival in his hometown of Nashville, TN on November 14-15 2014. Morse is best known for his mid-90's group "Spock's Beard" as well as his formation of the supergroup "Transatlantic" with former Dream Theater co-founder Mike Portnoy, Flower Kings' Roine Stolt and Marillion's Pete Trewavas.
Special guests, including Mike Portnoy and Randy George, will be joining Neal on the 14th and 15th in performances of the entire "One" and "Testimony 1" albums by Morse. From Radiant Records:
"Hear the music in the very place it was inspired! This weekend will be full of legendary status events such as an exclusive, free 'inner circle only' acoustic set, a VIP Meet and Greet with Neal and special guests, and a game of 'Name that Tune' - PROG style with Mike Portnoy. This is sure to be a once in a lifetime event that you do not want to miss! Make your travel plans to Nashville now!"
Tickets start at $60, $30 for students. More information can be found at: http://www.radiantrecords.com/products/500-morsefest-november-14-15-2014.aspx
WHEN:
November 14 - 15, 2014 Friday & Saturday shows: 7:30pm (Doors at 6:00 pm), Worship Service: Saturday 10:00 am (Doors at 9:00 am) IC Acoustic Set: Saturday 1:00pm (Doors at 12.00 pm), VIP session: Friday and Saturday 3:00pm (Doors at 2:30 pm)
WHERE:
New Life Fellowship 8655 Tennessee 25 Cross Plains, TN 37049
October 2014 - Thanks and Updates
Thanks to all of you who attended and/or exhibited at the Nashville Drum Show in September. For those of you who missed it we have a great pictorial article with photos from Rick Malkin and Bob Campbell. The show was a great success. There were three times as many exhibitor and vendor booths as the prior show and double the attendance. We hit a tipping point with the show this year and I think we may have to move to a hotel/convention center next year. Also, the drum industry gave a lot of credence to the event this year with many unveilings of new products including Gretsch’s new made in the USA Broadkaster kit that was introduced by Fred Gretsch and the guy who builds the Gretsch drums, Paul Cooper. Mothertone/Sleishman’s inverted bass drum set was demonstrated by Roy Wooten along with the Wooten Brothers Band.
Read moreNashville Drum Show 2014 Follow-Up
Thanks to all of you who attended and/or exhibited at the Nashville Drum Show in September. For those of you who missed it we have a great pictorial article with photos from Rick Malkin and Bob Campbell. The show was a great success. There were three times as many exhibitor and vendor booths as the prior show and double the attendance. We hit a tipping point with the show this year and I think we may have to move to a hotel/convention center next year. Also, the drum industry gave a lot of credence to the event this year with many unveilings of new products including Gretsch’s new made in the USA Broadkaster kit that was introduced by Fred Gretsch and the guy who builds the Gretsch drums, Paul Cooper. Mothertone/Sleishman’s inverted bass drum set was demonstrated by Roy Wooten along with the Wooten Brothers Band.
Read more1940 Radio Kings - A Family Tradition
I was scrolling through a vintage drummer Facebook group one day, and I came across a post from Joe Ciucci. Rather, I came across an open-mouth drool worthy video of his 1940 restored Slingerland Radio Kings…. Joe was just the guy attached to the post! I sent a message to Joe, and we struck up a conversation. Joe turned out to be as nice as his drums, and I offered to showcase the drums in Not So Modern Drummer. He took me up on the offer, and here we are today. Joe was instrumental in setting up our Nashville Drum Show trip to ATL Drum Collective, and if you came to the Nashville show, you couldn't have missed the Radio Kings in the vintage drum museum.
Read moreBrooklyn Walking Tour: Traveling Through Gretsch History Today
This past July 30th 2014 I had a unique opportunity to take a step back into Gretsch Company history. As a matter of fact, I actually took several hundred steps, as I walked the streets of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn where the company got its start. Along the way I visited several sites that mark the evolution of the company from its inception in 1883 through 1969, some seven decades later. Best of all, I had the pleasure of being joined by more than twenty drummers who are fans of Gretsch drums and their fascinating history. Since these drummers were all from the New York area, the information offered in our “Brooklyn Walking Tour” was all the more personal for them.
Read moreRick Latham's Polish Snare Drum
We got this question from Rick Latham as he was ending his summer tour in Europe.Can any of you help us out here? - NSMD: Hi George, Greetings brother from the Black Forest of Germany! Hope you are doing well. I'm nearing the end of a three month tour here in Europe - Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Switzerland... all great! I ran across this drum in a drum shop in Poznan, Poland and the guys are curious if it's anything cool - or maybe a bastardized-something-weird? Ha! I told them if anyone would know, it would be you - so give it your best shot.
Read moreOrlich 9/11 Memorial Glass Drum Kit
A little over 13 years ago, I came across a picture of Alan White (YES) playing what looked to be a set of glass and brass drums. Being a drum nerd, my curiosity got the best of me. Were these gimmicks, art, or perhaps something more? I became obsessed with finding out more... So in 2001, I contacted John Orlich to learn about Orlich Percussion Systems. I later had the opportunity to speak with Alan White and Tris Imboden (CHICAGO) about their Orlich glass drums. After that, I was hooked. I wanted a set of these drums! But let me tell you the whole story from the start…
Read moreWIW? 1909-1915 Conn Snare Drum
This is a very old but never played/museum quality snare drum. From what I've dug up on my own, it's from 1909-1915. It's a metal Conn drum with wood hoops and has twin snares, one underneath the batter head and the other is on the resonant head. It still has the original heads on it and it was given to me by Bob Grauso of the Fibes drum company. He told me it was quite valuable and wanted me to have it. He also gave me other rare things before his passing that I wouldn't part with, but this particular drum he said was something I could sell. I've only found one sale of this drum and if I remember correctly, it only fetched around $250.00. I would think that this drum would be worth considerably more, but I could be wrong.
Read more1960s Ludwig Downbeat Set
The drum set from my collection that I want to feature this month is a 1960s Ludwig Downbeat Set in sparkling pink champagne pearl. Downbeat sets began in 1959. It is one of my all time favorite kits. I really love these drums for many reasons. Their sizes are one reason I love them. These are the size drums Ringo Starr played on the earlier Ed Sullivan shows. The Bass drum is 20"X14", the floor tom is 14"X14" and the mounted tom is 12''X8". Ringo referred to the Downbeat sets he owned as the "mini" kits. I used to have a hard time telling if a kit was a Downbeat set in photos, but I learned to count the bass drum T- rods. The Downbeat set has 8 lugs and the 22"X14" Super Classics have 10 lugs. Another way to tell is to look at the lugs on the mounted tom. The space is greater between the top and bottom lugs on the 12'' tom than the space on the 13" tom. The 13" tom used on the Super Classics has larger lugs, so the space between them is smaller.
Read moreDW "Buddy Rich" Drum Set
This is a Drum Workshop set that I purchased March of 1983 that was custom built for Buddy Rich in August 1982. He used it for the beginning of the 1983 tour and played them until he had the heart attack when he was in Ann Arbor Michigan. It was ordered and built to his specifications through Joe Cusatis at the modern drum shop in NYC. He wanted the Slingerland TDR throw off on the snare, He wanted Pearl spurs and a Ludwig rail/banana mount for the tom tom. He also wanted Ludwig cymbal holders for the bass drum. The rest of the set is DW but is wrapped in Ludwig white marine pearl. It has the BR on the front bass drum head and "Buddy Rich Fragile" on the cases.
Read more1925 Ludwig & Ludwig Triumphal #9
This drum is definitely a 1920s Ludwig & Ludwig gold plated /engraved Triumphal Model. I did notice a few minor differences as compared to my Triumphal... 1. This drum has a 5-petal rose engraving as compared to my drum that has a 6-petal rose engraving... 2. This drum has the “Ludwig Chicago” in the same panel as the P-338 strainer as compared to my drum where the “Ludwig Chicago” is located 2 panels to the left of the strainer. Nothing earth shattering but interesting enough for me to pursue it further, ergo; was this a different engraver than my drum?
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