Engraved Black Beauty, LLE

I love my Black Beauty babies…but I must part with them at some point. I can’t keep them forever; I need retirement money badly. I’ve just sold this 1990’s Ludwig Limited Edition snare. (Or so I thought.)

This 6 1/2 ” X 14″ hand-engraved black beauty is going to the UK…yes, in its case and weighing almost 20 lbs. The shipping might go over the $100 mark with the insurance. Early this week, I shipped a 13 pounder to Germany for $65, and I lost big time for calculating it only at $20 since I was willing to split the cost (but not this much). I guess I have to listen to my wife and consult her before I send any shipping envoices. After all she’s my packing agent. She has shipped 2 internationally: Italy and Canada and 3 here in the USA.

Again, I’m holding on to just one 6 1/2″ X 14″ Black Beauty. It’s a 1928 Super Ludwig. I managed to have six despite my wife’s consternation. I started with a cheaper machine-engraved one, but I fell in love with the aesthetics of the hand-engraved. I am not really a hardcore collector, so I am not way up there.

Unbelivable, I have not even posted this blog yet…now I have a message from ebay—Account Security Notice: eBay Listing(s) Removed. Followed by: Dear______. The results of the following listing(s) have been cancelled due to bidding activity that took place without the account owner’s authorization. Blah, blah, blah! Since the account owner did not initiate these bids, all fees resulting from the listings in question will be credited to your account after 7 days, please feel free to contact us through ?Contact Us? in our help section. Oh, should I say thank you? The notice continues: Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to automatically relist these items for you. Instead, to relist these items you will need to start from the beginning of the listing process, etc. etc. etc! We know that this is an inconvenience and we apologize for the negative impact it may cause you. We are working on tools to allow you to relist your items without starting from the beginning, but they are not available at this time. Ugh! How gratifying to find eBay so concerned. 

Well, not much we can do. That’s how it goes…$1800 here and gone. I guess we just need to bite the bullet. My wife insisted that I print the eBay notice for my record. She added it herself here, as she thought it would somehow help others to know the little annoying things of doing business on eBay. This is just one of the many we encountered along the way between eBay and Paypal…the price of convenience supposedly. Sighhh…the world of connectivity!

DW Classics Buddy Rich Commemorative Kit #32

This classic Buddy Rich kit is currently set up in my home office…right next to me waiting to be played whenever I get tired from reading or working on the computer. When I found it in one of my aimless searches of everything that is ‘drum’, I knew I couldn’t let it pass–#32 out of 32 made by DW.

Email clayr@rainbowguitars.com for pricing. DW Classics offers drummers a strikingly accurate tribute to the drum sounds of yesteryear in a dependable, road-worthy design. Now, it’s easy to capture that sought-after, mellow tone with an open bass drum sound and warm snare crack that pros and studio engineers have prized for decades. Both include a host of features you can only find on today’s high-end custom kits. DW Classics—it’s the way they’re made. Classic sound and look. Above, left: Vintage lug with inlay counterhoop and T-handle bass drum rods. Above, center: Specially-designed shell featuring mahogany and poplar construction with oversized 10-ply maple reinforcement hoops and vintage-style “butter” bearing edge. Above, right: Solid-shell maple snare drum with DW’s patented Delta ball-bearing throw-off. DW Classic Kit #2 14×24” bass drum 9×13”, 16×16” tom-toms 5.5×14” solid-shell maple snare drum bass drum 9×13”, 16×16” tom-toms

It took quite some convincing my wife, but she finally relented. I shall enjoy this baby…until I decide it’s time to part with it when I retire in the Philippines.

Hello drummers, etc.!

Today I have decided to come out of my cave and get into this blogging stuff. Part of my procrastination problem is that I am interested in so many things; it was hard to decide what to blog about. I will probably wind up creating numerous blogs on the these many topics. But for now I have decided to share my passion for music, and in particular drums. I have been playing drums since 1964. At the time I was in third grade. I am now 51. So it’s been about 43 years. Most of the middle years were spent playing professionally, but for the past 7 or 8 years I have become a closet drummer, retired from professional playing. I now play for my own enjoyment, that is to keep up my chops and keep creating. As a musician my passion has taken on a variety of dimensions. One of these is the aesthetics and utility of the many instruments I have come upon and the creative individuals who’ve designed them. I would like to share one of my favorites.

   

Here is a truly rare drum with a significant history. This snare drum is a 6.5×14 Gretsch Gladstone with 3-way tuning. Color is Oriental Pearl, which was the period-correct name for what we know today as White Marine Pearl. This drum has an interesting history. The drum originally belonged to Joe Sinai, who was a member of the San Francisco Symphony. Chet Falzerano, noted Gladstone collector and author of the Gretsch book, acquired this drum.

When he acquired it, Joe had cut diamond shaped holes in the shell to change the sound. Chet acquired another Gretsch Gladstone shell and mounted the hardware on it. This is the drum you see here.  

The drum had then been sold by Chet to Harry Cangany, noted vintage drum author and historian. In fact, this exact drum is shown on page 61 of Harry’s book titled “The Great American Drums And The Companies That Made Them, 1920-1969.” It is shown as one of the relatively few drums that Harry considers to be the most collectible snare drums from this era. In addition, this exact drum is also featured on page 159 of John Aldridge’s landmark book titled “Guide To Vintage Drums.” The drum remained in Harry’s collection for several years.  

The Gretsch Gladstone snares were built by in the 30s by Gretsch through an agreement with Billy Gladstone. The drums utilized Gretsch shells along with Billy’s innovative designs for the throw off, internal muffler,and the ingenious 3-way tuning system. This particular drum has a standard internal tone control rather than the Gladstone style internal muffler. The 3-way tuning system developed by Billy Gladstone allows all tuning for the drum to be done from the top head.

One part of the 3-way tuning key locks onto the larger portion of the top head tension rods and tunes the top head; another part of the 3-way tuning key locks onto the small nut on the top tension rods and tunes the bottom head; the third part of the 3-way tuning key simultaneously locks onto the large and small portions of the top tension rod, thus allowing both heads to be tuned in unison from the top of the drum. The snare strainer is Billy’s wonderfully simple design. As you might expect, the drum sounds great.   

Are you a musician? What do you think of this drum? Do you have any drums that really turn you on?