With decades of experience and performance under his belt—from serving in the Army band to dazzling audiences alongside A-list celebrities and Broadway musicals—John harnessed his skills to infuse every pair of sticks with superior craftsmanship and an unrivaled ethos.

Lipskin Special Models were not catalogued so we can assume that they were made for a dealer.

A very special rare Drum Catalog arrived.

The trend toward smaller bass drums was driven as much by portability as sound. Elvin Jones settled on an 18" bass drum because it fit into a cab nicely (so I’ve heard).

In an effort to show what is less seen, I offer you another one of my favorites. This gold sparkle Apollo, which was made by Star in the early 1960’s

Slingerland purchased the patent from C. G. Conn in 1933. Ludwig & Ludwig sued Slingerland for patent infringement and Slingerland was forced to cease and desist any further manufacturing of the DuAll model along with having to pay for any DuAll models that were previously sold.

 The insert highlighted in my column this month is one of the earliest known examples. It was actually in the 1909 Leedy edition as well as their 1910.

This set was born together and still with the one and only original owner whose parents purchased it for him brand spanking new in 1970. He played it for about a year with his cousin in a little band in his basement and never again after that. The set NEVER left his house and was NEVER played out. He also immaculately cared for it keeping it under cover.

I got this *Clamshell Sea Green Pearl Radio King a few Chicago Shows ago from my good friend and fellow collector Joe Luoma.

In the MIJ world there is a tendency to lump all the drums together. Some of it is from the old myths of them being made in the same factory or a shared factory, but in reality the connections between companies was very small, even the smallest common screw seem to be a little different. This even extends to the wraps, where similar, but not the same, seems to be the rule.

These two drums came from my good friend and fellow collector Mark Cooper. Mark passed away last year and I miss his friendship, sense of humor and the great drum deals that we did over the last 15+ years. I was able to get some great snare drums from Mark. Rest in peace my friend.

The drum is only one of two (one is in the drum museum in the Midwest) known in this style, and even these two are both different.

I had purchased a 1920’s Ludwig & Ludwig White Enamel Professional model 5X14 snare drum from a US seller several months previous.  From the photos provided before the time of sale, I knew this drum had seen better days

150 years of SONOR craftsmanship and innovation. To celebrate this milestone, we proudly present the 150th Anniversary SIGNATURE and SONORLITE Shell Sets

I wonder if you can review the attached pictures. I will be sending a second email with more. I have a 26" Bass, 13, 14, and 16 toms and snare. I am trying to confirm the vintage and, in the case of the 13" small tom, determine if it is really a Radio King drum.

The King-Beat was one of the most heavy-dutiest of any pedal made by anyone. This became their flagship pedal up through 1983

The most interesting part of this drum is the uncatalogued finish that I call “Rainbow Sprinkles”. It looks like a “coral” enamel base with multi-colored specks on top. I have never seen or heard of another Slingerland drum with this finish.

I was privileged enough to receive two very special Limited Edition Radio King first serial number 1s of 50 of the 5“ x 14“ vintage black and gold lacquer and the 7” x 14” black diamond pearl wrap snare drums. -Ed Tucker

Some of the most attractive things about the vintage Japanese drums were the great wraps. One of the most original and desirable wraps is Star’s Pearl Fantasia.

 Sorry to disappoint the fans of X Japan and Loudness, this is all about the vintage heavy 10 lug steel shell snare drums made in Japan. These snares are often overlooked in the MIJ drum world because of all of the great wrapped wood snares overshadowing them, but these drums have their place as well, especially if you rock!

The front page of the catalog used a new technique with a cutout to show the new Ludwig metal shell snare drum in a framed setting that was actually printed on the 2nd page and shown through to the front cover. 

I call it a “Monday Morning at the Office” drum because the scroll pattern is in every panel but there is no “Ludwig Chicago” engraving that would normally be just left of the strainer.

This snare drum is a rare 1950s Leedy & Ludwig White Marine Pearl 5” x14”, Broadway model with a solid 1-ply maple shell.

Woolworth’s did sell drums for many years, but unlike the other big department stores, they were not a catalog company by which we could document what and when they sold drums. So all we have are the drums themselves to tell the story.

 This is the long lost twin of a personal pair of these custom made snares for Elvins 75th birthday celebration and were never available to the public. At 5” x 10” it is little piece of dynamite.

In today’s corner I present to you one of the rarest catalogs from one of the most difficult eras to find any drum catalog from, early 1940s World War II.

The Porto-Pak is a very special snare drum.  Punchy and articulate, this 5.5 x 13 1948 – 52 WFL Classic Porto-Pak snare drum is difficult to find these days.  This drum was born out of the need for gigging musicians, be bop and club players to get their drums into the taxi cabs and onto smaller band stands and still hit the spot. 

Many of us share the introduction into the drumming world with that first snare drum, or if you are one of the fortunate ones, the “Snare Drum Outfit”!