Almost everybody in the drumming world knows the name, Johnny Craviotto, but not everyone knows the name Solid Drum Company. The drum I am featuring in this article is a 7"X14" clear maple Solid snare drum. I am so excited to own it. I had one a few years ago that George, our beloved editor, helped me acquire, but I foolishly sold it. There is only a small number of these around, and I felt sure I would never have another one, but the opportunity arose again. Who says,"lightning doesn't strike twice"? The following is some information I have gleaned about Solid drums from other writers:
"Johnny teamed up with Billy Gibson, the drummer for Huey Lewis and the News, around 1985. They launched the Select Drum Company, later changed the name to Solid Drum Company. Dave Patrick joined the team as product specialist and sales manager. Besides the great shells, what also makes these drums so special is the 100% USA made hardware, hoops, and drum parts. The lug casings, die cast hoops, and drum parts have a hex shaped design that is carried through the drum. The quality and craftsmanship are unsurpassed on these drums. The Solid snare drums were played by artists like Larrie Londin, Richie Hayward, Greg Morrow, and Kenny Aronoff. The company ended drum production in 1990."
My Solid was built in Feb. 1989 and was the 39th. drum made under the new Solid name according to the serial number. My friend Mike Louthan bought the drum new at a music store in 1989. He gigged with this drum for several years until it fell into disrepair. He put it on the shelf for a long time, but we would talk about it from time to time. That's what you do when you are a collector. You tell the owner, "when you get ready to sell that drum, please let me have first crack at it". Then you talk about it for a few years. It was a great surprised when he finally sold it to me. The drum was in need of a few parts and some TLC. Even though these drum were built to last, anything can be broken.
When I got the drum I began contacting everyone I could think of that might be able to help me restore it back to original condition. I thought I was never going to find any help until my drum selling partner, Jack Propps put me on the trail of Dave Patrick, one of the original Solid Drum Company team. After a lot of communication, Dave came through with the needed parts and invaluable help I needed to put this great drum back together. Dave shared the following information with me concerning Solid: "Neil Peart, Michael Jochum, Anton Fig, and Frank Bellucci also endorsed Solid. Greg Morrow has played Solid snare drums on dozens of hit records. Kenny Aronoff never endorsed Solid, but he did buy a couple of the drums, possibly from Jim Pettit. Robert Hall, Memphis drum legend, who played with Jerry Lee Lewis for 27 years, and Jim Pettit, well known vintage drum expert, professional drummer, and owner of Memphis Drum Shop provided valuable input on the final development of the Solid snare drums. Solid and Select snare drums are featured prominently in the vintage vault at the Memphis Drum Shop. Gene D'Amico purchased Solid in 1990 and produced D'Amico/Solid drums."
I consider my Solid a piece of percussion history. It looks fantastic and sounds like a dream. If you own one you might want to hold on to it. They might become the next "Gladstone" one day, who knows.
p.s.
Dave Patrick added a final bit of information: "I left out something very important. In 1990 ,Greg morrow flew out to Solid,and together with Dave Patrick, built 5 Solid prototype drum sets. None ever went into production, as that version of Solid ended in Sept,1990. Greg Morrow did final assembly and tweaking on many of the last run of Solid Watsonville snare drums. Gene D'amico later built beautiful D'amico/Solid drum sets,using the Solid lugs."
A portion of some testimonies from three giants of the drum world concerning the Solid Snare Drum:
Neil Peart wrote: "It has been a pleasure for me to show off the workmanship on the Select(Solid) Cocobollo drum, the finish, the inner shell, the bearing edges to anyone who has the slightest interest."
Larrie London wrote: " First, I'd like to thank you for making one of the best snare drums I've ever played, and it must be great because I not only bought one, I bought two and I'm looking at number three."
Richie Hayward wrote: Each time I go into the studio to record lately I take half a dozen snare drums to try, but I always end up picking the Solid."