Stories from the Hunt….
The year was 1993, I was 22 and had been collecting drums for almost two years. I have always been fascinated by history and the things that came before my time and the collecting started when I stumbled upon a Quadra Plus Vistalite set in the summer of 1990 and later that year a blue sparkle Ludwig Club Date from 1965 in a music store a little over an hour from my house. That Club Date set really got me wondering about 60’s Ludwig drums and then of course wondering what was before the 60’s. Enter Harry Cangany and Modern Drummer. Harry used to write a section in Modern Drummer called the Collector’s Corner and in the summer of 1993, Harry had an article on a drum called the WFL Twin Strainer Model. I was immediately drawn to this drum looking at the pictures and fascinated by the history of it that Harry wrote about. There were not a lot of vintage books out in 1993 and of course no internet so learning about this stuff was quite challenging at best. One thing that I hoped was that I might eventually get to see one of these drums up close in person so I could see what it really looked like. For some reason the particular look and style of this drum really appealed to me, almost like I had a connection with it somehow even though it was made around the time my parents were born.
Fast forward a few months and I had really gotten the bug for hunting down old drums. My usual ways were to visit old music stores, look at for sale ads in the local paper and look through this giant magazine that was sold at convenient stores called the Want Advertiser. I even had business cards printed up that advertised myself as a drummer for hire as well as a collector looking for old drums. It had never dawned on me but it was my mom who suggested that I look up auctions in the newspaper. I had never been to one before but I figured anything was worth a shot? I quickly saw that there was a local auction that had drums listed for sale so I went, saw a WMP 1970 Ludwig super classic there as well as a 1963 champagne sparkle Ludwig Pioneer and a 1966 WMP Ludwig Jazz Festival. I quickly discovered that I was not alone as I met another local drummer I had met on the open mic circuit. He said he really wanted the set so we agreed that I would by the snares and he would buy the set. $150 later and he had the set while I spent $30 on the Pioneer and $40 on the Jazz Festival. I was hooked after that!
It was maybe several weeks later when I saw another auction with a listing that said “Ludwig drum set” along with many other items. The drive this time was more like 45 minutes away but the thought of not having any idea what could be there had my mind racing. This auction took place on a Saturday at a residence and it startled me when I saw the belongings of one man’s life in piles all around the yard and way back into the old barn attached to the side of the house. As I walked around eagerly looking at things like the owners lawn tractor, old tools, furniture and even a bunch of vintage Lionel trains, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sadness that this person’s whole life was up for bid. Though I knew the Lionel trains were worth big money and could already see several collectors pawing through the boxes excitedly, none of that mattered to me as I was looking for drums. It was not until I went to the back of the barn where I saw a really old white painted bass drum with calf heads and black hoops. The hardware was rusted and next to the bass drum was a big metal trunk that looked like it had been something used by the military. I was pretty disappointed as the thought of a Ringo set or something like it swirled through my mind on the drive down, yet here I was staring at this old beat up bass drum with white paint flaking off of it. I decided to open the trunk to have a look inside and saw a bunch of very lightweight rusted hardware, some old decorations from a party, some confetti and a few other belongings not related to drums. What did catch my eye was the top of a drum head sitting in the case. As I slowly lifted the drum out of the case, I felt a little like Indiana Jones on one of his crusades and I nearly fainted when the drum revealed itself as a beautiful very white WMP twin strainer snare drum in 100% mint original condition. I was so taken aback by this drum that I nearly dropped it! This is when the hard part came as I had to sit and wait for what seemed hours for the drum lot to come up for bid.
I had to sit with a bid card in a folding chair in the hot sun while I twitched knowing that drum was just sitting there in that metal trunk a few feet away. I had no clue what the drum might sell for and was really hoping nobody else took a serious interest in it while I tried to rationally think what I could afford to spend. The only rational I could come up with though was that I didn’t think it was any kind of accident that here I was staring at a drum that was even older than the one Harry had written about in an article I had just read about several weeks earlier. Fate had revealed itself! As the lot came up for bid, the fast talking auctioneer starting the bidding at $200. I kept quiet as I was hoping to see if anyone else would bid first. After a few moments of silence, the auctioneer made a comment about there being too much stuff left to bid on and someone throw out a number. I yelled out $5.00 and I could hear an older gentleman behind me say to his wife that their grandson was starting lessons and maybe he could learn on this drum. There was no way on this Earth that I was about to let this happen and after a bit of battling back and forth, I won the lot at $55.00. I could barely contain my excitement as I could hear the guy I was battling with say to his wife that more than $55.00 was just too much to spend on something like that. I was actually so excited to get the drum that I nearly forgot to grab everything else that came with it!
Once I finally had the drum home, I was able to really go through the contents of the trunk and discovered that the owner was from Braintree Massachusetts and he fought in WWII. It actually looked like the drum and its contents were packed up before the war and had pretty much sat ever since. I also discovered a Military combat handbook in there as well as the owner’s 1947 tax return. That one drum started me on a 30 year obsession with Twin Strainer WFL drums and over the years I have had many. This one will always be the crown jewel though and in 1997, I was fortunate to be able to show it to Wm F Ludwig II. As WFL II looked over the drum, he told me the story of how his dad would load him up in a station wagon full of drums to drive to various locations to try and get the name out there. WFL II told me that he would not be surprised if my drum had come out east on one of his trips as he recalled making the trek through Massachusetts into Maine. I have no way to verify but it would certainly make for a cool story. My drum is also odd as it measures 6.5x14 and at the time, all the catalog options were 7x14 as a 6.5x14 was not listed. In the end as this summer marks 30 years that I won that auction, I am just hoping that somehow, the original owner knows that his precious drum is still very much alive and well, and in its pristine unaltered state. I would also want him to know that it has been the springboard that led me to learn about and study other models of this drum. A big thanks goes to Harry for writing that article and another big thanks goes to that unknown person from Braintree Massachusetts that left this incredible drum for me to cherish all these years.