The word “rare” is a very subjective term and quite overused in the drum world, but in this case I think it’s appropriate. There are many parts of this drum which are rarely seen, or not seen at all, and they don’t appear in any known catalogs.
To start with the more common parts we have the thin 2.3mm 3-ply shell (V-H-V) with 5.1mm thick rerings, which was standard for Pearl drums up until the late 60’s and it measures 14” x 5 ½”. Also common is the “Sparkling Red Pearl” wrap.
The six lugs are Pearl’s early drawn steel lugs which vaguely resemble Rogers’ “Bread & Butter lugs”. The last catalog to have these lugs was the 1964 Japanese catalog. The lugs are about 3/8” shorter than the common cast lugs that Pearl used from 1965 into the 70’s and are almost identical in design.
Getting to the more rare parts we have this covered 3-point strainer, personally I have only seen this type once or twice in pictures. The handle looks like a small spoon handle and feels a little thin, but it functions really well and stays where you put it. The reason for the cover is unknown, if anything it gets in the way of the adjustment knob. The cover shares 2 of the 3 screws of strainer and has two extra holes just for the cover.
The butt plate has the same general design that Pearl used for many years with the exception of the screw holes, or in this case string holes, on the top.
Another extremely rare part of this drum is the double-flange stick-chopper hoops. The hoops have a thickness of the 60’s standard of 1.6mm. Also the snare gate is riveted on (by the mid 60’s their hoops were one solid piece).
The badge is an early version of the oval badge with the offset vent hole placement. The “PEARL” logo on the badge can be found on the newly discovered 1955 Pearl catalog found on Pearl’s website.
I kept the Weather King Ambassador heads that came with this drum to keep it as original as possible. These heads are 21.8mm depth (a standard Remo head is 17.3mm), this brings the top of the hoop close to flush with the head (actually about 1/8 of an inch over the head) and makes the drum look shorter than its 5 1/2” depth.
The 12 strand snare wires may be the original, if not they are certainly they are in the same general time period.
Without catalogs from this era there is no way to date the drum definitively, but I feel safe saying it is 1963 or earlier. Normally a drum of this nature I would be reluctant to actually use (usually because of the strainer reliability), but this one I wouldn’t worry about at all, it’s solid and functional, and it is staying in the collection as possibly my rarest MIJ snare drum.
