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DUALLS are very rare. The Slingerland DUALL Model was manufactured from 1932-34 as compared to the L & L Super-Ludwig Model that was around from 1924 to the late 1930s.
Read moreA word about Leedy Oriental Pearl vs. Ludwig & Ludwig Abalone Pearl: Personally I think the two finishes are one in the same…
Read moreThe Triumphal Model was Ludwig & Ludwig’s top of the line snare drum and sold for 125.00 in 1925. The Triumphal Model featured 24K gold plating with hand engraving on the shell, lugs and rims. Noted drum historian and collector Harry Cangany has stated his belief that there were only 12 of these Triumphal snare drums produced. The
Read moreLudwig & Ludwig introduced Marble Pearl in 1928 and per Rob Cook’s book Drum Colors The Rebeats Color Swatch Book. This finish was listed from 1928-29, pretty short-lived and very rare. Personally I love the “ugly” finishes from the 1920s-30s.
Read more--For those of you that are not familiar with 1920s-30s “Sensitive” models, all that you have to remember is that the “Sensitive” mechanism is the set of snares that are internal and under the top head with the exception of the New Era-Sensitive that has two sets of internal Sensitive mechanisms.
Read moreThe 6.5 x 14 was another story...the shell came to me wrapped in lime green glitter contact paper. This looked – as my good friend John Aldridge would say – “as ugly as home made soap”, and it was.
Read moreRob Cook’s Rebeats Color Book states that Rose Pearl was only around in 1929. 4 x 14 Tone Flange Artist Models are extremely rare. I know of only 3. I’d love to see photos of any others that may be out there.
Read more*Slingerland used the term Opal Pearl but this finish looks exactly like L & L’s Peacock Pearl or Leedy’s Rainbow Pearl finishes.
Read more“This drum has been nicknamed “The Dragon Drum” and was probably an un-catalogued one-off special order…
Read moreI think that this drum could have possibly been an un-cataloged special order. Everything points to a mid-1920s L & L DeLuxe snare drum (black nickel plating, 12 pt. floral engraving and DeLuxe copper plated/gold lacquered hardware) with the exception that the shell is nickel plated with the 12 pt. floral engraving showing through.
Read moreLeedy Rainbow Pearl was only offered in 1930. The finish on this shell is similar to a 1930s run of Ludwig & Ludwig Peacock Pearl (see photo) which makes sense as Leedy and L & L were both purchased by C. G. Conn, Ltd. in 1929 and these snare drums were literally built across the way from each other.
Read moreI got this drum from a European seller who has sold me a drum or two before. I usually don’t collect European drums but this one was intriguing enough and somewhat historical so I went for it. A special thanks goes to my good friend, fellow collector and restorer extraordinaire Emmanuel of olDrums Vintage & Custom oldrums@sfr.fr for helping me to identify and date this drum.
Read moreI got this one off of Reverb. This drum has been around for a while and the owner worked with me on an even lower price. WFL two-tone pearl drums are pretty scarce so this was a good drum to add to the collection.
Read moreThe drum in this article has a “Stipelsilver” finish, same texture as Stipelgold but with a bright silver hue. I believe that this drum is a one-off/special order for a few reasons that I will explain
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Hi all,
Well, Mark Cooper comes through again with this excellent example of a Silver Sparkle Model Hollywood Ace Radio King. Mark finds a lot of Radio Kings that are always in very good-excellent condition. This one will be added to the “Mark Cooper” wing of the Curotto Collection.
Read moreBy Mike Curotto and Joseph Mekler
A lot of you fellow collectors know how excited I get when an ultra-rare snare drum comes my way but in this case I was more astonished at the restoration of this drum than I was at being able to add this drum to my collection. _ Mike Curotto.
Read moreWhite “Crystal” is one of Ludwig & Ludwig’s rarest finishes and was only around for less than two years, 1941-42. The Crystal finish was highly distressed, more like “Crustal”, I mean really beat up... as my good friend John Aldridge would say, “this drum is as ugly as home made soap”.
Read moreThe Bernie Mattison Radio King Model was first introduced in 1936 and had the tapped (no insert) lugs. I’ve dated the drum in this article at 1937-39 because the lugs have inserts. The 1937-39 Slingerland catalogs list this drum as the Band Model Radio King.
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This one just came in from my good friend Mark Cooper of coopersvintagedrums@verizon.net I usually don’t collect European snares but this one is a very rare and cool drum.
Read moreSea Green was in the Slingerland catalog from 1928-1938. Mark has dated this drum from 1939 to 1941. Mark has also mentioned this is the only Sea Green Radio King that he has ever seen...there is another...more on that later.
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