…how did this Leedy wrap from 1940-41 end up on a 1951 Leedy & Ludwig snare drum?
Read more1951 Leedy & Ludwig 5x14 Autographs of the Stars Broadway Standard
Mike Curotto's remodelled home and snare collection displays
For many years my wife put up with 50 snare drums on stands in the dining room and 200 snare drums on custom shelves in the entry way of our home so a new kitchen, dining room, living room and master bathroom were long overdue.
Read more1925- LEEDY 5 x 15 NOB MULTI-MODEL *MARVEL MODEL
*A little Marvel Model history from Rob Cook's book THE LEEDY WAY: "The
Marvel Snare Strainer was Leedy's first attempt at a strainer that would
keep the snares under tension when released.
1937 LEEDY 6.5 x 14 ORIENTAL PEARL BROADWAY PARALLEL MODEL
Collectors know this finish by two names; Ludwig & Ludwig and Slingerland named it Abalone Pearl and Leedy chose to name it Oriental Pearl. Per Rob Cook’s DRUM COLORS BOOK this finish was around from 1934-37.
Read more1923-25 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 4 x 14 8 LUG DeLUXE/SCROLL ENGRAVED DANCE MODEL (Cat. no. 5C)
Hiro said that he wanted to buy the drum from me. I said it wasn't for sale, but then he turned the table on me and said, "What if I offer you STUPID MONEY"? At this time I had gotten into a little money crunch so I asked him what kind of STUPID MONEY was he talking about. Hiro said he would pay me 10K for the drum. SOLD! That was a huge chunk of money that gave me a good head start on my financial situation.
Read more1935- DUPLEX 5 x 14/13 BUTTERSCOTCH SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS MODEL
This is the standard 1930s 5 x 14/13 Duplex Spirit of St. Louis Model. The shell looks to be some type of “Butterscotch Pearl” finish. I couldn’t find any Duplex finish reference so I’m calling it Butterscotch Pearl for lack of a better term.
Read more40s-50s Slingerland 4x13 BeBop RKs
Two more blasts from the past that I never did articles on. The 4 x 13 Sparkling Gold RK “Be Bop” model was one of my earliest purchases (1995) from Ned Ingberman, The Vintage Drum Center and the WMP 4 x 13 RK Bop model was purchased from a fellow musician in SF about 20 years ago. A special thanks goes to my good friend and fellow collector Mark Cooper for helping me to date these two drums.
Read more1936-39 LUDWIG 6.5 x 14 “BUTTERSCOTCH PEARL” (uncatalogued) SUPER-LUDWIG MODEL
This seems to be an uncatalogued finish as it is nowhere to be found -- that I know of -- in any Ludwig literature. I have seen 1 or 2 other Ludwig Butterscotch Pearl snares and I also own a Duplex Spirit of St. Louis in this finish so I personally know that this finish exists. So my best guess is that this is an uncatalogued or special order finish. As always I welcome any other information that may be out there regarding this finish.
Read moreStipelgold drums from different mothers
I got these three snare drums a while back. The 1926 Ludwig & Ludwig drum catalog introduces “Genuine Stipelgold” to the drum market. As collectors we have seen the only “Stipelgold” finish on Ludwig drums but here are three mystery “Stipelgold” snare drums from different mothers (companies).
Read moreClown Vomit/Frog-in-a Blender finishes, past and present
I saw this one at a NAMM Show in the late 1990s, maybe early 2000s. At that time Leedy was trying for some type of comeback. I got the drum from Sam Bacco who at the time was associated with Leedy. He told me that he located one long-lost piece of this material from Slingerland and there was enough material left over to make a Leedy Broadway Standard snare drum. Sam told me that the finish was made with melted guitar picks (you can see some un-melted guitar picks in the finish).
Read moreVintage Duco Family
One would think that the less expensive drums would have the DuCo finishes but these four snares are perfect examples of higher end (and somewhat rare) drums whose owners chose the less expensive shell finish option. In my opinion this is like putting Sears tires on a Ferrari…but I still will not pass up a rare snare drum with an inexpensive finish.
Read more2009 LUDWIG 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY 6.5 x 14 GOLD PLATED/ENGRAVED TRIUMPHAL MODEL #1912
I know these Ludwig 100 year anniversary Triumphals are pretty well known amongst collectors but there are some little known facts that you may enjoy and that add to the story….
Read more1936-39 LUDWIG 6.5 x 14 “BUTTERSCOTCH PEARL” (uncatalogued) SUPER-LUDWIG MODEL
This seems to be an uncatalogued finish as it is nowhere to be found -- that I know of -- in any Ludwig literature. I have seen 1 or 2 other Ludwig Butterscotch Pearl snares and I also own a Duplex Spirit of St. Louis in this finish so I personally know that this finish exists. So my best guess is that this is an uncatalogued or special order finish. As always I welcome any other information that may be out there regarding this finish.
Read more20s-30s L & L 10 Lug 5x14 WMP/Engraved/Gold Plated Standard Model
“This drum is unique in that the White Marine Pearl (pyralin) has been expertly engraved, filled in with some type of ink or dye and embellished with blue and gold rhinestones. Engraving was typically restricted to brass shell snare drums of this era but gold plating was a catalogued option. This is most likely a one-off, uncatalogued special order drum.”
Read more1938-40 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 8 x 14 WMP/CHROME SUPER-LUDWIG (PROTOTYPE OR SPECIAL ORDER?)
Looking at the outside photo one would think that this is a normal Ludwig 8 x 14 Super-Ludwig from the late 1930s..well, there is more to it that makes this drum a tad more quirky. The drum came to me 100% original and in excellent condition, no cleaning or polishing was necessary. The WMP is in excellent condition with virtually no yellowing at all. The white enamel badge is very clean with a tight, untouched grommet. Now for the quirkiness; looking at the interior photo you can see that the shell is aluminum with top and bottom maple 2” re-wrings. This leads me to the question was this a prototype snare or a special order snare?
Read more1951 BILLY GLADSTONE 6 x 14 8 LUG GOLD LACQUER/GOLD PLATED “CHARLES CORDES” SNARE DRUM
“This drum is known as the Charles Cordes Gladstone. Mr. Cordes machined all the Gladstone hardware and assembled most of the Billy Gladstone snare drums. There were approximately 50 Gladstone drums made of which fewer than 30 are accounted for as of this printing. Of these 50 snare drums the Charles Cordes drum is the only 6 x 14 gold lacquer/gold plated drum known.
Read more1932-33 SLINGERLAND DUALL “RADIO” MODEL ALL METAL DRUM No. 40 (VERSION 1)
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 more1936 LEEDY 6.5 x 14 ORIENTAL PEARL/FULL DRESS BROADWAY DUAL MODEL (No. 2182)
A word about Leedy Oriental Pearl vs. Ludwig & Ludwig Abalone Pearl: Personally I think the two finishes are one in the same…
Read more1925 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 4 x 14 8 LUG GOLD PLATED/ENGRAVED TRIUMPHAL MODEL (*WILLIAM S. HART DRUM #1)
The 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 more1928-29 LUDWIG & LUDWIG MARBLE PEARL FAMILY
Ludwig & 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