These two drums came from my good friend and fellow collector Mark Cooper. Mark passed away last year and I miss his friendship, sense of humor and the great drum deals that we did over the last 15+ years. I was able to get some great snare drums from Mark. Rest in peace my friend.

The drum is only one of two (one is in the drum museum in the Midwest) known in this style, and even these two are both different.

I had purchased a 1920’s Ludwig & Ludwig White Enamel Professional model 5X14 snare drum from a US seller several months previous.  From the photos provided before the time of sale, I knew this drum had seen better days

150 years of SONOR craftsmanship and innovation. To celebrate this milestone, we proudly present the 150th Anniversary SIGNATURE and SONORLITE Shell Sets

I wonder if you can review the attached pictures. I will be sending a second email with more. I have a 26" Bass, 13, 14, and 16 toms and snare. I am trying to confirm the vintage and, in the case of the 13" small tom, determine if it is really a Radio King drum.

The King-Beat was one of the most heavy-dutiest of any pedal made by anyone. This became their flagship pedal up through 1983

The most interesting part of this drum is the uncatalogued finish that I call “Rainbow Sprinkles”. It looks like a “coral” enamel base with multi-colored specks on top. I have never seen or heard of another Slingerland drum with this finish.

I was privileged enough to receive two very special Limited Edition Radio King first serial number 1s of 50 of the 5“ x 14“ vintage black and gold lacquer and the 7” x 14” black diamond pearl wrap snare drums. -Ed Tucker

Some of the most attractive things about the vintage Japanese drums were the great wraps. One of the most original and desirable wraps is Star’s Pearl Fantasia.

 Sorry to disappoint the fans of X Japan and Loudness, this is all about the vintage heavy 10 lug steel shell snare drums made in Japan. These snares are often overlooked in the MIJ drum world because of all of the great wrapped wood snares overshadowing them, but these drums have their place as well, especially if you rock!

The front page of the catalog used a new technique with a cutout to show the new Ludwig metal shell snare drum in a framed setting that was actually printed on the 2nd page and shown through to the front cover. 

I call it a “Monday Morning at the Office” drum because the scroll pattern is in every panel but there is no “Ludwig Chicago” engraving that would normally be just left of the strainer.

This snare drum is a rare 1950s Leedy & Ludwig White Marine Pearl 5” x14”, Broadway model with a solid 1-ply maple shell.

Woolworth’s did sell drums for many years, but unlike the other big department stores, they were not a catalog company by which we could document what and when they sold drums. So all we have are the drums themselves to tell the story.

 This is the long lost twin of a personal pair of these custom made snares for Elvins 75th birthday celebration and were never available to the public. At 5” x 10” it is little piece of dynamite.

In today’s corner I present to you one of the rarest catalogs from one of the most difficult eras to find any drum catalog from, early 1940s World War II.

The Porto-Pak is a very special snare drum.  Punchy and articulate, this 5.5 x 13 1948 – 52 WFL Classic Porto-Pak snare drum is difficult to find these days.  This drum was born out of the need for gigging musicians, be bop and club players to get their drums into the taxi cabs and onto smaller band stands and still hit the spot. 

Many of us share the introduction into the drumming world with that first snare drum, or if you are one of the fortunate ones, the “Snare Drum Outfit”!

I got this rare drum from Bill Wanser of Olympic Drums & Percussion. Bill also pointed out a Ludwig Drummer magazine article that places Rose Pearl at 1929, this aligns perfectly as the Standard-Sensitive model was first seen in 1929. Bill agrees that this was an uncatalogued finish, L & L obviously had the material but it was never seen in a catalog, only in a Ludwig Drummer Magazine article.

If any of the Japanese drums of the 60’s and 70’s stand out it’s the early Yamaha drums. They projected a professional quality in all of their drums, staying away from the appearance of beginner or entry-level and also avoiding the copycat mentality. This particular snare drum is from the late 60’s to early 70’s and has that flash to it that really stands out.

a bass player I know dropped off a couple items that he no longer wanted. One being a brass snare shell made by the Advanced Drum Co.

The coiled-steel snare wire is a wonderful invention, and a huge improvement over, uh, animal parts. But making it happen required the simultaneous invention of the snare End Plate and its introduction opened a can of worms.

"The Broadcaster was evidently a forerunner of the Radio King, the strainer is a very early Radio King style strainer and the lugs do not have inserts. (The tension rods thread directly into the lugs.) The muffler was the single-pad style Harold R. Dodd muffler."

Before these drums the interiors and bearing edges of most drums were not what you would call to the highest standards. The interior of these drums, the bearing edges and the outer shell are pure perfection, they feel like glass everywhere you run your finger, there is not a single rough spot, gap, glue, bump, separation or ripple anywhere.

Edward Tucker revives the "Catalog Corner" column which Harry Cangany for so many years. Catalogs are so important the vintage drum collectors. Thank you, Edward, for sharing your large catalog collection and your knowledge of vintage drums!

I call it a “Monday Morning at the Office” drum because the scroll pattern is in every panel but there is no “Ludwig Chicago” engraving that would normally be just left of the strainer.

It took me years to finally find a Ludwig Las Vegas 4 x 13 Snare Drum.  I finally got the opportunity in May of this year to purchase one from a private seller in the U.S., although it did come at a bit of an inconvenient time.  I was lying on a stretcher in the hospital waiting to go into the operating room for my scheduled spine surgery when I received a text message from the seller wanting to discuss my interest in purchasing this snare drum. 

 The Japanese drum companies used the traditional conical design but using lugs, hoops, and wraps that their drums used. Pearl and Star appear to be the only two manufacturers of bongos in Japan.

The vintage drum collecting world mourns the passing of Mark “Whitey” Cooper, a great friend and colleague, as well as one of the most important experts on many aspects of drums and drum set history. Mark was one of those guys that every one, and I mean every one, liked and loved. The first time that I met Mark at a drum show I knew that he would be one of my favorite people. Instant comrades.