Slingerland Hollywood Ace

Still have on my wish list a nice single ply Slingerland - an Artist, or a Radio King. I had this nice Slingerland Hollywood Ace, great condition, WMP wrap, 3 ply shell, dating from the 1960's.

UPDATE - Traded this at the end of February 2011 for a Pearl COB Jupiter snare; I've had a Jupiter on my wish list for some time.

Erie Percussion - Be Still My (Purple)heart

From what I can glean from my web research, a person named Witt in Ohio was making drums from single ply shells, and multi-ply shells designed to emulate single ply shells. More recently he joined forces with someone to help out on the business side, and now we have Erie Percussion. I picked up this 7x14 Erie Percussion snare recently but I have other "deep" snares and this one isn't getting played enough. Shell is 1 ply purpleheart interior, 5 ply maple, 1 ply purpleheart on exterior. The 7 plies are horizontal grain and are sequenced matched veneers with a total shell thickness of 1/4 inch designed to emulate the sound of solid shells. Excellent construction and sound. $325.00. UPDATE November 27, 2010 - traded this snare away for a nice solid shell piccolo snare made by Luka Percussion out of Quebec.

A Big Pearl

No sooner had I purchased this 8X14 Pearl snare, also an 8 ply maple like the other Pearl snares I have, than the Tama Superstar of my dreams became available. Like the 6.5X14 I have, this has die cast hoops (with the snare guards cast into the snare side hoop) and a parallel action strainer. Update; sold on EBay March 18, 2011.

Obelisk Snares - A Blast from the Not Too Distant Past

Obelisk was a drum company that operated in Calgary in the 1980's, and still gets glowing references on the web for the quality of their kits, which pop up on Kijiji across Canada occasionally. I picked up this 5.5 x 14 a few months back. Nice Keller shell (6ply, it appears) with an amazing green lacquer finish, machined single point brass lugs. I also have (and am hanging on to) a 6X13 snare with a purple sparkle lacquer finish, it really pops.

Updated October 13, 2010 - I'll be shipping this out in a few days to an out of province buyer ...

I Was Amazed

At the condition this 6.5x14 Pearl maple (8ply) snare, built sometime in the 1980's, was in when I opened the shipping box. It was as if if had come off the shelf. The only small flaw is a missing small piece of metal that had been attached as a snare wire guard on one side of the snare side hoop. Die cast hoops. Beautiful walnut finish. Pearl and Tama really knew what they were doing with snare drums in the 1980's, and it seems as if these older Pearls are somewhat overlooked now .... (SOLD)

Bye Bye Old Wrap!

I picked up this Pearl maple snare (8 ply, dating from the 1980's) for a very good price and decided that the old silverish wrap was pretty boring. Hardware was still in great shape. Decided to see how the bare shell would look with a stain and clear cover coat (shellac). I'm pretty happy with how it turned out ...
Update - Sold December 3, 2011.

Just (Re)Finished!

Just finished putting together this very nice African mahogany snare, built up on an Erie Percussion shell - 5 plies sequence matched and horizontally grained. Each wood layer is the same from the first ply to the next, which is designed to make the drum similar to the sound and feel of a single ply shell. Finished inside and out with multiple coats of shellac, and paste wax. All new hardware installed. (PS the first photo is the "before" shot of the shell when I purchased it). (Updated with better photos of the drum with wooden Yamaha style hoops).