Again, a little different, but...

Me playing with some blokes I know and filmed by a member of the audience - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPexlN2BYmM

Dunnett Copper

Here is a 2001 Dunnett copper drum in 13x5.5 and it's called Ludwig. I got it recently off Steve Maxwell from his New York shop. You may be able to see that it's got an engraved logo rather than the later badge and an older Nickel strainer.

No small anecdotes for this one really other than I saw it advertised for ages and then decided it seemed a worthwhile drum to have. It does sound great too, especially a little cranked. The patina on the shell is probably the coolest aspect of the drum though.

More photos.

Craviotto Diamond Series Copper Snares

Diamond Series #6 in both sizes. Both came directly from the Craviotto factory in California through Steve Maxwell.

When I orginally saw these drums I was impressed but thought they couldn't be worth (cost-wise) the same as the brass run which preceded them because they weren't hand engraved. At that point, number two in each one were still available. By the time I had pulled my head out of where I usually sit and realised how fantastic these drums are, number six was the next lowest pair available. So there you go - if you wanna buy something, just buy it and think about it later.

14x5.5 and 14x6.5, these drums are as great sounding as they look and cost a small fortune. Being kinda lucky, I didn't pay the full market rate for them, but there you go...

More photos.

Craviotto Cherry

Funky finish time again.

The drum is a Custom Shop 14x6.5 shell with the other standard Craviotto features you'd normally find and was made for the winter NAMM show in 2008. It's finished in Sea Green Pearl and may be, so I'm told, a one-off. It's a loud finish, but in a very cool way.

Yet another drum from Steve Maxwell - check out his Chicago shop video here. You can see this drum from about 30 seconds onwards.

More photos here.

Interlude...

I've included this simply because I like the photo and Adrian Kirchler's drums. There's probably about £10,000 sitting there, give or take.

Ludwig 1966 400

This is an LM400 snare drum. It's the most recorded drum in history because it will do anything you want it too. I picked this up from the old Shamrock Drums in Acton, London in the late 1990s I think and it's dated Septemeber 1966, which means it's due a birthday again.

If anyone saw Stanton Moore's clinic tour for Mike Dolbear.com a few years back, then you saw this drum during one part of the evening when he was talking about James Brown's drummers. As in this drum. Stanton has borrowed it twice now and the only stipulation I had the first time he used it was that he signed the inside of the shell when he was done, which he did. So there you go, that's the story of this drum. It's mine and not yours. This is one of my 400s, and Stanton Moore has played and signed it. Did I mention it was mine?

If you don't have at least one 400 in your posession and you call yourself a serious player or collector, then you're not a serious player or collector. End of really...

Ludwig 402

I think the 'Bonham' thing is slightly overdone sometimes, but you can't get away from his sound and this was it snare-wise - the LM402.

I got it from a drum show in Southampton around 2002 or so for £150 from a guy who I think is a tosser so I won't name him and publicise his business. Regardless of this, it's a very dry drum - for me it is anyway - and is an 80's model with a Monroe badge. It feels great to play and everyone should own one.

Pearl Soprano

Here is one of the first Pearl drums I bought, or it may be the first, I can't quite remember. Either way, it's a 12x7 Soprano in amber.

It's an earlier model and I recall buying it from Wembley Drum Centre in the mid 90s because Dennis Chambers played one. I can't play like Dennis Chambers and I don't really listen to him either, so how I ended up hearing him even play I don't know. It was also about this time I was into Dave Abbruzzese from Pearl Jam and he had a Brady 12x7 which I really dug the sound of. I couldn't afford a Brady at that point, so I got this instead and used it as my main snare around 1995/96.

It didn't sound like Dave's drum, but this is the drum that started me off on smaller snares and although I don't play it too often theses days - I actually thought I'd lost it at one point recently - it still sounds wicked when I do.

Slingerland Artist Trio

I'm gonna do all three drums here.

I got the blue one first, the Oyster Pink second and thought I should have another one. Don't know why.

The shells are all single ply maple and are the same as Radio Kings of the same era - which is mid to late 60s. The Oyster Pink came with a kit of the same finish. The Zoomatic strainer isn't the best, but it works and the chromework on all three drums is really good. All drums are 14x5.5".

I don't use these drums often, and when I do, it's always the middle one as it sounds the best to me.

Noble & Cooley Alloy Classic 14x4 3/4

I've just read this drum was designed off the back of the N&C/Zildjian drums which I didn't know. Doesn't surprise me really.

This is a top drum even though I don't play it too often.

It's loud, it's black and plays very nicely and it came , for some reason, with an Attack Terry Bozzio snare head.

Sometimes in my world my mobile rings and it's someone offering me a snare drum. This may seem a bit strange to some people, but it seems to happen at least once a year to me. It's happened at least once this year so far. I have said to others that once people get to know you collect drums, then drums will find you and this is what happened here.

I got a call in 2004 from a friend of mine the very same afternoon I had gone to the import warehouse to pick up Mink, my chrome on black Dunnett. In fact, the Dunnett was sitting on the table behind me when I took the call. Apparently, one of the guys who worked for Yamaha had it, and needed to sell it on and I was given first refusual. I picked it up a little while later.

It's a cool drum and I love the black on black look. Rather unoriginally, I refer to it as The Stealth Drum.

Pearl Masterworks Mahogany

This is a Masterworks 12x7 Mahogany in purple Tamo finish.

The drum came to me a few years ago from a friend who was selling it because he needed the cash. He called me one night as I was just going into a gig and I went up and got the drum from him soon after. My friend had this drum made for himself when he worked for Pearl and I think was quite special to him but he needed the money and sold it to me and threw in a Pearl S2000 snare stand and Le Blond case too.

As I said, it's a 12x7 shell with 8 double-ended lugs and Pearl Super Hoops. The strainer is a mini version which I like a whole lot more than some of the other rubbish Pearl seem to put on their drums these days. It's got quite a dark, tight sound without much ring and is a particular favourite 12" drum.

The photo doesn't really do the finish justice as it's a lot sharper than it looks here.

Craviotto Timeless Timber Maple

Another Timeless Timber maple drum, this time a 14x4. It's funny that at one point I recall thinking I would never own a drum like this and now I have two.

This drum comes from a special run of 25 drums which Steve Maxwell commissioned Johnny Craviotto to make and has a shell made from 600 year old maple with 24k gold hardware like my other drum. This particular drum is #8 - Steve's personal drum and it came to me via Steve after he had sold it to another collector who subsequently sold it back to him.

The drum came with Remo Renaissance heads top and bottom, although I changed the batter head to an Ambassador when I got it to play it. I don't generally like 14x4 drums as I find them to be overly shallow and lacking in body - arguably that's the point of piccolo drums, but there you go. I can't swear to loving the sound of this drum at the moment because I can't get a sound out of it I like, but it's still worth having as a collectible and so it lives on a display stand in my front room opposite the AK drum.

More photos.

Yamaha BCA Noveau

This is a standard 14x5.5 Birch Custom Absolute Noveau lug drum in their rainbow finish. I had seen this in the shop a while before I bought it and thought it was nice but not worth buying just for the fun finish.

A few weeks later my grandfather passed away and I went back the same day and bought this drum as something to remember him by. He wasn't a drummer but was always supportive of me and the bright lively and colourful finish suddenly seemed to be a fitting way to remember how he always was with me.

This is the drum on The Circle.

Spaun Stave Snare Drum

This is a 14x5 stave snare and once again, I can't recall what the wood is, although I do remember is not one of the standard woods. I do still have the retail tag somewhere though so I'll have to look it up.

This was the first Spaun drum I purchased - for about £435 or so and again from Wembley Drum Centre - just after they started doing Spaun some years ago. The wood is particularly attractive and as you can see the grain shows up much better when the flash was used. You can't really see the separate blocks anywhere within the shell makeup.

I like Spaun drums although I haven't bought one for ages because I haven't seen anything I really like. The finishes are almost always nice and the drums are always well made from what I've seen.

This was the most expensive drum I'd bought to that time and I think was the start of the 'desensitising' I went through with regard spending more money on drums. I think if you've spend a lot of money on more than one snare, you'll probably know what I mean.

Drum Workshop Collectors Maple

This is a 14x5.5 10+6 Collectors maple drum.

I love black on black drums and this one is cool. The wood grain shows through well and is offset nicely against the black hardware. There are a few light scuff marks on the bottom hoop where it had rubbed against a stand, but nothing major.

I got the drum second hand for £175 with a hard case from a guy who was selling a whole bunch of stuff a few years ago. I had to go to his washing machine repair shop to pick it up. I figured that if I didn't like it I could flip it and still make a profit, but I liked it and still have it - somewhere. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure where it is right now and need to go looking for it.

It's a nice drum, quite general purpose in nature and I enjoy playing it when I know where it is.

A few more photos.

Drum Workshop Limited Edition Titanium

This is a 14x6.5 Titanium drum which was made by Ronn Dunnett for DW. The drum is #36 which is [apparently] the first one that didn't have an internal Dunnett badge included and I got it a few years back from Wembley Drum Centre which is virtually next to the stadium. WDC also had #38 which went to a young man in Perth a while back (Alright Dave!) The number is located under one of the DW badges.

The drum has one-piece mini turret lugs, die cast hoops, a Hypervent and Dunnett strainer and a thicker shell than a standard Dunnett Ti. It's rather loud, but is sensitive too. I kind of see it as a general purpose/rock drum more than anything else.

I got this as part of a deal with WDC which was this drum and the Paua Blackheart for a lot less than the single prices. That was in the days WDC used to have some interesting drums in stock.

More photos.

Brady

This is my only Brady drum so far. It's a 12x7 something with an outer ply of something. Ok, I can't actually remember what the drum is, but it does sound fantastic. Having said that, when was the last time you heard anyone say a Brady drum sounded crap? Never maybe?

I got it from Ebay a few years ago for about £250 or so and the thing that sold me the most on it was the amazing grain of the wood on the outside of the drum. It plays beautifully and has a great cutting sound to it but it does annoy me that I can't remember what the wood is.

More photos.

Lang Gladstone

This is one hot colour on this solid maple 14x6 Lang Gladstone snare drum made by Arnie Lang . The drum itself was made for LA session drummer Brett Chassen and I got it in 2008 from Steve Maxwell. It features Billy Gladstone's three-way tuning system, die cast hoops and internal muffling system which runs on a scale of 1 to 10 - this is the device you can see next to the snare strainer.

The three-way tuning system features rods which go through the tube lugs from top to bottom allowing the user, by way of the special key mounted on the side of the drum, to tune either the top head, the bottom head or both heads at the same time from the top without turning the drum over. Although the system was useful before plastic heads became widespread, the introduction of the synthetic head meant that drummers weren't needing to tune their heads all of the time and the system became a little redundant. However, the system was reintroduced by Tama as 'Omni Tune'.

Due to the rods running through the lugs, it's a nightmare to change a head and took me about twenty minutes just to change the batter head the one time I did it. You can hear this drum on the track 'Brand New Cadillac' here.

More photos.

Craviotto Bubinga Snares

These are two rare drums because they are, to my knowledge, the only two in existence. They're both 14x6.5 bubinga drums and I got them in 2008 either from or through Steve Maxwell in Chicago.

The drum on the left was made around 1999 for Johnny Craviotto's business partner. It has brass hardware and an unlaquered shell and very much gives the impression of being a one-off/prototype. I got it directly from Steve after seeing the other drum being advertised for sale and missing out on it.

The second drum was the centre piece of the Craviotto winter NAMM show in 2008 and can be seen under the sign. This drum's shell has been laquered and has 24k gold hardware with engraved hoops; the wood is also a bit brighter than the other drum.

I got this drum after I saw it on Ebay and contacted Steve Maxwell as he originally had it for sale. I told Steve that if it happened to come back his way I'd make him an offer on it. It turns out that the person who was selling it was a good client of Steve's who had bought some other drums and needed to flip this one. Steve put me in touch with the seller and we worked out a deal we were both happy with.

Try running a search on Craviotto Bubinga snare drums, you won't find anything.

More photos here of both drums and separately.

Craviotto Paua Blackheart Abalone snare

This is a fairly rare drum. It represents a brief collaboration between Johnny Craviotto and Bill Cardwell of C&C Custom Drums in 2004 where they finished - what Bill Cardwell told me more than 50 and less than 100 - drums in various abalone finishes, this one being Paua Blackheart abalone.

The 14x5 solid maple shell has triple flanged hoops and Craviotto Diamond hardware with a Trick GS007 strainer. This is the only one of these I've seen to date and I haven't been able to find any more info on them other than what was in the Craviotto catalogue from 2004/5.

The drum has all of the characteristics of maple you'd expect with a crisp crack to it when the batter head is quite tight.

More photos of this drum.

AK Drums 'Gold' model

This is one of my favourite drums ever. It is well made, beautiful looking and is spot on for sound.

There's not many drum manufacturers (or anyone for that matter) I would honestly say I'm a fan of, however, Adrian Kirchler is one of my favourite drum makers, easily one of the best creators of metal drums in the world and a true artist. I am a fan. He's the guy who has been making the metal snares for Johnny Craviotto for the last few years, he's done the 100th anniversary Triumphal drums for Ludwig and occasionally gets to build his own drums too.

This drum is a 14x5 brass drum with 24k gold plated shell, hoops and hardware. The shell and hoops are engraved with the same basic pattern as one of Mike Curotto's Triumphal drums (page 14/15 in his great book). It also has my name engraved in it. At the time Adrian

made this drum for me, he had only made 14 Gold models and this, he said, was the most labour

intensive because of the particular engraving. To date, this is the most expensive drum I've

bought or had made.

The drum sounds like a 1920s snare drum, which is after all what it's based on. I have played it a few times although I've not gigged it and have no plans to either. It currently lives on a display stand in my front room.

More photos of this drum.

AK Drums website.

A review of the drum for Mike Dolbear.com