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.