Hi,

Here's another snare drum that just became part of the collection. Unlike my previous drum deal/exercise in futility, this transaction was a piece of cake. Thanks goes to my friend and fellow collector Mark Cooper for releasing this drum from his vault. This is how a drum deal should go: Mark and I talked about it on Mon., photos arrive late Mon., we strike a deal on Tues., funds sent and drum shipped on Weds., drum arrives on Fri...all this in the span of 5 days and I now have a new weekend snare drum project! This snare drum represents an era in the Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Company that was not one of L & L's shining moments. On the other hand it is a very rare snare drum that saw a limited production life (1939-41)...this is what I enjoy collecting.

1940 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 6.5 x 14 BLACK GOLD MULTI-COLOR MODERN BI-TONE SNARE DRUM

THE SHELL:

The Black & Gold Multi-Color finish is in very good shape for a 72 yr. old Duco shell so a light cleaning and minor touch up was all that was needed. This is a ply shell with a clear maple interior that is also very clean and there are two date stamps, 102140 and 4010 so we are looking at October 21, 1940. The white enamel L & L badge is clean with a tight grommet. I love the crudeness of how the L & L workers marked (and splintered) the area where the grommet hole was to be drilled..."X" marks the spot. Times have definitely changed with regards to the presentation of the interior of a drum. Ludwig & Ludwig stated in their 1940-41 catalog that this was a "quality snare drum" at a "low price, (30.00)" so there were only 3 combination shell/lug finishes that were offered (see catalog excerpt for the full description). I have seen 1 or 2 exceptions to this, these drums were finished in what was called Crystal Pearl with white (Ivory) lugs and showed a lot of wear and tear.

THE HARDWARE:

The 8 black plastic lugs are in great shape, have no cracks and are not stripped...yeah! Thanks to Mark Cooper for the following analysis: "In 1939 Ludwig & Ludwig experimented with Bake-Lite (early plastic) lugs on their Modern Bi-Tone Drums. These lugs came in a few different colors and contained metal interior parts. The Bake-Lite outer cover was just a facade. The Bake-Lite lug was quite fragile and this 'experimentation' did not last long! Very few examples exist today." I wasn't sure what to expect when I took the "lugs" apart but the actual business parts of the lugs are very sturdy, crude but sturdy. The plastic "facade", although of no mechanical use, does add to the overall look of the shell. I did discover a small cocoon in the corner of one of the plastic lugs, "Minutia" is my middle name. The nickel plated tension rods, washers, collar hooks, single flange rims, butt plate and P-338 strainer were all in great shape and were very easy to clean and polish.

The drum came to me with silk-wound snares but the L & L 1940-41 catalog states and shows that this No. 19 model came with "Snappi-Snares". Oh, the dilemma, the quandary, the angst as to what I should do...keep the silk-wound snares or put on a set of Snappi-Snares? I realize that it could go either way but in the interest of catalog-correctness I chose to use of-the-era Snappi-Snares.

Of-the-era top and bottom calf heads rounded out this cleaning/restoration.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto