MY FIRST LUDWIG

This is another "one that got away" story that fortunately had a happy ending. Just when I thought my snare collection was complete, not just one, but two circa-1980s Tama Artwood Maple 14-ply (!) 14x8 surfaced in the FaceBook Marketplace. One was cheap but in rough shape, the other in better shape and 5k pesos more. The only thing that made me hesitate was the thickness. 14 plies means the shell will be very stiff and better for high tuning. I have enough smaller snares for that, and therefore wanted it for lower tuning. By the time I decided to pull the trigger, both had already been sold. Lurking in the background of Facebook was a circa-2000s Ludwig 14x8 Classic Hybrid Oak/Maple in mint condition. More expensive than the Tama's, but negotiable. I justified this as an advanced prize for surviving another school year, contacted the seller, got the price down to Reverb USA levels, and paid GCash on delivery. 

It came tuned high and already sounded nice, like a darker version of my Pearl Masters Brass. It arrived with 2.3mm triple-flanged hoops, Remo Ambassador batters, and Remo Diplomat snare side heads. Since I wanted to use it as a fat snare/tom, I swapped them for a heavier Evans Hydraulic batter and Remo Ambassador Snare Side, and it was not quite what I wanted. So I put the Ambassador batter back, threw on a BigFatSnareDrum, and tuned it low. Much better, and this made it easier to switch between a "normal" snare and a "fat" one. After changing heads, I was able to dial it in to snom territory in no time. Of all my 14" snares, this is the easiest to tune. 

On the hardware side, the throw is supposed to be a P-85 but looks more like a cheap replacement. The P85 is notorious for sticking when you're in a hurry, so the previous owner must have swapped it out. But the locking bar was apparently left out, and the cord was merely tied to the strainer. Thankfully, I keep all my old parts and screws that have been replaced. I dug up an bar from an old Pearl SR017 and a couple of unused lug screws. Problem solved. It's not pretty, but it works. The moral lesson is: keep you old parts, even if they're broken. You never know when you'll need them.  The butt plate is an original P-32 though. They both use flat-head screws to secure the snare strings, which I find sadly archaic. The original snares had a couple of misaligned wires, so I got new Gibraltar 20-strands for it. The shell is immaculately finished in and out, and there is absolutely no rust on any of the hardware. 

This may seem like the odd-man-out in a sea of Pearl drums. I'm not close-minded about brands though. It just turned out that way. I prefer the hardware of contemporary Pearls. But Ludwig shell finishing is second to none. I can't wait to hear what this will sound like in a recording. 

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UPDATE

I got an INDe throw off and butt plate a month later. They were a breeze to install, and work flawlessly. Then I discovered a strange after-buzz. Tightening all the lug screws solved the problem. I don't know if this is the norm, but it seems Ludwig makes fantastic shells, but their hardware and hardware-related QC is wanting. 

A SOUND OF ITS OWN

I'm not sure if Steve Gadd said it first, but I agree that each instrument in a drum set should have a voice of its own, despite being part of one kit.  My 12"x9" rack tom made its way to a recording released last month, and it sounded really nice. The tuning were spot on. But the more I played it, the more it sounded too close to my 14"x10" floor snom in pitch and timbre. This made me consider selling it and just settling on a snare/floor/kick combination. 

A week later, I saw an ad for a mint-condition Pearl Decade Maple 10"x7" in Gloss Deep Red Burst. Was this the solution to my dilemma? I've always had a soft spot for 10s, but never owned one. So this was my chance. I struck a deal with the seller to trade my old 12" for his much newer 10", and I'd add cash. It took a day before the seller accepted the trade, and things moved quickly after.  Shipping took three days because he was in Pampanga. After carefully peeling off several layers of bubble wrap, the perfunctory anti-viral alcohol rub taking care not to ruin the wood finish, and an overnight quarantine, I took it up to the drum room, replaced the batter head with a used Ambassador, and tuned it one full turn just above wrinkle. It has a very happy, excitable character, an interesting contrast to the throaty Midtown kick, laid back snom, and the poppy Omar Hakim snare. In addition to needing some time to figure out how to use it musically, I'm also thinking of what new heads will give it an even more unique voice and feel to the stick. All my snares have coated heads, and my floor snom and kick have Fiberskyns. Hmmmmmmm. Could clear heads make it different? How about Pinstripes? I'll probably end up getting both during my fortnightly shopping run. 

Whichever head/tuning combination I eventually choose, my bop kit is now a bonafide frankenkit. Each drum has a unique color/finish, sound, and feel. 

P.S.1 July 2022 -  I eventually settled on Ambassador coated batter and Ambassador clear reso. It sings even with a drum mute on top.  

Midtown poplar kick drum 16” x 14” Black Gold Sparkle

Competition mahogany marching snare (CMS-1410) 14” x 10” Chrome

Decade Maple tom 10” x 7” Gloss Deep Red Burst

Omar Hakim African Mahogany Signature Snare (OH1350) 13” x 5” Natural Mahogany

A CHANGE OF DIRECTION

It was the deal of the century. Late 1980s Yamaha Recording Custom shells (12/13/16/22) in piano black, 14"x6" Recording Custom steel snare, A. Zildjian 20" medium ride, 18" medium-thin crash, and 14" New Beats, in good condition, for just 30k pesos! I was so close to snagging the deal when the wife of the seller suddenly asked not to go through with it, claiming the kit was bought for their children and should not have been offered for sale in the first place. The seller got back to me, saying he needed the money badly for his business, and that it was his decision to make. But I didn't want to get between spouses, so I brokenheartedly called the whole thing off. 

The consuelo de bobo of this failed transaction was that it got me thinking. Why should I get another kit with similar dimensions, since I have don't have the space for another one unless I dispose of my existing one, which I am reluctant to do for sentimental reasons. So after mourning the failed deal, I saw a 16" Pearl Midtown bass drum with case in the FB Marketplace. I thought, why not put together something completely different, like a bop frankenkit? What the hell is that you may ask. OK, there are 2 parts to that. A bop kit has everything an ordinary kit has, but features a small bass drum. This is because New York jazz musicians who played bop music in small clubs had to carry their entire kit on the subway by themselves, to gigs in small clubs with a very tight stage. Since the bass drum was the biggest component of the kit, they opted for smaller ones, from 16" to 18" in diameter. On the other hand, a frankenkit it made up of mismatched components, either with different colors, or finishes, or brands, hence the similarity to Frankenstein. If I got the Midtown bass, I already had a choice of snares from my collection, my recently acquired 14" snom, and could get the 12" rack tom from my old kit. But a few days after I got the Midtown, I saw a nice 12" tom on sale for next to nothing. So I got that too. Unintentionally, all the drums are once again made by, you guessed it, Pearl. Whatever. 

So my bop frankenkit has the following, a 16" x 14" Midtown kick, a 14" x 10" CMS-1410 “Competition” mahogany marching snare as a snom, and a 12" x 9" Ranger II rack tom. I installed new-old-stock Remo Fiberskyn heads that I got years ago in the Salonga's Cubao closeout sale. It took a whole day to dial in the sound of kick drum. I tried all sorts of head and muffling combinations, and finally settled on Fiberskyns, with no muffling, and at medium tuning. 

Now I have two kits occupying only the space of one and a half. A classic 12/16/22 that will stay at home, and the bop 12/14/16 that can go on gigs .... after the pandemic. 

Midtown poplar kick drum 16” x 14” Black Gold Sparkle

Competition mahogany marching snare (CMS-1410) 14” x 10” Chrome

Ranger II Poplar tom 12” x 9” Chrome

Omar Hakim African Mahogany Signature Snare (OH1350) 13” x 5” Natural Mahogany

A TALE OF TWO SIXTEENS

I find it strange that none of my collection of "Turkish" type cymbals was actually made in Turkey. I've heard some nice Istanbul Mehmet cymbals at Lazer, but except for a 22" Legend Ride which I couldn't afford, none of them are that different from my old A Zildjians. There are usually Bosphorous cymbals in the FB Marketplace, but are priced rather high. And Istanbul Agops are very rare here because they have no local distributor. 

One of my all-time favorite cymbals was my 1978 A Zildjian 16" thin crash, affectionately called "steve god" by drummer friends because it had been autographed by THE Steve Gadd. Unfortunately, the sound has has deteriorated considerably due to mishaps and a period of extremely hard playing. (Its complete history is in an earlier post)  I thought of "retiring" it, but I have no other cymbal in that size and range. And if I did get another 16", I wouldn't want a replacement, but something with its own unique voice.  

So last week when I saw a Turkish (yes, that's the brand name) 16" thin crash, I became intrigued. It was made in Turkey, check. It was a 16" thin crash, check. Potentially darker sounding, check. No issues, check. Priced right, CHECK! And the seller actually bought it in a store next to the factory in Istanbul. The only problem was it would be coming from Cavite. But I figured it was a Sunday, so there would be less traffic. And it was small enough to fit in a motorcycle, so shipping would be cheap. It took a couple of hours to get here, and was given a soap and water bath as soon as it arrived. It weighs 921 grams, has a funky complex wash, and a nice smooth sustain. It's not particularly "dark" sounding, but is distinct enough from my A Zildjian 18" thin crash which it will usually partner. Buying a cymbal without hearing it first is a risk. Thankfully this risk paid off. 

Steve god can finally rest from crash duties. He's earned it. But he will come out occasionally to serve as an alternative hihat top together with a Stagg SH China bottom.

ANOTHER PEARL?

I've acquired a lot of snares these past few years. The one thing I lacked was a real, honest to goodness fat snare. So when I saw this in the Facebook Marketplace, I was immediately drawn to it. The dimensions were perfect for what has become popular in the past few years, the hybrid fat snare / floor tom. Web searches suggested this is a 1990s 14”x10” Pearl CMS 1410 "Competitor" Mahogany Marching Snare.  

The seller was in Pampanga, and the drum had to shipped by cargo. But he was enthusiastic and easy to deal with. So after a failed, then a subsequently delayed attempt to transfer payment online, things were ironed out and the drum arrived two days later. After required alcohol disinfection, I wiped down the hoops, installed new Evans Hydraulic batters and Remo Ambassador Snare heads, and cleaned and lubricated all the tension rods. It now sits between the kick drum and the 16" floor tom. I'm still dialing in the perfect tuning, but it's already pretty close to what I want. 

You might be wondering if I'm a Pearl endorser, as all my drums are made by them. I swear it isn't intentional. It just ended up that way by chance. Whatever, since everyone is still stuck here working at home because of Covid 19, I won't be able to play out with this big boy. But until I get some time alone her at home, it will be interesting discovering how sensitive it will be at low volumes. 

BIG AND BRASSY

While my snare collection grown these past two years, the trend had been to go smaller in size and higher in pitch. I felt it was time to go the other way, deeper and lower. I first saw this snare three years ago on OLX (now Carousell). It looked immaculate in the picture, as if it had never been used. My research revealed it was a slightly rare mid-1990s Pearl Masters B-5314D Brass Shell snare. However, all I could do was drool because the “fixed price” was way too expensive. So I just checked it out periodically to see if the seller changed her mind. 

A couple of weeks ago, I figured I had enough saved up to get myself something nice for Christmas. So I set my sights on a 14”x6.5” snare. There were a trio of them in FB Marketplace that caught my attention. The first was a classic mint early-2000s Pearl Sensitone Elite Brass in black nickel finish. Unfortunately, someone beat me to it a day after it went online. The second, slightly cheaper, was a current model Pearl Sensitone Aluminum. Again, someone beat me to it a day later. The last, and cheapest was an early 1990s Pearl Steel Shell.  But didn’t really appeal to me because it was only in fair shape. Even it it was cheap, I would have to spend extra money on new heads and hoops to get it in really good shape. 

Frustrated, I checked back with the Masters Brass. On a whim, I made a wild half-price offer, expecting to be tagged as "barat" by the seller. I was very surprised to get a reply stating the price could be dropped by 25%. It was still more expensive than the other three, but I had enough money for it. So I sealed the deal and picked it up a couple of days later, lest someone beat me to it again. The included original case was a bit musty, but the drum was mint. I found out that the seller was the wife of Rey Lim, drummer for the legendary band PenPen. He bought the drum but apparently hardly used it, if at all. 

I played around softly with the tuning for a couple of days because I was busy reading student papers, and nothing seemed extraordinary about the sound. But the moment I started playing music on it, magic exploded. It has a deep growl which turns to a roar the harder you hit the center of the head, at all tunings. At low tuning it stays focused and full, not floppy and dull. At the other end, it refuses to choke even at very high tuning. And playing closer to the hoop unleashes all sorts of throaty colors. Finally, It is LOUD. It’s not a cantankerous, but a forceful kind of loud, like body blows between heavyweight boxers. 

It's going to be a big and brassy holiday season :-)

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UPDATE 25 January 2023

Some musical instruments come to us as finished articles. Everything about them is both evident and consistent, the way they look, way they sound, and the way they respond to playing. They have no need for modification or tinkering. They’re exactly what you want, and expected. But others are filled with contradictions. You know they have special virtues, but they don’t seem to want to let them out all at the same time. This makes one wonder if and when this will ever happen at all. This past week I realized my Pearl Masters Brass 14x6.5 snare is one of the latter. 

This snare has been with me for three years now, I’ve tried all sorts of setups and tunings, but never quite “got” it perfect. On the outside it looks polished and refined, with the highest quality accoutrements, befitting its designation as a top of the line model. But the sound is the complete opposite. It is loud, wild, brutish, containing all sorts of weird overtones and buzzes. It has perplexed me to the point of considering giving up and selling it because of its refusal to comply with my intentions. 

This past week I’ve been in isolation in my drum room due to a mild case of COVID 19, and the only physical activity I’ve been capable of is fiddling with the setups of individual drums for a few minutes at a time. After avoiding it for days, I finally got down to the brass Masters. But this time, instead of revering it like a deity, I tried to bring out its wild side. First, massive 42-wire snares are usually called upon to unleash extra sizzle. I tried this once when it was new to me, but was not impressed. Maybe it was because the snap was too loose. But for some unknown reason, it worked today. Maybe it was because of todays extra high reso head and medium high batter. 

Second, I did what may be considered sacrilege by purists, sticking a 1 inch piece of cushion mounting tape to the reso head. I did this to tame an errant after-buzz that has been bugging me forever. I thought it was hardware related. But after 2 rounds of tightening all screws, I concluded it was caused by the interaction of one particularly odd shell resonant frequency. Also, the tape not only tamed the errant buzz, but also smoothed the decay of the wide snare wires. 

This is the first time that everything fell into place for this drum. It still has a very rich timbre of brass snares that make it great for live performance, but balanced enough that all it needs to dry it up for studio recording is a small spot of moongel. 

This is the first cohesive setup I’ve had with this drum. But I’m guessing this works only in the confines of my drum room. Experience tells me that acoustic instrument sounds change depending on venue and/or application. But I now have more faith now that I’ve found a starting point. 

PANG!

Two years ago, I bought a Pearl Short Fuse 10” x 4” snare. It was my first new snare in over 40 years, and the first I bought with my own money. I got it because JB’s annual 40% off sale made it irresistably cheap, and I always wanted an auxilliary snare to contrast my trusty 14” x 5.5” main snare. But when I got home and disassembled it to replace the stock heads with better ones, it became clear why it was so cheap. The wood was soft, the bearing edges were rough, and the throwoff was wonky. I stuck with it though because it looked and sounded really cute. I also figured it would never have to go through the rigors of heavy gigging because I haven’t play outside of my home in years. But these issues continued to bug me nevertheless.

Lately I thought of upgrading the throw off, but that would entail not just buying better parts, but drilling holes in the soft and fragile wood shell to accommodate them. In the end, I finally decided on another first. It would be the first time I would ever sell one of my working musical instruments, and replace it with something better. So I cleaned and preened it to mint condition, posted it in the Facebook marketplace, and priced it at 30% off the price of a brand new one. A few minutes after I posted it, my messenger lit up. By the time I sold it to the first responder the next day, I had had 15 serious inquiries. The buyer came all the way from Cavite on Maundy Thursday, so there was no traffic. From our chitchat he seemed like an unsung but working professional musician. So I warned him about the throwoff, gave suggestions on tuning and maintenance, and sent him on his way.

At the same time I planned the sale, I called all the JB branches in the area, and asked if they had the upgrade drum I wanted, a Pearl Firecracker steel 10” x 5” (FCS1050), which would on sale for 25% off. I found one in Cubao. So I called my suki in Trinoma to get it so I could pick it up from them. I got it on Easter Sunday, replaced the stock heads with a Coated Ambassador batter and Aquarian Classic Clear snare side, and tuned it high.

A Firecracker for Easter. PANG!