Saturday, November 21, 2009

Leedy & Ludwig - my favorite snare drum bar none!

La Fica, the name I have given the best snare drum I own. This is a Leedy & Ludwig that I acquired with every intention of doing some touch up to remove the 141 that has been scratched into the shell, as well as finish over the scars. When I got it she had so much mojo I dared not touch it, so warts and all, this is the love of my life and the one snare drum that cured my obsession with collecting snare drums. She makes everything else I own redundant, and I doubt I will be in a hurry to buy any more snare drums.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the exact same snare, with one variation.It has a light socket installed on the inside of the drum. From the way it looks, it was installed by the manufacturer, as the hardware matches. I have never seen another like it, and wonder why they did it, and who it was for.

Great snare, by the way!

Anonymous said...

I have the exact same snare, with one variation.It has a light socket installed on the inside of the drum. From the way it looks, it was installed by the manufacturer, as the hardware matches. I have never seen another like it, and wonder why they did it, and who it was for.

Great snare, by the way!

Mike Tarrani said...

Dan, the light socket was fairly common in the era before that snare drum was made. The owner may have been old school. The purpose was to preheat calf heads to keep the tension even and constant.

paiste71 said...

Hello Mike,
I have this snare drum as well, although not 100% original..
The snares, hoops, butt plate and throw off are all modern era Ludwig, ordered from the Ludwig factory through my local music shop.. Only 1 extra hole was drilled in to accomodate the P80 piccolo the throw off, which is only off by a few millimeters, and which is why i wanted it because it looks a lot like the original and gives it that vintage vibe..The bearing edges are ok, with very miniscule fissures, but still tunes up nicely..This drum is exactly the way you described it..Sadly, i need to clear out some of my gear because she just doesn't see that much playing time..I think i've used her about 5 times since i bought her 7 years ago.. If you can please tell me the closest estimated market value of her so i can put it up for sale at a fair price , i would greatly appreciate it..Btw , your collection is outstanding !

Cheers from Canada,
Rob